This interview is from SDPB's daily public-affairs show, In the Moment, hosted by Lori Walsh.
We've been spending time this month talking about tourism in South Dakota, particularly in the context of the state tourism department's new strategic plan. The plan is about more than growth. How do we create an industry based on policies that create the communities and the connections we want as South Dakotans?
State Representative Tamara St. John stopped by the SDPB Sioux Falls studios this week for a conversation about tribal tourism and the South Dakota Native Tourism Alliance. St. John is a Republican who represents District 1. She's also an archivist and historian.
The following transcript was auto-generated and edited for clarity.
Lori Walsh:
Tell me a little bit about your connection with the Native Tourism Alliance, and sort of how all this intersects with the work that you do.
Tamara St. John:
I think tourism is probably the first reason why I even looked at going into politics and getting involved, because as you just so well said, we are more than just Mount Rushmore.
And in Northeast South Dakota, where I'm from, there isn't a lot of attention to tourism, or not enough. And I think that the tribes themselves haven't engaged. Historically, they just have not engaged in tourism.
Tamara St. John:
I've been a proponent as a historian for the telling of our own story. My mantra has always been that the tribes as sovereign nations, we need to take control of our cultural history and define our own narrative.
So what better way to do that than through tourism? I think it's a huge opportunity to do just that, while also bringing economic development, putting dollars into the hands of our community, the people within our community. And on our Native reservations, sometimes those things are not available.
And we have amazing people that work with things like crafts, art, performance, food, all kinds of things. And I think those things have a place within tourism.
Lori Walsh:
There is clearly a demand, a global demand, and the hesitation is understandable. What are some of the ways you see to create conversations, business plans, and infrastructure, that creates an experience that the people in the community, in a tribal community, say, "This is what we want to happen. Because we do have control of not only the narrative, but the volume of people who might come."
Tamara St. John:
First of all, your questions are spot on, because there is, I think, hesitation. Initially when we approach tribes about this, there is hesitation. There's this idea of exploiting tribal nations, or commodifying culture is another one that you hear of.
And in response to that, I would say that as a sovereign nation, we need to take control. We get to decide by engaging in tourism, how many people can come, where they go when they come here.
Tamara St. John:
For example, we do not allow visitors at places that are considered sacred. That's just not our way of things. Another tribal nation may not feel that same way. It's entirely up to the tribe, but it is truly a way of taking control.
You're defining how you want this to go. You're defining your story. You're defining what you want the world to understand and see about you. And I think that's a really great thing. Historically, for many years, the books that are out there, the things that tell our history, are done by everybody but tribal people, so it's a great way to engage.
Tamara St. John:
But that first step, that educating internally with tribes, what tribal tourism is, that has been a difficult part. So our process in developing that is, of course, through education, community engagement.
I work very closely with historic preservation. And along with them come those people that are sort of the knowledge keepers, the people that are involved in things within the tribe that we hope to preserve. Things like language, art, and things of that sort.
So by bringing them all together and allowing them to define for themselves, "What do you want? What do you not want?" All of those things. I think in the end, you get a really great product, as far as a tourism plan.
Lori Walsh:
The relationship between tribes and state government cannot be summed up in one word, by any means. How is that conversation going from a tourism standpoint? Are there good interactions that you feel are encouraging? Is it an opportunity for growth to make that relationship between the State Department of Tourism and tribal governments stronger than it already is? What's your overall impression?
Tamara St. John:
I think it's a great tool. It's absolutely a great tool for tribal relations or to do that work. And this has taken months of effort, if not years, to engage with our state partners on it. But that's a part of successful and sustainable tourism: to have those. That network and those partners.
I think here in South Dakota, we have some great people on our side with this. And it's been interesting to see them engage and start to learn. First of all, listen, and then allow us to sort of shape some of the things that are moving forward. And to me, that's really almost a model of how things should go or could go even within other parts of state and tribal relations.
Lori Walsh:
This is a business story, too. When we talk about tourism, we know that the economic impact that tourism can have, and really does have statewide, is profound. Are indigenous communities benefiting from those dollars?
Tamara St. John:
Part of it is under the Tribal Tourism Alliance. I think for the rest of South Dakota, we understand tourism and what it brings to our communities. Within the tribe, though, it could be as simple as a woman I know who that cooks. She makes amazing food. And with a boost in tourism into that area, she was able to make more money, enough to be able to upgrade her equipment. And she was super excited that she's going to do more. And obviously, there's growth there.
Or to encourage young people... Well, it doesn't have to be young people. But I'm thinking of somebody when I say this, who wants to be a fishing guide or a hunting guide. And that particular business, the elements that tourism can impact are huge.
Tamara St. John:
Tribes already have things like hotels or casinos. But they also have things like on our reservation, we have a store. we have other events that go on. And to have people come in for the people that do traditional arts, crafts, and things of that sort, it makes a big difference.
We really now, and I'm sure this is true on every reservation, you have people that come in that sell their work to my office and to any office in the tribe. And that means food on their table. So what better way to do that than to start to provide some sort of structure for that?
Lori Walsh:
I just finished a book this weekend called Winter Counts, which the Siouxland Libraries are suggesting everybody in the city of Sioux falls area reads, and it takes place in Rosebud. When you know a place, and I don't know Rosebud well, but there are places in South Dakota that they mention and I say, "Oh, that's the... I can key in that is the correct highway. The author really knows what they're talking about," because sometimes they get it wrong, right?
