What is Authenticity all about?

            Something defined as ‘authentic’ usually constitutes what one understands to be “truthful, real or natural.”[1] In Indigenous tourism, it is sometimes unclear if something, such as an Indigenous ritual or a particular way in which items where produced are ‘authentic’ or truthful. For example, soon after the Europeans made contact to the Cowichan Tribes on Vancouver Island, they taught the native woman how to knit and make clothing out of sheep wool. [2] Today, the Cowichan Tribes proudly sell the “Genuine [authentic] Cowichan Sweater”[3] at the Quw'utsun' Cultural and Conference Centre on Vancouver Island. But is the sweater ‘authentic’ even though knitting and sheep wool was not known to the Cowichan Tribes before European contact? And why is it important if something is authentic or not?