Published on : Saturday, December 22, 2018
North Dakota’s Native American tribes have a colorful history. A relatively new nonprofit intends to educate the world on their cultures and heritage.
Les Thomas, Native Tourism Alliance board chair said, “One of the main things is to promote our stories from our perspective to the world, and being able to work with partners throughout the state to promote tourism and create jobs.”
“It’s an opportunity for each tribe to showcase what they have and tell their own story and bring the people off the highways and interstates,” said Darian Morsette, Mandan Hidatsa Arikara Tourism director.
The group focuses showing the differences in the cultures and histories of the tribes.
“You want to make sure that the cultural sensitivity is there, the understanding is there, and the knowledge, the questions can be answered. We want to make sure that the people are comfortable in coming into North Dakota and saying there’s Native Americans, where are they,” said Jason Morsette, Tourism Alliance.
The group was given $5,000 from each of the tribes to get started and other grants and donations will assist in operating the venture.