Indigenous Hipcamp Hosts Share Their Stories

As we continue our work to get more people outside, Hipcamp recognizes the importance of representation and the native history of the lands we enjoy.

To honor Indigenous Peoples’ Day, we’ve connected with four self-identifying Indigenous Hosts to share stories of their community and their land.*

Richardson at Antelope Canyon Navajo Hogan, AZ

HC: Tell us about yourself.

RE: [Following a Navajo introduction] In English terms, I introduced myself in the Navajo way, and my name is Richardson E. My first clan is Tsi’naajinii, my second clan is Tsédeeshgizhníí, my third clan is Bįįh bitoodnii, and my fourth clan is Kiyaa’áanii. So those are resembling of who I am as a a Diné person, as a Diné man person. I’m from LeChee, Arizona, and I’ve been raised and living on this land for 31 years.

HC: Tell us about your land.

RE: Antelope Hogan Bed and Breakfast is located on a Navajo reservation in the community of LeChee, Arizona, where my family resides.

HC: Why do you host with Hipcamp?

RE: For my Hipcampers. Because of how we, as people, live on the Navajo Reservation giving the experience for all my visitors to experience the Navajo traditional lifestyle and explore the land itself, as well and many of the stories that we have to offer.

HC: What’s one thing you’d like to share with others?

RE: One thing that I want everyone to learn to this day is that Navajo people still reside on the Navajo land. We try to basically let everyone learn the fundamentals about us Navajo people, the Navajo culture, the Navajo history, and the Navajo language, and learn more about how we live and how I live.

Learn more about Antelope Canyon Navajo Hogan

Allarice and Paul at Shash Diné Ecoretreat, AZ

HC: Tell us about yourself.

AM: Hello, my name is Allarice, and I live in Coppermine, Arizona on the Great Navajo Nation.

HC: Tell us about your land.

AM: Welcome to my home. This land that I host Hipcampers on is part of my ancestral homelands, and we’ve been living here for the past 20 generations that we can count back.

HC: Why do you host with Hipcamp?

AM: I host on Hipcamp to reach a wider demographic.

HC: What’s one thing you’d like to share with others?

AM: If there’s anything that I would like you to walk away with once you stay here is probably just a feeling of peace and joy, something that you can get from nature itself. I don’t curate anything other than the stay here. You’re staying on ancestral homelands. We have a direct tie to this land, and that’s very special in itself. We hope that when you stay here it’s felt and you can feel it in your heart and in your mind and in your soul. And when you leave here, you’re filled with that and can take that on into the world. So I would like for people to experience that and then take that with them as they leave the property.

Learn more about Shash Diné

Lisa and Brian at Double L Farms in North Carolina

HC: Tell us about yourselves.

LL: Hi, I’m Lisa, and I’m Brian, and we own Double L Farms Mobile Home Community, and we’re glad to be Hipcamp Hosts. Our farm is located in Lumberton, North Carolina. We have cattle, horses, chickens, guineas, ducks, and just recently, we’ve seen a few turkeys. While we have a peaceful environment here, we’re constantly doing something on the land at all times.

HC: Tell us about your land.

LL: Four years ago, we purchased a 43-acre farm. They had a small mobile home park nestled in one corner of it. We came up with the idea of turning part of that mobile home park into a campgrounds. We’re small with only 9 RV sites and 4 tent sites, but we feel that’s more personal. We’re actually able to communicate with our campers every day.

HC: Why do you host with Hipcamp?

LL: For a little over two years, we’ve been hosts with Hipcamp. One of the things that we like most about Hipcamp is it gives us great exposure to the camping community. The booking process for the camper and the host is very easy. Once the request is sent to us as a host, it’s easy to complete the booking, and receiving payment is very reliable, since it’s direct deposit into our account.

HC: What’s one thing you’d like to share with others?

LL: We are Native American, from the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina. We have the largest band of Indians east of the Mississippi River. The farm that we purchased actually once belonged in the Daniel Boone family. Some of his descendants inherited the farm. Once we purchased the farm, we found out there was a cemetery on the farm that dates back to the early 1800s. These are some of the Daniel Boone descendants or ancestors that had been buried here on the farm.

Learn more about Double L Farms

Veronica S. at Song of the Ancients in California

HC: Tell us about yourself and your land.

VS: We’re on the Inland Coastal Range in Central California, also known as the Diablo Range. This is probably, for me, one of the most amazing places on the earth. We are a nonprofit, Wildfarmers, in the inland part of the Central Coastal Mountains, which is the Diablo Range, of course. We’re off-grid, and we have about 40 acres approximately. Would we like to have more? Absolutely, because every time an animal steps off this land, every time a deer or a coyote or a badger or a mountain lion steps out of here, they’re free game. And we would love to be able to protect them all but here we are. So, we do the best we can and the Song of the Ancients is the arm of our nonprofit that’s bringing people back in touch with nature. We have four sites and sometimes, you know, we would like to have less but four sites is good because people get a lot of room to move around in and the sites are over an acre each in size.

HC: Tell us about the work you do as a Hipcamp Host and Executive Director of Wildfarmers. 

VS: A major part of what we do here is reestablish the connection between people and the ecosystem, between the wildlands and people. We foster that relationship through various educational avenues, through hands-on free workshops that we do throughout the year, and through our camping program, Song of the Ancients, which we actually put on through Hipcamp.

HC: Share a bit about how you care for and manage your land.

VS: One of the most important things that we did here to further our goal, to further our mission, was to make contact with government agencies. I was very, very lucky to find the first person I found was a person from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and then from Pinnacles National Park, and they steered me toward NRCS, Natural Resources Conservation Services, and after that, I was just amazed at the things that I could do with their help.

We’ve gotten in contact with all different kinds of places with many, many different just amazing people, soil scientists, biologists, archaeologists, paleontologists, ecological scientists, and they’re great people. The boots on the ground for those agencies are just amazing people who love what they do, love the land, and just want to make things the way they should be. We’re also part of the Central Coast Prescribed Burn Association.

HC: What practices do you employ when it comes to fire?

VS: Next year, we’re gonna have at least one fire on here, which I’ve been waiting for for like 15 years. We’re just thrilled because fire in California is the answer to a lot of things. Good fire coming back, being used as a tool, will keep down all the horrendous wildfires, but not only that, it will help manage—it won’t completely get rid of the invasive species—but it will help manage them and eventually we can hope to get rid of them. We will get rid of them. And all that golden grass will be replaced with colors of flowers of blue and purple and pink and yellow just around the seasons and the oaks are going to be vibrant again, and the oaks, the fire will bring germination of acorns. It’ll just bring a whole difference.

Learn more about Song of the Ancients

*A note: Indigenous Peoples’ Day is not the only time to commemorate Indigenous culture and resilience, and we commit to doing more to share these stories year-round. Every day is Indigenous Peoples’ Day.

Search native lands with Hipcamp

On Hipcamp, you can browse places to get outside while viewing Indigenous territory names using data from Native Land Digital. When searching, click into ‘More filters,’ then ‘Layers’ to view Indigenous territories. Or, see the map via the link below.

Read on for more Indigenous stories

Discover more important stories from the Indigenous Hipcamp community across the US and beyond.

• Building Community Through Indigenous Presence, Food, and Culture
• Myia Antone on Founding Indigenous Women Outdoors
• Field Notes: Camping at TJ Stables in Ontario