Indigenous Culture EffectsFor tourism to exist, a destination has to have some appealing history or attractions for humans to want to go and see it. This history has to begin somewhere. The history of a place begins with the indigenous cultures. From the indigenous cultures, expands many sub-cultures, and those sub-cultures are transformed by outside influences into what the tourist sees when they travel. The tourist themselves can have an impact on the sub-cultures or even the indigenous ones (Ivanovic).
A familiar example of one culture altering another culture is the story of the First Thanksgiving. The British came over to America and found the Native Americans and their indigenous culture. The British started introducing aspects of their culture into that of the Indians and vice versa. The majority of the learning was done by the Indians, and this altered parts of their indigenous culture. Like tourists, the British came and learnt a lot about the culture they encountered, but not after leaving their footprint in the culture they just learned. Tourists may believe that by leaving to explore another culture they will learn a huge amount of information, and they will not be affecting the cultures they see. Tourists fail to see that even if they believe they are just observing the other culture is doing the same. The culture can adapt because of the actions they see the tourists make, or the way they speak (McKercher). This becomes a problem when the culture abandons huge aspects of their original culture, or when the tourism of an area modernizes and the original culture is forgotten. The tourists need to realize the effect they can have on the cultures they are observing, but the indigenous cultures need to see the effect and resist the changes if they are not necessary changes to make. To prevent the cultures from being forgotten, many cities have museums of new and old cultures, and they also make attractions that combined and compare the cultures (Smith Issues). Many cultures have started programs to teach the younger generations to embrace and participate in their indigenous roots. These programs teach not only the language, but also the unique practices of their culture (Euronews) . |
Many indigenous cultures teach about their culture in order to keep it alive. They also create goods that display their culture to tourists.
Cover PhotoThe cover photo above displays the oldest living and continuous culture. The people are from Arnhem Land and are called the Yolngu. This picture displays their culture and is portrayed on this site http://www.abc.net.au/rural/telegraph/content/2012/s3542735.htm. This site talks about the marketing surrounding their culture.
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