Tamara St. John:
Sure.
Lori Walsh:
When I was reading the book, I thought, "People who read this are going to want to come here and see some of the landscape that this author is so beautifully describing."
Talk a little bit about those outdoor places and how to help people navigate those places so that they can say they've been here, and they've had an experience that connects with his history, but that is also appropriate and respectful and avoids environmental destruction or visiting sacred places. Tell me a little bit about that outdoor or road trip tourism experience.
Tamara St. John:
I think there's a lot of elements involved in that. For example, from a tribal historic preservation perspective, a lot of the places that we know now have names. There are places that already meant something to tribal nations. And what is that story? Sometimes that story is right in your backyard and you don't realize it.
Up in northeast, South Dakota, as far as a scenic tour, tribes can develop a scenic tour that defines all along to allow a visitor with information. We're in a modern day with technology where you can do a lot of things like that. And to explain, for example, Sica Hollow up in northeast, South Dakota, it's usually talked about as this super scary place that people come to during Halloween.
Tamara St. John:
And the tribal narrative of it is that it's a beautiful place. It was a beautiful place where people lived, and where they picked things like plant medicines. The water was said to be so pure. And there were types of medicines and plants that exist there that people came to... Other tribal nations would come. One elder had referred to it as sort of the Walmart for tribes and traditional medicines. So that story is very important, more so than just a Halloween story.
Lori Walsh:
... who gets to tell that story makes all the difference-
Tamara St. John:
It does, it really does.
Lori Walsh:
I have to ask you this because you and I haven't been able to sit down together before, but I saw on Twitter that your desk in Pierre is 112 years old. And you pointed out, when so someone told you that, you realized that when this desk was crafted, you couldn't have even been a citizen, much less a lawmaker.
What does it mean to you to sit at a desk like that and go through the business of Pierre, which again, cannot be summed up in one word.
Tamara St. John:
Right. I think not only would I, at that time, have not been a citizen, as a Native American person, but as a woman, I would not have been allowed to vote. So that to me, I think, and it's not a thought that I hadn't had before.
In fact, it's probably one of the first things that I thought of when I sat down. And to look around and think, "Wow this place was not built for me, with me and mind." But as a nation, we grow and as people, we grow and we change, and when we know better, we do better. And I think it's amazing.
I see myself as a part of that. The first year that I ran and won, we had more Native American women entering into public office than ever before. So I think that it's just another gain, another positive step in the right direction. And it's great to be a part of it.
Lori Walsh:
Is there business that came out of this session that you are very enthusiastic to see what it looks like five years from now? Are there policies that you passed or things that you argued for that you're really excited to see the impact of?
Tamara St. John:
Certainly there are things like we've talked about with tourism, and I think that's one that's huge. And it's probably a little easier to predict what a successful outcome could be and what that would mean within tribal communities. But things like anti-sex trafficking, or the missing murdered indigenous women or persons, that sort of work is an ongoing thing.
Domestic violence, the things that I think maybe people don't talk about. And to see and advocate for that work, whether it's in the form of having a person in the attorney general's office, who is focused on that. I was very excited to see the involvement of an organization called Native Hope. And they stepped in and began to do that work. But also in talking to the people that work with domestic violence, missing persons.
Tamara St. John:
We've always had support, I think, within the partners within the state, but it takes more. I think important to have a balance between action on a state level, but also internally within the tribes and then on the federal level too, because what we know is that individuals in their cases can fall between the cracks. And so I am excited to see any new legislation.
My first term was Senate Bill 164. It was just amazing that even passed, and that here we are in South Dakota recognizing this problem. And then all the things that go along with it. And then to have additional bills coming forward. I think even if they are, for example, just related to the funding and the resource, that's exciting to me because we can't accomplish it without that.
Lori Walsh:
Anything you wish you could go back and undo, that disappointed you? Is there something that you felt the body didn't get right or will have to take another run at solving?
Tamara St. John:
Typically, I think what happens is we may not be able to support a bill in its current form.
But the idea behind that bill is certainly worthwhile; How do we get there? So that always feels bad, when I'm not able to support something because of one particular part. And the one thing that I'd really like to see that we find a way — something that didn't pass — was for the South Dakota Surrogacy Alliance and how they are trying to define legislation that will support those families who are unable to grow their families the traditional way.
These women, their husbands (and then it's nice to see their children) they are my neighbors — they're incredible people. They want the same things that we all want. They just need to take a different path to do it. And there was legislation that they brought forward.
Tamara St. John:
And I do think that possibly it needs additional work. Some of it is even just educating people on the issue, and hoping that we can find some sort of resolution for that, so that we are all able to support the sort of issues behind that legislation.
Lori Walsh:
It was surprising sometimes to see how much people didn't know about surrogacy.
Tamara St. John:
Right.
Lori Walsh:
And it was a difficult conversation for some people, which was surprising to other people.
Tamara St. John:
Right.
Lori Walsh:
Might have been the first time they had a conversation about surrogacy.
Tamara St. John:
That's exactly right.
Lori Walsh:
And so that can be the work of Pierre as well, in some ways. Representative St. John, thank you so much for stopping by the studio and talking to us about this. We hope you come back again and again.
Tamara St. John:
Absolutely, absolutely. I enjoy the work you do. Thank you.
