Tourism experiences based on the culture and traditional lifestyle of the indigenous people of Russian Arctic regions promoted more frequently nowadays. Nenets Autonomous okrug, northwestern Russian Arctic territory is one of the examples where this development were underway since the beginning of 2000s. Official version of this development often highlights role of tourism development not only in preservation of Nenets heritage, but also as a mean of modern reinterpretations and revitalization of ancient traditions and practices. How accurately the official version of the role played by tourism corresponds to the reality in Nenets? What are the preconditions for this development and how well the members of the indigenous community incorporated into the process of tourism development and planning? The chapter reviews the results from the participant observations, key informant interviews and content analysis of the published material conducted under the period 2011-2014 on the territory of the okrug. Realities of the development of the indigenous tourism show a clear disparity between the actions undertaken by regional authorities and local entrepreneurs utilizing indigeneity in their tourism operations. Almost a decade of development in tourism sector did not result a development of operational system for participatory decision-making, quality assurance or safety of tourism operations, but characterized predominantly by the ad-hoc arrangements connected to the shifts in regional government or decisions taken by central government in Moscow. It becomes clear that development of alternative paths for indigenous development given a low priority, as region's economic base is dominated by oil and gas exploration.