Living Cultures: Beyond the Frame
A Photograph of a Kwakwaka’wakw Chief by Edward S. Curtis
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A Photograph of Kwakwaka’wakw Chief Beau Dick by Sharon Eva Grainger
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The last year and a half has been an extraordinary experience as an artist and a photographer welcomed into the world of Indigenous communities. I have traveled the length of the Northwest Coast from Alaska to the San Juan Islands, photographing in preparation for my participation in the Beyond the Frame project sponsored by the Seattle Public Library. This project includes two shows: one of color images and a second that includes 15 original Edward S. Curtis Photogravures from one of the original volumes of Curtis’ magnum opus: The North American Indian.
The shows also include Indigenous Regalia from the entire coast. Both shows are taken from 20 years of my photographic work,
revisiting Curtis images and traveling the Northwest coast camera in hand.
The color show opens on January 13, 2018.
The black and white show opens to the public on February 23rd.
On February 28th there will be a reception.
I will also be speaking at a special event on the evening of February 28th.
Initially the project was to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the birth of Edward S. Curtis. Early on, though, the project became and continues to be a celebration of the Native Living Cultures of the Northwest Coast. Curtis photographed the Indigenous peoples of North America in the early 1900’s when he and most white people thought these cultures were disappearing.
My goal became, and continues to be, to show these cultures as vibrant, alive and very important communities of the Northwest Coast of North America. I have been honored to visually document the evolving and growing world of Northwest Coast Indigenous peoples who continue to celebrate their home at the edge of the sea.
Photographer Sharon Eva Grainger
The shows also include Indigenous Regalia from the entire coast. Both shows are taken from 20 years of my photographic work,
revisiting Curtis images and traveling the Northwest coast camera in hand.
The color show opens on January 13, 2018.
The black and white show opens to the public on February 23rd.
On February 28th there will be a reception.
I will also be speaking at a special event on the evening of February 28th.
Initially the project was to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the birth of Edward S. Curtis. Early on, though, the project became and continues to be a celebration of the Native Living Cultures of the Northwest Coast. Curtis photographed the Indigenous peoples of North America in the early 1900’s when he and most white people thought these cultures were disappearing.
My goal became, and continues to be, to show these cultures as vibrant, alive and very important communities of the Northwest Coast of North America. I have been honored to visually document the evolving and growing world of Northwest Coast Indigenous peoples who continue to celebrate their home at the edge of the sea.
Photographer Sharon Eva Grainger
Dos Polacas is pleased to announce a spectacular exhibit of the First Nations people of the Pacific Northwest
at the Seattle Public Library from January 13th to April 30th, 2018.
Comprised of photography by Dos Polacas' own Sharon Eva Grainger,
the exhibit also displays magnificent regalia from four living cultures of our region.
Here is the formal announcement:
at the Seattle Public Library from January 13th to April 30th, 2018.
Comprised of photography by Dos Polacas' own Sharon Eva Grainger,
the exhibit also displays magnificent regalia from four living cultures of our region.
Here is the formal announcement:
The Living Cultures of the Northwest Coast
"In the spirit of Great Tribal Honor, your name has been called to come forth and witness,
hear and feel the Living Cultures of the Northwest Coast
as depicted by the tribally appointed photographer, Sharon Eva Grainger.
Four Nations' voices will be heard.
They are, from North to South,
the Tlingit,
Haida,
Kwakwaka'wakw
and Lummi."
-- Jim Thomas and Sharon Eva Grainger
"Living Cultures"
Photographs by Sharon Eva Grainger
Seattle Public Central Library, 1000 Fourth Avenue, Seattle, WA 98104
Saturday, January 13, 2018 to Monday April 30, 2018
Free Admission
Central Library
1000 Fourth Ave.
Seattle, WA 98104
hear and feel the Living Cultures of the Northwest Coast
as depicted by the tribally appointed photographer, Sharon Eva Grainger.
Four Nations' voices will be heard.
