In Namibia’s growing ecotourism industry, the Haiǀǀom and!Xung San peoples face an important contradiction: they are marketed as ‘authentic’ stewards of nature—primordial guardians untouched by modernity—yet must embrace the very capitalist systems their tourism represents to survive economically. This tension reveals more profound problems with how Western consumers approach Indigenous cultures. Tourists seeking such ‘authentic’ experiences also impose neoliberal values, forcing communities to perform staged versions of themselves for profit. In this book chapter (rewritten and profoundly updated based on a 2017 version), however, I challenge simplistic victim narratives. The San are not merely exploited; they are active agents navigating complex modern realities, strategically using their ‘authentic other’ status as an ‘Indigenous modernity’, i.e., hybrid identities blending tradition with contemporary tools like cell phones and marketing. Yet, ironically, successful ecotourism development based on consumer culture ultimately harms the very nature Indigenous stewardship claims to protect. This contradiction reaches global scales through frameworks like the UN’s 30×30 biodiversity plan, which continues promoting ecotourism without seriously acknowledging tourism’s carbon footprint. The question is not whether Indigenous peoples should participate in modern economies—it’s whether our definitions of sustainability account for who bears the costs of “ethical” consumption patterns.

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