The Rupert Report
From the Desk of AIANTA's CEO
June 7, 2021
The new First Americans Museum in Oklahoma, one of the many new tourism projects we’re excited about this year. 
AIANTA Highlights for the Coming Week
Webinar: Cultural Tourism as Creative Placemaking: How Indian Country Projects are Advancing the Field
June 8, 2021; 10 a.m. MDT
The National Endowment for the Arts’ Our Town program supports creative placemaking projects that strengthen communities, including cultural tourism strategies that center the narrative, vision, and goals of residents. In this session, hear from two newly-minted Our Town grantees whose innovative proposals promise to establish groundbreaking practices and models for the field. The session will spotlight the Penobscot Nation, in partnership with the Abbe Museum in Bar Harbor, Maine; and Fort Apache Heritage Foundation in partnership with White Mountain Apache Tribe, SWABACK Architects + Planners, and Thinc Design, in Fort Apache, Arizona. It will also include a brief introduction to the Our Town funding opportunity in advance of the upcoming August 2021 application deadline.
Lewis & Clark Outreach Program
AIANTA is hitting the road. I’ll be traveling with our Tribal Content Writer Bruce Rettig to destinations throughout the Pacific Northwest in the coming two weeks. Along the way, we’ll be hosting free tourism marketing workshops in Oregon and Idaho. These workshops will show how tribes can grow their cultural tourism efforts through website development and by maximizing audio and video throughout their marketing efforts. I’ll also be meeting one on one with tribal leaders and Native-owned tourism businesses while visiting the area.
 
German Travelers Look Forward to Returning to the US
It looks like global tourism could slowly be showing signs of recovery.
German travelers are especially ready to get back to exploring the U.S. as soon as possible, according to a survey conducted by German travel trade magazine, America Journal.

Webinar: The Excitement of Indian Relay Horse Racing
June 22, 2021; 10 a.m. MDT
As one of America’s oldest known sporting competitions, Indian Relay dates back more than 400 years to when the horse was first re-introduced to the native cultures of the Americas. This exciting extreme sport is currently experiencing a surge in popularity, with tribal nations throughout Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, South Dakota and beyond hosting relay teams in competitive events around the country. Join us in this lively conversation with representatives from the Horse Nations Indian Relay Council!

What's New In Indian Country Tourism?
We’re thrilled to see so many new projects, programs and events cropping up throughout Indian Country. More importantly, the travel media is noticing this exciting surge in momentum. To keep the media and all our partners informed on what’s happening, we are updating our What's New In Indian Country Tourism webpage. If your tribe or Native-owned hospitality business would like to be included on the page, please send any press releases or information to our Content Coordinator, Jacqueline Robledo at jrobledo@aianta.org. In the meantime take a look at all the exciting new tourism projects. 
Boneedwa
(See you later, Northern Paiute)
 

Sherry L. Rupert, Chief Executive Officer
American Indian Alaska Native Tourism Association

Editorial note: Last week we mis-labeled the feature photo in the Rupert Report. The image featured should have been credited as the Cherokee Nation Color Guard, who graciously helped us open the 21st Annual American Indian Tourism Conference in 2019. Our apologies to Cherokee Nation for the error.
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