They are, from North to South,
the Tlingit,
Haida,
Kwakwaka'wakw
and Lummi."
-- Jim Thomas and Sharon Eva Grainger
"Living Cultures"
Photographs by Sharon Eva Grainger
Seattle Public Central Library, 1000 Fourth Avenue, Seattle, WA 98104
Saturday, January 13, 2018 to Monday April 30, 2018
Free Admission
Central Library
1000 Fourth Ave.
Seattle, WA 98104
Moving Ahead with
"In Their Hands: The Keepers of the Box of Treasures"
From May 25th to June 10th and again from December 6th to December 9th, Sharon and Pamela are back in Alert Bay, British Columbia adding to our images of the older members of the Kwakwaka'wakw community, recording their stories and memories, seeing old friends and making new ones. In May, we were also very lucky to accompany some of our youngest friends in kindergarten on a day-long excursion to nearby Hanson Island to visit the island refuge created by one of the founders of Greenpeace 30 years ago. Click here for images of the field trip. During the following days one part of their kindergarten classroom was devoted to creating cedar bracelets to give away as gifts during their upcoming cultural celebration. Click here for more.
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You are listening to a native speaker of Kwak'wala saying their word for Thank you. Click the play button to hear it again. We thank www.firstvoices.com for this recording.
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Gilakas'la! Thank you! Gilakas'la!
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We are grateful for our 102 backers from around the world who given the financial support to make this important book project possible!
We thank everyone in Alert Bay, British Columbia who has given us permission to use their portraits and words in our book "In Their Hands: The Keepers of the Box of Treasures." We are so grateful to the families who have given us permission to use the photographs and words of their grannies and grandfathers, aunties and uncles to fill this book with memories, reflections and stories. Many people have given us great advice, helped us out in so many ways small and large, spread the word to their networks and provided us with a community that has made this book possible. We would especially like to thank Headman Jim Thomas “kHatsati” – “The Great One”, “Shaa Ye Gun” – “Keeper of the Mountain” for encouraging us, standing up and speaking in support of our project at many gatherings. Now we turn to our work: creating more portraits of faces and hands, recording more interviews, especially stories in Kwak'wala. We will be organizing it all into a book for publication. We will have updates here on our website on a regular basis. If you have pledged, there will be a special section on the Kickstarter website, Spotlight, devoted to our progress. Within two to three weeks, you will receive more information on that. |
We have surpassed $25,000 !
We are now officially stamped as Successful Kickstarter Creators and the future published authors of “In Their Hands: The Keepers of the Box of Treasures.” We are immensely grateful for all the support and trust we have received. We are looking forward to spending our time immersed in portraits and interviews in the Kwakwaka’wakw community.
Our event on March 18th was a resounding success!
Headman Jim Thomas, Tlingit, in support of our Kickstarter
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It was thrilling to have everyone there in Seattle's Smith Tower! Close to 100 people were online or were there in person. We listened raptly as Headman Jim Thomas told us about why the word for the leaders of the Tlingit is Headman and not Chief, the difference between big and little and how little birds and big bears can inform us about our personal interactions.
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A wonderful, enthusiastic, curious and friendly turnout for our event in Seattle's Smith Tower
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For our 4th installment on the video series "What is the Box of Treasures? we interviewed internationally known Kwakwaka'wakw film-maker Barb Cranmer.
Please click on the image to go to the Video Series.
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Our 2nd video released in the Series "What is the Box of Treasures?" is with traditional culture teacher and mentor, Andrea Cranmer of Alert Bay. Please click the image to go to the Video Series.
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Alert Bay's Big House with a Kwakwaka'wakw Woman in a Cedar Hat and Traditional Button Blanket.
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Dzunakwa (Wild Woman of the Woods) amid autumn's yellow leaves. Click on the image to watch our Kickstarter video.
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The speaker in this 1st video interview is Patricia "Trish" Nolie, a member of the Kwakwaka'wakw Nation, a Hamatsa and someone who feels strongly about this subject and her family. Here is the 2-minute version of her response to the question "What does the Box of Treasures mean to you?" For the 7-minute version, please click HERE.
