Native American family holiday
| country: | USA |
| location: | Native America |
| departures: | 2008: 21 Jul |
| price: | From £1995 (12 days) excluding flights. All inclusive except food. Local payments approx $150. Children up to 16£1445. Children of all ages welcome but horse riding limited to 8+ years |
the amazing things you'll be doing
A unique opportunity for family members of all ages to encounter together the rich cultural heritage of traditional and contemporary Native American tribes on the Northern Plains! The landscape of dreams, the wisdom of the elders and the sheer excitement of the western lifestyle '...where the Indians are the cowboys' combine in creating a matchless travel experience featuring age-appropriate learning and fun activities for all family member at their own levels.
We begin by entering He Sapa Wakan – The Heart of Everything That Is – the sacred Black Hills, Holy Land of the Lakota people. At Wind Cave we will learn of Lakota genesis, visiting the cave entrance from whence The People emerged to the face of the earth.
We seek out Tatanka, learning of the significance of the buffalo to the Lakota people. At The Place of the Thunders, Hinhan Kaja Paha, we appreciate the beauty of the highest point in the Black Hills upon which Black Elk experienced much of what embodied the story of his life as told in Black Elk Speaks. Among the granite spires and brook laden grassy meadows of the Black Hills, we experience the tradition of storytelling, listen to the earthy wood wind tones of the Native American Flute, and jump on the new craze gripping Lakota & Cheyenne kids – traditional hand games, requiring slight of hand, a competitive spirit and a roguish sense of fun. The Badlands are a geologist’s heaven. The excellent Visitor’s Center tells us the multi-hued pinnacles and buttes that make the barren moonscape known to Lakotas as Mako Sica took 75 million years in accumulation and now erode at the rate of an inch per year, but we listen for the stories of the Stronghold, the Spirit Prayer movement, the fortitude of The People and Wounded Knee whispered on the winds sigh.
HBO’s recent Emmy-sweep, “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee,” won scant praise from local people and descendents of the victims, and together we begin to learn the true story of Wounded Knee at the Museum in Wall. Younger tour members remain entertained in the fun Western town famed by legendary highway ads while parents visit the mass grave bearing victims of the slaughter that marks one of American history’s darkest hours. The Vore Buffalo Jump is regarded as one of the world's premier archeological sites.
With interesting mechanics involving enticing small groups of buffalo from the herds to run over the edges of cliff formations our interest also reflects the ceremonial journey that is linked to the sun’s passage through the constellations and the relationship between the buffalo and human beings. At the Bear’s Lodge – Mato Tipila – known to mainstream tourism as Devil’s Tower, young and old alike are enthralled by the tribal explanations of the rock’s creation and the connecting star world.
We head to the Bighorn Mountains where moose, black bear, deer and many more of the four-leggeds await discovery, and after an easy hike, you surely find yourself atop the western world with views to sate and astound! The Medicine Wheel high in the snowy reaches is assumed to local townspeople as a ‘Great Mystery’ but known to local tribes-people as an ancient place of prayer and meditation. The Tipi Ranch promises relaxation, fun for the kids in an environment of learning, cultural diversity, outdoor skills, and they can even raise a small tipi… and sleep in it too. If fire regulations permit, make your own S’mores at the campfire, listening to Cheyenne stories. Most kids like to help care for the horses, and our time includes a tour of the reservation, stories about the old days, how people used to live, and seeing how they live now, and a visit to the culture center to see beautiful Cheyenne arts
We begin by entering He Sapa Wakan – The Heart of Everything That Is – the sacred Black Hills, Holy Land of the Lakota people. At Wind Cave we will learn of Lakota genesis, visiting the cave entrance from whence The People emerged to the face of the earth.
We seek out Tatanka, learning of the significance of the buffalo to the Lakota people. At The Place of the Thunders, Hinhan Kaja Paha, we appreciate the beauty of the highest point in the Black Hills upon which Black Elk experienced much of what embodied the story of his life as told in Black Elk Speaks. Among the granite spires and brook laden grassy meadows of the Black Hills, we experience the tradition of storytelling, listen to the earthy wood wind tones of the Native American Flute, and jump on the new craze gripping Lakota & Cheyenne kids – traditional hand games, requiring slight of hand, a competitive spirit and a roguish sense of fun. The Badlands are a geologist’s heaven. The excellent Visitor’s Center tells us the multi-hued pinnacles and buttes that make the barren moonscape known to Lakotas as Mako Sica took 75 million years in accumulation and now erode at the rate of an inch per year, but we listen for the stories of the Stronghold, the Spirit Prayer movement, the fortitude of The People and Wounded Knee whispered on the winds sigh.
HBO’s recent Emmy-sweep, “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee,” won scant praise from local people and descendents of the victims, and together we begin to learn the true story of Wounded Knee at the Museum in Wall. Younger tour members remain entertained in the fun Western town famed by legendary highway ads while parents visit the mass grave bearing victims of the slaughter that marks one of American history’s darkest hours. The Vore Buffalo Jump is regarded as one of the world's premier archeological sites. With interesting mechanics involving enticing small groups of buffalo from the herds to run over the edges of cliff formations our interest also reflects the ceremonial journey that is linked to the sun’s passage through the constellations and the relationship between the buffalo and human beings. At the Bear’s Lodge – Mato Tipila – known to mainstream tourism as Devil’s Tower, young and old alike are enthralled by the tribal explanations of the rock’s creation and the connecting star world.
