Unpacked by AFAR · Thursday, October 29, 2026
Tlingit author and journalist Kate Nelson discusses her feature 'Traveling Turtle Island' in AFAR magazine, which showcases 14 epic Indigenous-led and Indigenous-owned travel experiences across the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Nelson explains that focusing strictly on Native-owned businesses helps travelers avoid 'brownwashing' and supports genuine community agency.
“14 epic Indigenous-led experiences across North America, written by our amazing guest today, Kate Nelson.”
“we made the decision that we wanted to focus on native owned, which is not to say that there aren't native led or co-owned organizations that are doing really good work. But unfortunately, in this space, it's really on the traveler to do their due diligence, because I call it this, this name, for obvious reasons, will probably not catch on, but I call it brownwashing.”