Route 66: Guide fills gaps in road’s story

ferent from the images and the things I read,” she said.

The guidebook is being unveiled this week by the tourism association. It includes stories of how communities were affected by the commerce that came along with traffic on Route 66.

The book and website also cover the role played by the federal government’s Indian relocation program of the 1950s and how the romance of the roadway was partly spurred by the marketing of the Hollywood version of the Indian.

Snell’s research and interviews indicated what happened along America’s Mother Road was more about money than the sharing of a culture.

“Because of the socio-economic conditions, what do you do? You take the job, you put on your buckskins, you put on your war bonnet and you have your picture taken. You do the job,” she said. “That’s been perpetrated through today. It’s still that image we have. It’s lingering.”

Sammye Meadows, who works with the tourism association, said interest in tourism has grown among tribes now that some have fostered successful programs for tapping their own cultural resources.

Foreign visitors alone account for an estimated $7 billion in annual spending in Indian Country, and visitation by overseas travelers has grown by nearly 1 million over the last several years, according to data from the U.S. Department of Commerce.

“It’s an evolving thing and I think a lot more stories will come forward,” Meadows said. “People will have stories they would like to contribute to the overall sort of correcting of the tribal image.”

Aside from history that stretches back to the Pueblo Revolt in the centuries before New Mexico was a state and the creation of reservations, the new guidebook includes details about key sites along Route 66 — both old and new — as well as etiquette for attending powwows and tips for buying arts and crafts.