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But wait!
What does the phrase 'Box of Treasures' in the title of our book actually mean?
It turns out that it means something different to different people.
We were lucky enough to have seven people in Alert Bay, a First Nations community of British Columbia, respond to our question
"What does the Box of Treasures mean to you?"
Our respondents ranged in ages from 14 years old up to 83 years old with a broad range of backgrounds.
Click Dos Polacas' video series to see the wonderful responses to this fascinating and personal question.
What does the phrase 'Box of Treasures' in the title of our book actually mean?
It turns out that it means something different to different people.
We were lucky enough to have seven people in Alert Bay, a First Nations community of British Columbia, respond to our question
"What does the Box of Treasures mean to you?"
Our respondents ranged in ages from 14 years old up to 83 years old with a broad range of backgrounds.
Click Dos Polacas' video series to see the wonderful responses to this fascinating and personal question.
2016 Reconciliation Pole:
Copper Nails
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Over the last few months, while the Reconciliation Pole has been at the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver B.C., there has been a steady flow of visitors and especially First Nation school groups from around the area.
Click here to read more about this remarkable inter-generational making of history.
Click here to read more about this remarkable inter-generational making of history.
2016 Reconciliation Pole:
A Journey Forward of Understanding, Truth and Respect
James Hart at work on the Reconciliation Pole
Since 2014, James Hart, the renowned Haida artist from Haida Gwaii, his family and fellow Haida carvers have been carving an 800-year-old cedar tree. Their hands are transforming this red cedar into the story of reconciliation as an act of healing from the deep wounds caused by the indigenous Residential School system.
Click here to read Sharon's account of the last three years as she has watched the Reconciliation Pole take shape.
Click here to see a video-slideshow of an interview with James Hart and a celebration of the Reconciliation Pole's arrival at the Museum of Anthropology in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Please join us to witness the ongoing story of the indigenous people carving their past, present and future into the Reconciliation Pole.
Click here to read Sharon's account of the last three years as she has watched the Reconciliation Pole take shape.
Click here to see a video-slideshow of an interview with James Hart and a celebration of the Reconciliation Pole's arrival at the Museum of Anthropology in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Please join us to witness the ongoing story of the indigenous people carving their past, present and future into the Reconciliation Pole.
August 25, 2016, Indigenous Peoples honor
the environment and its creatures by joining in the celebration of
the 100th Anniversary of the National Park Service #nationalparkservice
Digital technology broadcast the 100th anniversary celebrations of the National Park Service involving First Nations people. Live streaming of events, Twitter hashtags, regular blasts on Facebook, and posts are everywhere, whether it’s images, music or speeches from events. We, Dos Polacas, have noticed a change over the last few years: native communities are handling this technology rather than being handled by it.
Technology, whether it is 19th century radio or 21st century internet, has been a tool to assimilate indigenous communities. Assimilation reads as colonization: attempting to erase the native culture institutionally, socially, economically through a systemic obliteration of the structures holding native communities together. The accumulated result has been disastrous: an overwhelming perception of poverty, neglect, depersonalization and powerlessness within native communities.
In 2016 we have witnessed the explosive growth of indigenous use of digital technology and a strong native presence on social media.
Technologies, once used to assimilate, dilute and weaken indigenous cultures around the world, are now being by natives in their struggles to protect the environment, safeguard their way of life and celebrate the resilience of their peoples.
The result has been some changes in laws, policies and perceptions. And maybe even more reverence and protection for Mother Earth but we’ll just have to wait and see.
Technology, whether it is 19th century radio or 21st century internet, has been a tool to assimilate indigenous communities. Assimilation reads as colonization: attempting to erase the native culture institutionally, socially, economically through a systemic obliteration of the structures holding native communities together. The accumulated result has been disastrous: an overwhelming perception of poverty, neglect, depersonalization and powerlessness within native communities.
