This paper reports the indigenous knowledge system of the Tuvinians, an indigenous people of Kanaz of the Altai Mountain area of North Xinjiang, China. The Tuvinian subsistence depends mainly on hunting and herding in an area in which there is a key national nature reserve with distinctive biodiversity and where tourism has been rapidly developed in the past ten years. It is noted that the violation of biodiversity of the Kanaz area has paralleled the forced changes of the Tuvinian indigenous culture in the local tourism development. The paper holds that Tuvinian indigenous knowledge will dynamically function as a key factor indispensable to eco-tourism development in areas like Kanaz of Altai Mountain.
