ABSTRACT
The allure of vanishing landscapes and disappearing wildlife has been recognized and discussed in the tourism literature (Lemelin et al. 2010; Dawson et al. 2010) and throughout this book. However, apart from Johnston et al. 's and Smith's discussions in this volume, very little attention regarding the social, cultural and political dimensions of last chance tourism and its impact on local populations has occurred. This is somewhat surprising when you consider that Indigenous people were featured in various ethnographic exhibits, and that their arts and crafts, photographic images and skeletal remains have been displayed in museums and public displays in North America and Europe throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. When these activities fell out of favour, the need to gaze upon these perceived disappearing cultures was replaced by visitation to parks and protected areas and Indigenous communities (Smith 1977). Fuelling this need to travel to these sites, to witness first-hand these disappearing or vanished cultures, were the various images of Indigenous people used in the promotion of these tourism activities (Dawson 2004). In many instances these images, and later movies, promoted a static depiction of the plain Amerindian who, for example, rode horses, hunted buffalo, and lived in tepees (Notzke 2006). In some cases, visitors to South America were often led to believe that local Indigenous people like the Maya and Inca had disappeared and only their monuments remained (Little 2005; Silverman 2002). This was despite the fact that living Mayans and Incas can be found throughout central and South America, with many of these individuals often associated with the tourism industry (i.e., guides, interpreters, service staff) (Silverman 2002).