In 2016 we have witnessed the explosive growth of indigenous use of digital technology and a strong native presence on social media.
Technologies, once used to assimilate, dilute and weaken indigenous cultures around the world, are now being by natives in their struggles to protect the environment, safeguard their way of life and celebrate the resilience of their peoples.
The result has been some changes in laws, policies and perceptions. And maybe even more reverence and protection for Mother Earth but we’ll just have to wait and see.
Glacier Bay, Alaska:
Big House Opening Ceremony
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English Camp, San Juan Island, Washington: Coast Salish Totem Pole Dedication
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St. Mark's Cathedral, Seattle, Washington: Lummi Nation Totem Pole Journey
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VIDEO: Welcoming the Canoe Families to Nisqually
Next best things to being at the Paddle To Nisqually: check out our video!
A thrilling beginning to days and days of ceremony, singing and dancing.
While Dos Polacas were unable to be there for the entire week, we are so thankful we were there when the canoes arrived!
While Dos Polacas were unable to be there for the entire week, we are so thankful we were there when the canoes arrived!
August 2016: Dos Polacas Attend & Document
2016 Paddle to Nisqually
Canoe Journey
A canoe journey is a weaving that every year unravels and is re-woven again for warmth, protection and healing.
In the spring paddlers gather to ready themselves, their canoes and their hearts for the journey.
The older generation looks on, remembering their own journeys across the waters of the Pacific Northwest, down rivers and up coasts.
Excited children run back and forth waiting for their time to take up the paddle.
The paddlers feel the energy gathering.
In the spring paddlers gather to ready themselves, their canoes and their hearts for the journey.
The older generation looks on, remembering their own journeys across the waters of the Pacific Northwest, down rivers and up coasts.
Excited children run back and forth waiting for their time to take up the paddle.
The paddlers feel the energy gathering.
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For a more complete recounting of this memorable event, click HERE.
Sights and sounds, ancient and modern, songs and carvings, all reflect the resilience and beauty of this indigenous culture stretching coast to coast and north and south.
Sights and sounds, ancient and modern, songs and carvings, all reflect the resilience and beauty of this indigenous culture stretching coast to coast and north and south.
June 2016: Dos Polacas Visit Alert Bay for
the Salmon Pageant, June Sports and a Feast!
Alert Bay - June Pageantry We are so fortunate to have made the wonderful connections we have over the last 18 years in Alert Bay. This community continues to be a source of joy, laughter, knowledge and deepening friendships.
In June 2016 we brought a slideshow of the elders' portraits from our book project "In the Hands of Our Elders" to the U'Mista Cultural Center in Alert Bay to let the community see what we were doing.
It was June Sports Weekend and full of soccer and community events including
In June 2016 we brought a slideshow of the elders' portraits from our book project "In the Hands of Our Elders" to the U'Mista Cultural Center in Alert Bay to let the community see what we were doing.
It was June Sports Weekend and full of soccer and community events including
- the Salmon pageant to choose the Salmon Prince and Princess
- a fantastic and supernatural parade marking the opening of June Sports
- a feast celebrating the graduation of several members of the Dawson family to which we were invited to photograph and record
2016 Salmon Prince and Princess
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A parade kicks off festivities. This year's theme: Potlatch.
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Salmon cooking around the Big House fire in preparation for the Dawson feast
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All weekend the eagles serenaded us (as only eagles can), the ravens urged us forward and the serendipities multiplied. We came home exhausted and happy, full of experiences reinforcing our "In the Hands of Our Elders" book project!
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Dos Polacas' job is
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Dos Polacas found themselves in Vancouver, British Columbia on April 2016 in the presence of two chiefs,
one Tlingit and one Kwakwaka'wakw.
Jim Thomas, Tlingit, and Beau Dick, Kwakwaka'wakw, were telling stories and teasing us,
finding out they had family ties in common and glorying in a new friendship.
Sharon took photographs and Pamela recorded the stories while Zenia Pakker-Kozicki was there to video it all.
