Amazing Native-Owned Lodges and Retreats to Support This Month

Fall is a season of being still and listening. The wind carries stories. The land shows its bare self. People share traditions with one another. And for those willing to travel with intention, this month offers a rare invitation: to stay in places where hospitality is ancestral, where every cedar beam and canyon echo holds memory.

In honor of Native American Heritage Month, we’ve gathered a list of native-owned lodges and retreats that do more than offer a bed—they offer belonging. These are places where guests are welcomed as travelers, and as witnesses to living cultures, stewards of a shared experience, and participants in a deeper, older rhythm.

Why Native-Owned Matters

Choosing native-owned businesses is a way to honor Indigenous sovereignty and support tribal economies. Engage with hospitality rooted in a relationship with the land. These lodges often reflect traditional ecological knowledge, sustainable practices, and storytelling. You can feel it in every aspect of the architecture, cuisine, and guided experiences.

Show up humble, show up happy, and ready to learn. It’s about listening to the land and those who’ve cared for it far longer than any map can show. Leave with knowledge and a memory that might change your perspective on history forever. 

Native-Owned Lodges and Retreats to Visit This Fall

Salish Lodge & Spa – Snoqualmie, Washington Owned by the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe, this lodge sits above the roaring Snoqualmie Falls—a sacred site for the Snoqualmie people. Fall brings misty morning forest hikes and spa treatments infused with native botanicals. The scent of cedar lingers in the air, and the river below sings old songs. Guests are invited to slow down. A time to breathe deep and feel the pulse of the land.

Top of the World Hotel – Utqiaġvik, Alaska Operated by the Iñupiat community, this hotel offers an introduction to the Arctic unique to any other. Fall here is stark and stunning. Expect dramatic skies and migrating birds. Check out their cultural tours that explore subsistence traditions. Guests learn about seal hunting, ice cellars, and the resilience of people who thrive where the tundra meets the sea. It’s not just remote—it’s elemental.

Sky City Cultural Center & Hotel – Acoma Pueblo, New Mexico Owned by the Acoma people, this hotel offers access to one of the oldest continuously inhabited communities in North America. Fall light warms the sandstone mesas, and guided tours reveal centuries of architecture, pottery, and storytelling. Guests can stay nearby and walk the land where ancestors still speak. Every step is a lesson in endurance, artistry, and grace.

Klahoose Wilderness Resort – British Columbia Owned by the Klahoose First Nation, this off-grid eco-resort is a fall sanctuary. Grizzly bears roam the estuaries, cedar saunas offer warmth, and storytelling evenings bring guests into the fold. The lodge is built with reverence, and every meal is a ceremony of local harvest. It’s the kind of place where silence feels sacred and the stars feel close.

FireKeepers Casino Hotel – Battle Creek, Michigan Run by the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi, this lodge blends luxury with cultural programming. Fall events include celebrations such as traditional dance and guided nature walks. Guests can explore nearby trails and learn about Potawatomi heritage. It’s a place where legacy meets light, firelight.

Whispering Winds Retreat – Cherokee Nation, Oklahoma This lesser-known gem offers quiet cabins nestled in oak groves. Owned and operated by Cherokee citizens, the retreat focuses on healing, storytelling, and seasonal workshops. Fall brings fire circles and lessons in traditional crafts like basket weaving and herbal medicine. It’s earthy, restorative. 

Travel with Respect

When booking a native-owned lodge, consider the following:

Learn about the tribe or nation before you arrive. Find out their history, learn a word or three in their native languages. Ask questions with humility, not entitlement.

Support local artisans and guides. And please remember art fairs are not flea markets, you didn’t plan a vacation to get a good deal on macramé wall hangings any more than the artist put hours into a piece only to sell it for the cost of materials.

Treat the land as sacred—because it is. Everywhere. All the time, but especially in these sacred and untouched places.

Fall is a season of transition. Let your travel reflect that. Let it be a turning toward something deeper. 

Final Thought

This Native American Heritage Month, let your journey be a soulful one, let it be ceremonial. These native-owned lodges and retreats offer not just comfort, but connection. They remind us that travel can be rooted, and reverent.

Let the wind carry you, let it whisper to you. Let the land hold you and let the stories rise.