ABSTRACT
In the far northeastern corner of the state of Oklahoma lie lands promised to a diverse set of Tribal Nations forcibly relocated to this area throughout the 19th century. Today, the landscape and waterways have been irrevocably assaulted as a result of 20th century lead mining and the waste left behind. At the forefront of efforts to clean-up and support the Tar Creek Superfund Site are the Tar Creek Toxic Tours put on by the Local Environmental Action Demanded (LEAD) Agency, an organisation co-founded and led by Rebecca Jim (Cherokee Nation). This case study of Tar Creek Toxic Tours supports claims in the literature that toxic tourism harnesses processes of connection between visitors, locals and living landscapes to advance goals of agency, empowerment and social-ecological change. Yet these tours also present Indigenous perspectives which expand the capabilities of toxic tours to also include meaningful engagement with the histories, values and priorities of sovereign Native Nations. This chapter asserts that toxic tours offer the potential for tourism to be “socialised” or directed towards objectives of social and ecological justice.
