TURTLE MOUNTAIN, N.D. (KXNET) — North Dakota has a rich history of Native American culture.Learning the history of our land and knowing the culture of the first peoples is important. Monday, KX News went to the Turtle Mountain reservation to see some new attractions in the area."Every tribe in North Dakota has its own cultural history and stories to tell. Our tribe is unique. We have the Métis culture under the umbrella of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa and that means 'mixed blood' and so, when they come here, it's not just about the Chippewa - it's about the Métis," said Les Thomas, Vice President of North Dakota Tourism Alliance & Turtle Mountain Heritage Center. Thomas said the partnership between Native American Tourism and ND Tourism has had a positive impact on the state's economy, bringing in $3.5 billion in 2023. However, it's more than the financial impact, it's about the culture and educating people from all over about their history and who they are today."We're a people people. We love to laugh, we love to communicate, and we love telling our stories. It's a really big part of our culture to engage in storytelling and to be able to share that with people who aren't a part of our community or are a part of our community that have left and come back, it's important as far as gaining that ancestral knowledge as well as a modern cultural knowledge of the area," said Danielle Wilkie, Turtle Mountain Chippewa Heritage Center Director. Thomas said everyone is welcome to come to the Turtle Mountain Reservation to learn more about their rich heritage all while enjoying the many tourism amenities. "Tourists that come from worldwide coming here to the Turtle Mountain area. They can learn more about our culture here at the Heritage Center, about our past history and our current history," said Thomas. The Turtle Mountain Chippewa Tribe has around 34,000 enrolled members, so their people are scattered throughout the continent. Wilkie said working at the Heritage Center has been an enlightening journey, not only for her, but also for others who have stopped along the way, including one woman who wanted to know more about her own heritage. "All she had was the last name. She had her grandma's name. And was looking for more closure as far as more about her family. She had some people that had passed away and so she didn't get any knowledge as far as where she came from. So, coming here, she was able to experience a little bit of the culture with our artifacts and some of the things that we have here. But also, look through all the books and information that we have regarding the area's genealogy and she was able to find pictures and information about her grandparents, their kids, and various aunts and uncles," said Wilkie. Right across from the Heritage Center is the Sky Dancer Casino & Resort. So, not only are people coming to the Turtle Mountain area to learn more about history of the lands, but also for entertainment. Sky Dancer Casino & Resort currently has 100 guest rooms, with another 100 rooms being added soon.Managers with the resort say their tribal council is always searching for unique, creative ways to bring more people to the reservation."For instance this summer, we brought in different types of entertainment that were never offered in this area before. We were mostly country-western type of entertainment and things like that. We brought in some rock 'n' roll. We brought in some rap music. Different types of entertainment and we found that we were able to draw pretty darn good crowds and the majority of them were people who had never been up to our area before," said Randy Brunelle, General Manager Sky Dancer Casino & Resort. With the latest and most up-to-date gaming technology, to the juicy steaks at the Fire's Edge Steakhouse, the Sky Dancer resort continues to add more family-friendly features, such as the Turtle Island Adventure Park.The new water park features three water slides, a 175-foot-long lazy river, a kiddie pool, an activity pool for all in the community to use, and private party poolside rooms. To make their water park stand out, the theme inside is that of the Heritage of the Turtle Mountain Chippewa. Water Park General Manager Helen Desjarlais grew up on the reservation, and says she's happy to not only have this space for families touring the area, but also for those who live there."I've been here my whole life, so not having a whole lot of family fun things to go to, so it's nice that younger generations are going to have this for years to come," said Desjarlais. In around a month, a new trampoline park will be available for families to utilize. With the growing number of tourists, Sky Dancer management is also working with the tribal council to possibly add an RV park."Everything is so positive here on our reservation and we have people that are very friendly and people that will look out for you," said Thomas. If you would like to learn more about booking a room at Sky Dancer Casino & Resort, or their new Turtle Island Adventure Park, you can visit their website. And, if you would like to learn about touring other reservations and Native American tourism, you can visit the state's tourism website.