Native American Indian reservations of communities - any that welcome visitors and volunteers over the summer?
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
|
Summary of relevant info so far
Here are some reservations in the US that welcome visitors and volunteers: 1. Rosebud Reservation, South Dakota Volunteers can work on cultural, labor, and social projects with the Sicangu Oyate, or Sicangu Rosebud Sioux people. 2. Blackfeet Reservation, Montana Volunteers can work on community assistance projects, such as renovating classrooms, planting gardens, and painting homes. Global Volunteers offers a program for volunteers, including meals, accommodations, and transportation. 3. Fort Peck Indian Reservation, Montana Visitors are welcome to see the reservation's historical places and artifacts, including sacred sites, buffalo jumps, and tipi rings. Visitors should contact the tribal office to respect tribal customs. 4. Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota Re-Member offers week-long service-learning trips to the reservation. Volunteers can work on projects such as building bunk beds, installing outhouses, and building wheelchair ramps. 5. Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve Volunteers can help welcome visitors, work on trail maintenance, or become a docent at the Jacob and Sarah Ebey House. Responses in this thread 1. The Klamath River Renewal Project could probably use some help. 2. “I am Native. Just go live in a city with a high percentage of Natives. Like South Dakota, NM or Arizona. Many tribal employees are white: lawyers, doctors, teachers. One of my friends did Teach for America in a tiny reservatio.” 3. - The Native Life Center outside Alaska - San Xavier Mission outside Tucson on the ztohono reservation, also Kitt Peak on that reservation - Kai restaurant on the Gila reservation outside Phoenix - Hulapei reservation by the Grand Canyon (actually haven’t been to this one, but did look into it) - Hopi Visitor Cenyet on the reservation (don’t think this is always open—used to be open more but visitors were rude so they shut it down a bit) Museums - Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian - Historic Saint Mary’s has some interesting exhibits on native life from the colonial period in that part of Maryland.. - Navajo reservation https://amizade.org/programs/navajo-nation/ https://www.roadscholar.o...on-Schools 4. Rosebud reservation in South Dakota 5. Traveling exhibit sometimes at the Native American Indian museum. Preston Singletary is a fantastic modern artist and this particular exhibit is very enlightening. It's about a myth that (along the way) includes a virgin birth. It's in Indianapolis right now but it adds dates when museums book it. https://www.prestonsingle...exhibition 6. Earthwatch used to do some archeological digs on/around tribal lands out west 7. Books Michael A. McDonnell Masters of Empire: Great Lakes Indians and the Making of America Paul Chaat Smith Everything You Know about Indians Is Wrong (Indigenous Americas Series) |
Anonymous
| The best thing you can do for them is to spend money there. They don't need you playing at being blue collar. |
Anonymous
| There are many volunteer opportunities on reservations if you look them up: you can do janitor work at a summer camp, carpentry, wrap Christmas gifts for kids, relief drives...Same sort of volunteer work as anywhere else. Sounds more like what you'd like is to learn about culture, and there are many museums for that. Or you could also volunteer there: https://americanindian.si.edu/about/volunteer |
Anonymous
I think the challenge is there are hundred of recognized tribes in the USA and each are individual. Pow wows and cultural centers are a good place to start, but I think most of them live like any other Americans? I would bet money that very few are living in the imagined tee pees or whatever. |
Anonymous
Those things would be great on a long term basis , but not for a one week one off. There is a program in Southwest Virginia that brings in medical care every summer". My dentist volunteers for that as does my cousin who is a social worker. There are programs where surgeons volunteer for a few weeks every year in Central America - doing needed surgeries - like fixing cleft palate or eye issues. There are volunteers needed for those too. |
Anonymous
| Navajo Nation. They are quite tourist friendly. I want to do this for a spring break once my kids are older. |
Anonymous
Completely agree - people are being horrendous to someone looking to educate themselves and do something helpful. |
Anonymous
|
I gave a few book recs above. Elsewhere on this site I recently recommended books about the WW2 era Navajo code talkers.