We head to the Bighorn Mountains where moose, black bear, deer and many more of the four-leggeds await discovery, and after an easy hike, you surely find yourself atop the western world with views to sate and astound! The Medicine Wheel high in the snowy reaches is assumed to local townspeople as a ‘Great Mystery’ but known to local tribes-people as an ancient place of prayer and meditation. The Tipi Ranch promises relaxation, fun for the kids in an environment of learning, cultural diversity, outdoor skills, and they can even raise a small tipi… and sleep in it too. If fire regulations permit, make your own S’mores at the campfire, listening to Cheyenne stories. Most kids like to help care for the horses, and our time includes a tour of the reservation, stories about the old days, how people used to live, and seeing how they live now, and a visit to the culture center to see beautiful Cheyenne arts
Highly Commended
This tourism business was Highly Commended in our 2007 Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Awards - the largest awards of their kind in the world, and organised by responsibletravel.com in association with The Times, World Travel Market and Geographical Magazine, of the Royal Geographical Society.Since 2004, the Awards has recognised individuals, companies and organisations in travel making a big commitment to the culture and economies of local communities and helping to conserve biodiversity.
how this holiday makes a difference
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Tucked away within a national environment of consumer capitalism, traditional Native America clings to old values; respect for the environment; careful use of the earth’s resources and understanding of the important place of ceremony within native society and communities…not as a recreational activity for interested visitors. By joining a journey you are endorsing and supporting the values traditional tribal elders want to pass to the generations to come. Part of your tour fee will be put to projects which preserve cultural heritage and you will see the tangible results in our indigenous cultural preservation products and schemes which help the spread of ‘Native Pride’.
We offer financial and practical help to the Cheyenne Children Services – a non-profit organization that offers hope and practical support to children living in the worst of conditions of poverty on the reservation. Wherever possible we include visits to CCS within trip itineraries and many tour members create lasting relationships with the traditional Cheyenne Nation through the CCS child sponsorship program. Most journeys are guided in the main by Serle Chapman – short-listed as one of the top 6 tour guides worldwide by Wanderlust. All of our local tribal representatives are respected members of the indigenous community and represent a broad cultural and professional spectrum: from spiritual and ceremonial leaders, to traditional chiefs and headsmen, to educators, award-winning and best-selling authors, TV documentarians, world-renowned artists, award-winning journalists, award-winning musicians, and movie advisors. Each is connected to the "grassroots" Native community, and many are descendants of legendary men and women whose names and deeds resonate through history to the present day. All tour members can feel secure that they will be guided culturally as well as geographically on every journey. Our website is rich with information for first-time visitors to Native America, and our Responsible Tourism Policy is clearly posted (both of which visitors can read or download) and all information and concepts are further promoted by guides throughout the tour including: cultural appropriation (and how to avoid it), tribal etiquette and relationships. "Red? It’s the Old Green" – our ways of applying traditional principles to modern life, our recycling policy, our green office policy, our paper policy – Want it not? We’ll waste it not! The "Leave no trace" campaign (or pack it out) and carbon offsetting with our partner NativeEnergy, the native-owned company which recently arranged the offsetting for Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth, and supports reservation wind energy projects.  100% of your tour fee stays in the locale of your journey, with us using tribal services as a first choice, and independent service where there are no tribal options. Wherever possible we support tribally owned and operated properties but in lieu where necessary, we choose from independently owned hotels, log cabins in National Parks or Old West ambient properties. On this tour we stay at Lakota Prairie Lodge. We eat local rather than in chains and also offer you the unique opportunity to experience traditional Native American foods or meals in a culturally appropriate environment. On this trip we eat Indian Tacos (at our private powwow).We ask tour members, please take advice from your guides before you buy Native American jewelry and Art since the market is overwhelmed by mass-produced fakes from sweatshops in the Orient, Mexico and many other areas. This erosion of one of the few economic lifelines for many Native Americans is an insidious threat to their very survival, and so on most Go Native America journeys we facilitate opportunities for you to buy direct from the artists, either creating an Arts evening including dance, music and art presentations, or taking tour members to Indian-owned Arts facilities such as the Lakota Drum Company. On this trip we visit Sioux Pottery. We ask tour members to be aware of the water situation here, and use water thoughtfully. The western states of the US have been on drought warnings for about six summers now and native farmers have been badly hit since few can afford to buy in hay for their animals at the presently much-inflated prices; consequently many have had to sell their livestock at rock bottom prices. Traditional Navajos who raised sheep for the wool for weaving are suffering, as are many Lakotas who are not able to feed their horses. It is our company policy to use hotels that both conserve and recycle water, and we offer suggestions on how tour members can help conserve resources in many small ways. We keep our groups sizes to a minimum on every journey we do – we believe small is beautiful and that while up to 10 people coming to a local community is a group of visitors, with many more than that you unavoidably morph into tourists. We pride ourselves on never taking tourists! Trips like ours depend on relationships of trust and sincerity and personal contact is integral to the whole experience. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |