| According to Ross et al. (2011) there are many barriers to genuine collaboration and natural resource co-management between Indigenous groups and westernized government groups but do these barriers exist for partnerships with Indigenous groups in other realms? This thesis is a specific case study of a partnership between the Pine Ridge Area Chamber of Commerce, the National Park Service, and several other South Dakota entities involved with the region's tourism industry. This partnership, as a strategy to increase tourism to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota through education, has had to tackle many of the same barriers as Ross et al. (2011) argues exist for natural resource co-management attempts, but have also made significant achievements. A participatory epistemology and Pierre Bourdieu's (2009[1977], 1991, 1986) concept of capitals elaborate the case study analysis. This partnership has a long way to go before it is truly and equally collaborative, and has to confront many barriers until Lakota knowledge is incorporated into NPS interpretation. It has, though, accomplished many important steps to facilitating a mutually beneficial partnership have been accomplished, as well as individual growth and understanding among the participants. |