https://guides.loc.gov/navajo-code-talkers/profiles/chester-nez https://books.google.com/books/about/Code_Talker.html?id=RJ5PEAAAQBAJ&source=kp_book_description I also recommend Luther Standing Bear's works. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luther_Standing_Bear https://books.google.com/books/about/My_Indian_Boyhood.html?id=o-83UkE7PJ4C&source=kp_book_description |
Anonymous
|
Summary of helpful relevant info so far
Here are some reservations in the US that welcome visitors and volunteers: 1. Rosebud Reservation, South Dakota Volunteers can work on cultural, labor, and social projects with the Sicangu Oyate, or Sicangu Rosebud Sioux people. 2. Blackfeet Reservation, Montana Volunteers can work on community assistance projects, such as renovating classrooms, planting gardens, and painting homes. Global Volunteers offers a program for volunteers, including meals, accommodations, and transportation. 3. Fort Peck Indian Reservation, Montana Visitors are welcome to see the reservation's historical places and artifacts, including sacred sites, buffalo jumps, and tipi rings. Visitors should contact the tribal office to respect tribal customs. 4. Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota Re-Member offers week-long service-learning trips to the reservation. Volunteers can work on projects such as building bunk beds, installing outhouses, and building wheelchair ramps. 5. Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve Volunteers can help welcome visitors, work on trail maintenance, or become a docent at the Jacob and Sarah Ebey House. Responses in this thread 1. The Klamath River Renewal Project could probably use some help. 2. “I am Native. Just go live in a city with a high percentage of Natives. Like South Dakota, NM or Arizona. Many tribal employees are white: lawyers, doctors, teachers. One of my friends did Teach for America in a tiny reservatio.” 3. - The Native Life Center outside Alaska - San Xavier Mission outside Tucson on the ztohono reservation, also Kitt Peak on that reservation - Kai restaurant on the Gila reservation outside Phoenix - Hulapei reservation by the Grand Canyon (actually haven’t been to this one, but did look into it) - Hopi Visitor Cenyet on the reservation (don’t think this is always open—used to be open more but visitors were rude so they shut it down a bit) Museums - Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian - Historic Saint Mary’s has some interesting exhibits on native life from the colonial period in that part of Maryland.. - Navajo reservation https://amizade.org/programs/navajo-nation/ https://www.roadscholar.o...on-Schools Navajo Nation (Tsaile, AZ) is temporarily closed to visitors 4. Rosebud reservation in South Dakota 5. Traveling exhibit sometimes at the Native American Indian museum. Preston Singletary is a fantastic modern artist and this particular exhibit is very enlightening. It's about a myth that (along the way) includes a virgin birth. It's in Indianapolis right now but it adds dates when museums book it. https://www.prestonsingle...exhibition 6. Earthwatch used to do some archeological digs on/around tribal lands out west 7. “There are many volunteer opportunities on reservations if you look them up: you can do janitor work at a summer camp, carpentry, wrap Christmas gifts for kids, relief drives... Or you could also volunteer at the national museum of the American Indian https://americanindian.si.../volunteer” 8. Books and audio recordings Michael A. McDonnell Masters of Empire: Great Lakes Indians and the Making of America Paul Chaat Smith Everything You Know about Indians Is Wrong (Indigenous Americas Series) Chester Nez Navajo Code Talkers: A Guide to First-Person Narratives in the Veterans History Project Biography of Navajo Code Talker Chester Nez, together with a video recording of his oral history interview from the Veterans History Project archives. Chester Nez, and Judith Schiess Avila Code Talker: The First and Only Memoir By One of the Original Navajo Code Talkers of WWII Works by Luther Standing Bear (Óta Kté or "Plenty Kill," also known as Matȟó Nážiŋ or "Standing Bear", 1868 - 1939) was a Sicangu and Oglala Lakota author, educator, philosopher, and actor. |
Anonymous
