Members of a panel discussion are pictured at Anchorage’s Dena’ina Convention Center during the Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN) convention. Panelists discussed developing Indigenous-owned tourism opportunities in Alaska. Left to right: Camille Ferguson of Sitka, Jillian Simpson, president of Alaska Travel Industry Association, Joe Williams, owner of Where the Eagle Walks tours in Ketchikan and Alexis Bunton Naficy, Ph.D., developer of the waqaatrips.com booking engine. (Photo by Scott McMurren)

When you’re interested in learning more about a region, a town or a country, it’s almost always best to seek out a local guide or tour company.

At this week’s Alaska Federation of Natives convention in Anchorage, Alexis Bunten Naficy led a panel dedicated to going a step further. Naficy is encouraging Indigenous guides and storytellers to tap into new trends for independent travelers.

According to Naficy, travelers are looking for a “deep and meaningful connection to the people who live here.”

Other panelists included Camille Ferguson, who has led cultural tours in Sitka and Joe Williams, a former mayor of Saxman (near Ketchikan), who runs Where The Eagle Walks. Williams offers lots of history of the Tlingit people and the town, based on his years of service as a community leader.

“My company started as a favor to a friend to show them around Ketchikan,” said Williams. “I tell people on my tour they’ll know more about Ketchikan than most locals.”

One of the common themes on Williams’ tour is to teach travelers there are seven distinct Native groupings in Alaska. He shares his knowledge of Tlingit culture on his walks through Ketchikan.

To offer travelers a resource for finding Indigenous-led tour opportunities, Naficy is working on an online resource, dubbed “Waqaa,” which means “hello” in the Yup’ik language.

Ferguson, from Sitka, offers a Native Natural Walking Tour on the site. On the walk through the Tongass National Forest and the Sitka National Historic Park, guests learn to identify foliage used for centuries for food or medicine.

“My trainers were my elders,” said Ferguson. She specifically credited her grandmother, who lived to be 102 years old.

While Naficy worked in the Alaska tourism industry, many of the offers at Waqaatrips.com are in Hawaii.

The WaqaaTrips.com site features tours and experiences on Oahu, Kauai and the Big Island of Hawaii.

One of Naficy’s favorite cultural experiences in Hawaii is Hawaiian Game Time with a local game master, John Kaohelaulii, or “Uncle John.”

“I love this because so many people visit Hawaii and they want to have a game night,” said Naficy.

Uncle John lives in Kauai and he works with visitors on where and when to meet for their game.

The game, Kōnane, is an Indigenous strategy game used by Polynesians to sharpen their critical thinking skills.

In addition to Indigenous-owned tours in Alaska and Hawaii, WaqaaTrips.com features a cultural tourism selection in Dulce, New Mexico with Dulce Base Tipi.

[In the travel industry, Alaskans share stories of their history and culture]

Dulce is close to the New Mexico-Colorado border north of Albuquerque. The Indigenous hosts offer tours of the Jicarilla Apache reservation, a special “UFO Night” tour and a selection of outdoor adventures.

There are four traditional tipis for accommodations. Each tipi has comfortable beds and electricity, along with a private outhouse.

It may not be instantly clear to understand and appreciate the extra knowledge and cultural context an Indigenous operator can provide.

My own experiences in rural Alaska confirm that local guides offer visitors a deeper connection with the land and the people.

And it’s not just in Alaska.

In Morocco, our guide from Marrakech designed a tour for our group from the ground up. His local, Indigenous perspective helped us gain valuable insight on the country, its king, its unique history with French/Spanish occupation, its connection via the Strait of Gibraltar with Spain — and much more.

But there were two specific highlights of the trip: dinner at his mother’s house. The pizza-style dish was too big to cook on her small stove at home. So she took it to the community oven to bake. She didn’t speak a word of English and we spoke none of the local dialect (Amazigh). But she clearly was proud of her son and posed for lots of photos with our group.

His father is much more at home in the desert. So we made the trek out to the edge of the Sahara, over the sand dunes and out to his family’s original tent camp. For centuries, our guide, Salem, and his ancestors were nomads, raising and selling camels and sheep.

In camp, we met his father and brother and learned more about the nomadic lifestyle, as well as the traditional music, the food — and even the trade routes which connected Morocco with both Timbuktu and Egypt.

In Tanzania, it was curiosity about the animals that fueled the effort to fly to the foot of Kilimanjaro in Arusha.

But, after getting to know our guide, Amana and his family, it was the Indigenous people of the region that stole our hearts.

Did we see all the exotic animals of the region? Yes. But we also visited our guide’s village, where we toured their school and medical clinic. Then, because Amana’s father was an ecologist keen on reforesting an area of the country, everyone got to plant a tree.

Although Amana and his family have called this area around Arusha home for more than 300 years, there are other Indigenous communities who can trace their ancestors back thousands of years. We met them, danced with them and enjoyed their traditional music.

Back in Alaska on the panel at AFN was Jillian Simpson, president of the Alaska Travel Industry Association. She said the trade group is keenly aware of the shift to cultural tourism, adding a Cultural Enrichment board position. Simpson also said she looks forward to promoting cultural tourism as part of its ongoing marketing efforts.

Wherever you travel, but particularly in Alaska, travelers may get much more from their trip on a journey with an Indigenous guide.