First Nations Indigenous | Fotoeins Fotografie

Posts from the ‘First Nations Indigenous’ category

Great Hall, Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, First Nations, fotoeins.com

🇨🇦 National Indigenous Peoples Day (21 June) & Indigenous Artists

Above/featured: Great Hall, Museum of Anthropology, Vancouver – 5 May 2017 (6D1).

In Canada, National Aboriginal Day is held on or near the same day as northern summer solstice to celebrate language, culture, and tradition on the longest day of the year. In 1996, then Governor-General of Canada, Roméo LeBlanc, proclaimed June 21 as National Aboriginal Day. In 2017, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the change to National Indigenous Peoples Day to include First Nations, Inuit, and Métis indigenous peoples.

To highlight some wonderfully engaging work by contemporary indigenous artists, I provide examples of art seen and exhibited in both Vancouver and Seattle.

( Click here for images and more )

Kea, alpine parrot, Homer Tunnel, Milford Road, South Island, Te Waipounamu, Aotearoa, New Zealand, fotoeins.com

Waitangi Day (6 Feb): 15 images from Aotearoa

Above/featured: The kea is the world’s only alpine parrot and on the endangered list; on Milford Road near Homer Tunnel.

On the 6th of February, I’ll be humming “E Ihowa Atua” and “Pokarekare Ana”.

Waitangi Day is a national holiday in New Zealand to commemorate the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi on 6 February 1840. As the founding document of the country, the Treaty of Waitangi (Te Tiriti o Waitangi) is an accord agreed upon by representatives of the Crown (British Empire) and of indigenous Māori iwi (tribes) and hapū (sub-tribes). The agreement is named after the name of the location in the Bay of Islands where the Treaty was first signed. Despite continuing disagreements between the two parties about contemporary extent and redress, I think the conversation and interactions between the communities are at a more advanced stage of integration within the nation’s fabric by comparison with Australia and Canada.

For Aotearoa, the New Zealand government approved in October 2013 formal names of the two main islands in Māori and English:

• Te Ika a Māui (“the fish of Māui”) for the North Island, and
• Te Wai Pounamu (“the waters of greenstone”) for the South Island.

I highlight Aotearoa with 15 images of the following locations:

Akaroa
Auckland
Dunedin
Franz Josef Glacier *
Greymouth
Hapuku (Seaward Kaikouras)
Homer Tunnel *
Lake Matheson *
Milford Sound *
Queen Charlotte Sound
Queenstown
Southern Alps *
Waimakariri River
Wellington City
Wellington Harbour

Asterisks identify locations within the Te Wāhipounamu area in South West New Zealand which was inscribed in 1990 as UNESCO World Heritage Site that includes four national parks: Aoraki/Mount Cook, Fiordland, Mount Aspiring, and Westland Tai Poutini.

( Click here for images and more )

National Aboriginal Celebration, Canada Place, Vancouver, BC, Canada, fotoeins.com

My Vancouver: National Aboriginal Celebration 2017 (IG)

In Canada, National Aboriginal Day is held on the same day as (northern) summer solstice to celebrate language, culture, and tradition on the longest day of the year. In 1996, then Governor-General of Canada, Roméo LeBlanc, proclaimed June 21 as National Aboriginal Day since 1996, although the day is not a statutory holiday across the country. Events in the Vancouver area were also held the previous weekend as part of National Aboriginal Celebration, including an all-Saturday event at Canada Place. I highlight the performance by Pascale Goodrich-Black and La Vallée des Loups, also as part of the simultaneous Festival d’été francophone de Vancouver (Summer Francophone Festival of Vancouver).

The Canadian Prime Minister announced that as of 2018 the National Aboriginal Day will be modified to become National Indigenous Peoples Day to include First Nations, Inuit, and Métis indigenous peoples.

( Click here for more )

New Zealand, true-colour image from NASA Terra satellite, December 2002.

New Zealand: Māori anthems Pokarekare Ana, E Ihowa Atua

New Zealand is located in a part of our planet that’s about as far as one can go. The country provides easy inspiration with her striking scenery and friendly people. Memories remain sharp and fresh after multiple visits to Wellington and Auckland, as well as a solid three weeks in early-winter on the South Island. Truth is: I’ve got a real big soft spot for “Aotearoa“. The more time I spend in country, the more the land reveals deeper insights about her culture and language.

New Zealand recognizes three official languages: English, Māori, and New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL). Of immediate connection to this land are two Māori songs, “Pokarekare Ana” and “E Ihowa Atua”, which are the unofficial and official national anthems, respectively.

( Click here for more )

Haida House exhibit, Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Toppling 60000 photos at home in Vancouver

Throughout 2012, I traveled around the world (RTW), where I managed to make the 25000th exposure here in Vancouver in January, and 50000th exposure in Berlin, Germany in October. Thankfully, my 5-year old entry-level digital-SLR camera survived the trip, and is still delivering decent photographs.

Given the number of photos I continued to make, I knew I’d flip the “number counter” once again when I completed my RTW and returned to Vancouver. Sure enough, I turned the counter over for the 6th time in under 5 years.

I returned to the Museum of Anthropology (MOA), world famous for their collection and archive of cultural art, sculptures, and monuments from First Nations’ peoples along the Canadian west coast. With my previous visit to the MOA taking place over 20 years ago, my return was a happy one. The visit itself will be the subject of another post, as I highlight here the 60,000th photo, one of the “Haida House exhibit”.

The accompanying caption reads:

The two Haida houses reconstructed here on the grounds of the museum were probably the first of their kind to be built in the 20th century. The larger house represents a family dwelling and the smaller one a mortuary chamber. Both demonstrate the traditional Haida post-and-beam architecture.

These houses were designed by John Smyly and constructed by John Barnes of the University’s (UBC) Physical Plant, under the direction of Haida artist Bill Reid. The work took 3.5 years, from late 1958 to early 1962. The houses and poles were first installed at Totem Park on the west end of the University campus, and were relocated to the grounds of the Museum of Anthropology in 1978. The big house is equiped with a fire pit and lighting so that it can be used for workshops, receptions, and theatrical performances.

The house poles and three of the four free standing Haida poles were carved between 1958 and 1962 by Bill Reid with the assistance of Douglas Crammer, of the Nimpkish Kwakwak’wakw (Kwagiutl) band of Alert Bay. The fourth free standing pole, a copy of the Masset house frontal pole, was carved by Jim M. Hart, a Masset Haida, under Reid’s guidance. It was completed and ceremonially installed in 1962.

Previous rollovers :
• 15000th photo with the 450D/XSi in Berlin, Germany
• 25000th photo with the 450D/XSi in Vancouver, Canada
• 50000th photo with the 450D/XSi in Berlin, Germany

… I might be wrong, but there seems to be a distinct pattern … or?

I made the photo above on 30 January 2013, and this post appears on Fotoeins Fotopress at fotoeins.com.