Photos: Tourism and cultural tourism in Alaska

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One of the options for visitors at Icy Strait Point is a theater where Native dances and story legends are performed.

Several times a week, Cecelia George dresses in the regalia of her Tlingit ancestors to play the coveted role of Raven for cruise ship passengers visiting Hoonah, her village in Southeast Alaska.

Donning a mask and headdress, George, 16, transforms herself into the mythical bird that created all things and brought light, water and language to humankind.

"I love the feeling," said George, who works for Icy Strait Point, a tourism business owned by Alaska Native corporation Huna Totem. "It's awesome to come to work everyday and tell visitors about our culture and tell stories and sing songs for them."

While the performance clearly required many hours of practice, it's likely that few, if any, of the visitors in the wooden bleachers at the Heritage Center Native Theater are aware of the hard decisions that go into showcasing a living culture for outsiders.

For Hoonah and other Alaska Native communities, cultural tourism can offer a good source of jobs and revenue. But adding dance performances, cooking demonstrations and historical tours to the fabric of a village economy raises questions not normally faced by hotels or fish & chip shops.

READ MORE: In Alaska, cultural tourism not as easy as it looks