I think the short answer is to start with a specific reservation or Tribe, because Tribes vary widely in level of organization, complexity, needs, etc. I know friends of mine went to the Navajo and installed solar panels in homes. The Navajo Nation is the country's largest reservation at over 27k acres. The electrical grid does not cover enormous sections of the community. Simply being able to improve people's homes with solar panels is a huge service to help people charge up cell phones, play music, etc. Something to think about (I'm an archaeologist) is that many archaeological sites hire Native American site monitors. These are not especially highly paid jobs but they are genuinely interesting jobs, that are seasonal (usually summer months) while digs and projects are going on. These jobs are disproportionately in the West. Here's an example of the kind of job: https://rincon-nsn.gov/site-monitor-4/ |
Anonymous
|
I think the short answer is to start with a specific reservation or Tribe, because Tribes vary widely in level of organization, complexity, needs, etc. I know friends of mine went to the Navajo and installed solar panels in homes. The Navajo Nation is the country's largest reservation at over 27k acres. The electrical grid does not cover enormous sections of the community. Simply being able to improve people's homes with solar panels is a huge service to help people charge up cell phones, play music, etc.
Something to think about (I'm an archaeologist) is that many archaeological sites hire Native American site monitors. These are not especially highly paid jobs but they are genuinely interesting jobs, that are seasonal (usually summer months) while digs and projects are going on. These jobs are disproportionately in the West. Here's an example of the kind of job: https://rincon-nsn.gov/site-monitor-4/ Wow! interesting! |
Anonymous
Wow! interesting! Thanks but I am only interested in visiting tribes that already welcome visitors and volunteers - not gonna try and impose on ones that don’t. There is a list of reservations that welcome visitors on previous page that I am looking into. Navajo Nation (Tsaile, AZ) is currently closed to visitors. Agree getting solar panels to homes without electricity could be very helpful Archeological digs sound interesting. The job you cited does sounds cool (hopefully it is filled by now as the position was advertised a year ago) but it also requires HS diploma from US and California, relevant experience and drivers permit. Anyway thanks for the angle. I hope you enjoy your work. |
Anonymous
+1 |
Anonymous
Also from Native America Travel https://nativeamerica.travel/pages/faq “If you want to deeply understand Native American cultures by visiting reservations, some of the best options include the Navajo Nation in Arizona and New Mexico (known for their rich art and traditions), Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma (with significant historical sites), Lakota Sioux Reservation in South Dakota (for cultural immersion through powwows and ceremonies), Pueblo tribes in New Mexico (renowned for their architecture and community structure), and the Hopi Reservation in Arizona (for unique cultural practices and art forms). “ Cultural experiences: Look for reservations that offer guided tours, cultural demonstrations, storytelling sessions, or opportunities to participate in traditional activities like weaving or pottery making. Historical sites: Many reservations have significant historical landmarks that provide insight into the tribe's past. Community engagement: Be mindful of respectful interaction with tribal members and always check with local authorities regarding appropriate behavior and visiting protocols. Other notable reservations for cultural immersion: Crow Nation in Montana: Known for their strong artistic traditions and connection to the land. Zuni Pueblo in New Mexico: Famous for their unique religious practices and intricate jewelry making. Seminole Nation in Florida: Provides a glimpse into the tribe's rich history and resilience. Uintah and Ouray Ute Reservation in Utah: Offers opportunities for outdoor activities alongside cultural immersion. Important points to remember: Respectful tourism: Always ask permission before taking photos of individuals, and be mindful of sacred sites and cultural practices. Support local businesses: Consider staying at tribal-owned accommodations and purchasing locally made crafts. Research the tribe: Learn about the specific culture and customs of the tribe you plan to visit before your trip. |
Anonymous
| Go visit, like the tourist you are, and spend money. The more you spend, the more helpful you are. |