roseberry guitars Posted June 20, 2009 Share Posted June 20, 2009 <p>Yesterday I joined my wife at a Ceremony to Honour Our Earth. It was put on by a local First nations Society. I'll try to explain a fairly complicated tradition without too many words...Children/young people were invited to take part in making traditional Coast Salish button blankets. The decorations on the blanket are made to represent how they see themselves. After much labour, the blankets are then laid on the earth with a ceremony to bless/heal the earth and concluded with the blankets being given, by the blanket maker, to the one person that has had the biggest impact on his/her life.</p> <p>My wifes fabric store had supplied all the black and red wool fabric for the blankets so we were asked to attend. It was a real honour to meet and view the amazing work done by these young people.</p> <p>Following are a few photos of the colorful dancers and singers that completed the ceremony. They are all young people aged from pre-school to early teens. They poured their heart and soul into their show made doubly impressive as one of their troup had just been in a car accident on the way to the ceremony and was in intensive care at a local hospital.</p> <p>All taken with K10D, SMC PENTAX DA 50-200MM F4-5.6 ED or SMC PENTAX DA STAR 16-50MM F2.8 ED AL (IF) SDM</p><div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roseberry guitars Posted June 20, 2009 Author Share Posted June 20, 2009 <p>#2</p><div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roseberry guitars Posted June 20, 2009 Author Share Posted June 20, 2009 <p>#3</p><div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roseberry guitars Posted June 20, 2009 Author Share Posted June 20, 2009 <p>#4</p><div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roseberry guitars Posted June 20, 2009 Author Share Posted June 20, 2009 <p>#5</p><div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roseberry guitars Posted June 20, 2009 Author Share Posted June 20, 2009 <p>#6</p><div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roseberry guitars Posted June 20, 2009 Author Share Posted June 20, 2009 <p>#7</p><div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roseberry guitars Posted June 20, 2009 Author Share Posted June 20, 2009 <p>#8</p><div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roseberry guitars Posted June 20, 2009 Author Share Posted June 20, 2009 <p>#9</p> <p>"Treat the earth well: it is not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children." <em>Ancient American Indian Proverb.</em></p><div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob-c Posted June 20, 2009 Share Posted June 20, 2009 <p>Scot, your photography clearly conveys the work and excitement that the kids put into the event. Certainly a very important lesson we all need to hear and see once in a while. You did a great job of capturing the expressions of sincerity on the faces of the kids. Thanks for being there and for sharing. I also hope the young person in the hospital is well. </p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtk Posted June 20, 2009 Share Posted June 20, 2009 <p>Fine work!</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpo3136b Posted June 20, 2009 Share Posted June 20, 2009 <p>One of the details that I liked about this was that the fabric handle on the tensioning lines of the drum looks like an animal heart; just the details of the backside of the drum, in general, showing the construction and craftsmanship. I also liked the work in the eagle mask. Also the reaching gesture in the "Albino Wolf" photo. Very good subjects in your photos. </p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brendonmeyer Posted June 20, 2009 Share Posted June 20, 2009 <p>Very nice set, Scot. I'm guessing this is somewhere in the Northwest? The Dakota's or somewhere similar?</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ray_brown3 Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 <p>Great images all!<br> I have no idea about the "details", no words can explaine..............</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markus maurer Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 <p>Great set Scot, thanks for showing.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shots worth sharing Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 <p>Wonderful!</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duane_mills Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 <p>Well captured Scott.<br> Thank you for sharing those wonderful images.</p> <p>Here's a quote from Grey Owl that also carries the same message: "Remember, you belong to Nature, not it to you".</p> <p>Cheers,<br> Duane</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ed_yuen Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 <p>Hello Scott: <br> First, I love the work, you captured a wonderful series of images. I also love the wonderful work that was done for the ceremonial wear. <br> Based on what little I know and the style I'm guessing that you were on the West coast and it's either Haida or Salish, but I'm no expert. I found the 'Hummingbird' particularly cute and something that I've never seen before. <br> Can you clarify which region/Nation you were photographing for those of us who aren't in the know? Thanks. <br> Ed</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roseberry guitars Posted June 21, 2009 Author Share Posted June 21, 2009 <p>Thank you for the nice comments, everyone. I only wanted to share some excellent work done by some very special young people and some wise Elders, all captured by my <strong><em>Pentax </em></strong>equipment but since a few of you asked for more info I'll give what I can.</p> <p>The First Nations group represented here is the Coast Salish on Vancouver Island, BC, Canada. I'm not sure exactly which tribe or nation as there are many and there were members from various groups attending. See more here: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coast_Salish">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coast_Salish</a></p> <p>The event was hosted by Surrounded By Cedar Child and Family Services. More info here : <a href="http://surroundedbycedar.com/">http://surroundedbycedar.com/</a> </p> <p>It's an organization that does much good work with the urban First Nations youth and offers a "Family" where little or none may be avaliable. One of the nice things it does is to re-introduce many of the traditional values and customs into a community that may have lost them along the way.</p> <p>One more photo of a member of the dance troupe. This is the littlest member of maybe five years old. What her character is, I'm not sure but she carried it well. After overcoming a bout of stage fright in the early moments of the performance she rose to the occassion and upheld her portion of the show admirably.</p> <p> </p><div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rparmar Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 <p>Wow, really nice. Good to see this.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonathan_rush Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 <p>Serious scarring on the arm in pic #6. Scary-sad to see that on one so young.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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