We believe stories can change the world. At Visit Natives, we have seen how Indigenous voices are too often reduced to clichés, exotic images, or simplified tourist snapshots. Storytelling, when done with care and collaboration, can transform this. It can reveal resilience, wisdom, and everyday realities that the world rarely sees, and it can change how travelers and the tourism industry approach Indigenous cultures.

This is why we created the Indigenous Storytelling Fellowship 2026the . Each year, one filmmaker or visual storyteller is invited to co-create a short documentary with an Indigenous community. The inaugural fellowship takes place in a remote Tanzanian village under the theme “Beyond Stereotypes: Indigenous Tanzania.”

The fellowship covers all on-the-ground costs including accommodation, meals, transport, logistics, permits, guides, translation, and community hosting. Fellows only cover their international flights, insurance, personal equipment, and post-production. What we provide is not just access but the support to build trust, create ethically, and respect cultural boundaries.

We do this because tourism needs new narratives. Too often communities are pictured as frozen in time or romanticized for outsiders. But real stories, told with respect, consent, and collaboration, can break stereotypes and show living and evolving cultures. Storytelling has the power to make tourism more ethical, more human, and more connected. It invites travelers and audiences to see Indigenous peoples not as symbols but as people with agency, knowledge, and a voice that deserves to be heard.

Applications are open until 28 February 2026. If you want to tell stories that matter and help reshape the way the world sees Indigenous communities, we invite you to apply.