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The Mission
My photographic projects are devoted to the welfare of indigenous
and tribal people. My intention is to help bring attention to the
value these cultures represent and the challenges they face.
The Problem
We are living in an era of unprecedented cultural extinction. Indigenous
and tribal cultures that have survived for hundreds—sometimes
thousands –of years may soon be gone. A recent study made
by the linguist Ken Hale of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
estimates that 3,000 of the 6,000 languages that exist in the world
today are fated to die because they are no longer spoken by the
children. The implications of this fact are startling. In one generation
our cultural diversity will be halved. This diversity of knowledge,
imagination, and belief that has helped to provide the creativity,
resiliency and strength of our species is being dismantled. The
fragile oral traditions that have held an encyclopedic body of knowledge
about the natural world are being lost.
Indigenous peoples have been threatened for centuries as economic
interests and nation states have encroached on their lands. Although
colonial and imperial pressures are still present, a more insidious
problem lies with the children of these cultures. Entranced by images
of the wealth and power of the First World, the young are turning
away from their traditions. Most of these young people migrate to
the cities and end up as marginalized beings never truly benefiting
from the illusion they chase. As people they do not disappear; they
live on, but the very essence of their culture is extinguished,
leaving them shadows of their former selves and shadows of those
they want to imitate in the developed world.
The Projects
BRIDGES is an online classroom program connecting children from
indigenous and tribal cultures with their urban contemporaries for
the purpose of honoring and exploring cultural diversity. Using
storytelling through photography and audio arts, the students learn
from and with each other and from their elders. With BRIDGES unique
approach, students are mentored in becoming online content providers
by portraying themselves and their way of life from their own point
of view.
The Tibetan Portrait
exhibit and book were created to bring attention to the oppression
of a deeply spiritual culture by a more powerful nation state. I
saw the Tibetan conflict as another example in a repeating pattern
of cultural genocide against indigenous people--a pattern that unfortunately
continues to this day.
The Enduring Spirit exhibit
and book were created in conjunction with Amnesty International’s
celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights. The UDHR is a revolutionary document governing
human rights that cut across all geographic, political and religious
lines. Arguably the most important document created by mankind,
it was adopted by all the nations of the world. It was a great honor
to take part in Amnesty’s recommitment effort to this epic
document.
The book, The Gift was created
for Interplast a non-profit organization that sends medical teams
to perform cleft palate surgeries on children in remote communities
around the world. Interplast volunteers make every effort to share
medical ideas and work with the healers in the indigenous communities
served. Their ‘incubator’ program trains local doctors
to perform the surgeries so the work can continue in Interplast’s
absence.
Blue Earth Alliance is a non-profit organization that provides
support for individuals producing photographic projects that educate
the public about endangered environments and threatened cultures.
Other support for indigenous people
Cultures
on the Edge - An Open Look at Cultural Diversity Around the
World
Indigenous & Tribal Peoples Centre
The Earth
Charter Initiative
Native Web -
Resources for Indigenous Cultures Around the World
United
Nations - International Decade 1995-2004
Related links
Target
multimedia
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