Artisans & Local Communities

Supporting artisans at the nexus where
tourism, conservation, and handcraft development meet

National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions believes in forming meaningful relationships with the people who live in the places they share with guests. One way they help bolster local communities is by supporting local artisans through an Artisan Fund supporting communities around the world. Launched in 2007, our Artisan Fund helps empower artisan communities by offering training programs, supplying workspaces and equipment, issuing grants for local projects benefiting artisans, and educating shipboard guests on the value of buying handmade goods. Because when you buy artisanal handcrafts, you’re not only acquiring an object of quality and beauty, but you’re also making a difference in an artisan’s life.

Shipboard Shopping with a Purpose

The Artisan Fund aboard the National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions fleet, conceived by Sven Lindblad, Founder of Lindblad Expeditions, positively affects the communities in which we explore—one of our core values.

Supporting a First Nations community as they work to preserve endangered culture


In February 2019, National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions hosted a multi-generational group of Kwakwaka’wakw chiefs, elders, and artists from the U’mista Cultural Centre in Alert Bay, British Columbia in their New York office. The group shared traditional song and dance with staff in appreciation of their longstanding support of the Kwakwaka’wakw community.

The relationship with this First Nations community runs deep—they’ve been bringing guests to Alert Bay for 30 years and introducing them to the Kwakwaka’wakw’s culture, history, and traditions. At the U’mista Cultural Centre—which ships in the National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions fleet called at 12 times in 2019—guests are treated to a similar performance by a larger group of singers and dancers from the Kwakwaka’wakw First Nations in their spectacular ceremonial Big House. Guests also have the opportunity to visit exhibits on display, including the world-renowned Potlatch Collection which includes ceremonial regalia surrendered under duress in 1922 during the era when the potlatch ceremony was illegal in Canada.

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