Click HERE and HERE to check out two of the stories from this magical gathering!
one Tlingit and one Kwakwaka'wakw.
Jim Thomas, Tlingit, and Beau Dick, Kwakwaka'wakw, were telling stories and teasing us,
finding out they had family ties in common and glorying in a new friendship.
Sharon took photographs and Pamela recorded the stories while Zenia Pakker-Kozicki was there to video it all.
Click HERE and HERE to check out two of the stories from this magical gathering!
"In the Hands of Our Elders"
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Uses Sharon Eva Grainger's portraits of Elders to celebrate the Elders' resilience, through their stories,
ceremonies and language. Intersperses Elders' portraits with stories, told in the elders' own words, recorded and transcribed by Pamela Pakker-Kozicki. The Elders' strength is creating a path to a future where children, grand-children and great grand-children will derive their own resiliency from the legacy offered by today's Elders and from the grounding their culture gives them. |
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We are
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We are very grateful for their support. 
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The October 2016 Kickstarter funds will go to
The book will contain:
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In March 2016, 137 people pledged to get "In the Hands of Our Elders" published.
Thank you to everyone who pledged!
We missed our target but we will be coming back in October 2016 with another Kickstarter campaign.
We learned so much we cannot begin to tell you.
We have been evaluating our March 2016 Kickstarter.
Changes in our October 2016 Kickstarter and In the Hands of Our Elders book project:
==> involving people from different international organizations, as well as indigenous people,
==> tweaking reward levels to make our project and the In the Hands of Our Elders book more accessible to more people
Thank you to everyone who pledged!
We missed our target but we will be coming back in October 2016 with another Kickstarter campaign.
We learned so much we cannot begin to tell you.
We have been evaluating our March 2016 Kickstarter.
Changes in our October 2016 Kickstarter and In the Hands of Our Elders book project:
==> involving people from different international organizations, as well as indigenous people,
==> tweaking reward levels to make our project and the In the Hands of Our Elders book more accessible to more people
Here (below) is a video of Darrell Hillaire, Lummi Nation, Director of the Lummi Youth Academy,
speaking, as only he can, in support of this ground-breaking book project.
speaking, as only he can, in support of this ground-breaking book project.
Our Kickstarter Launch event, held Sunday Feb 21, 2016 on the 29th Floor of the Historic Smith Tower, in the offices of Tahzoo,
gathered supporters together from all over.
Here (below)is an excerpt what Chief Jim Thomas, Tlingit, said
in support of Dos Polacas' book project "In the Hands of Our Elders."
If you were there, you can relive it! If you weren't, you can enjoy a 5-minute snippet of what we heard and felt.
gathered supporters together from all over.
Here (below)is an excerpt what Chief Jim Thomas, Tlingit, said
in support of Dos Polacas' book project "In the Hands of Our Elders."
If you were there, you can relive it! If you weren't, you can enjoy a 5-minute snippet of what we heard and felt.
 The twinkling eyes of Auntie Ethel,
Alert Bay, British Columbia
The Feb and March 2016 Kickstarter Campaign's goal was to raise money to finish and publish the book "In the Hands of Our Elders." Even though we fell short, we learned a lot.
So stay tuned for our next Kickstarter in October 2016. After all, you don't want the Bukwus to come find you, do you? 
Bukwus, wild man of Kwakwaka'wakw legend, courtesy of Chief Beau Dick
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January 15th and 16th 2016
Lalakenis/All Directions: A Journey of Truth and Unity
Box of Treasures
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January 16th 2016 was a "grey on grey day with shades of dark green." A mix of low-hanging clouds and rain. In other words, a perfect January day in the Pacific Northwest. First Nations people were gathering, preparing for the Procession to inaugurate the official opening of Vancouver UBC's Belkin Gallery exhibit "Lalakenis/All Directions: A Journey of Truth and Unity."
It celebrates the 4,500 km path traveled by Chief Beau Dick, Chief Giindajin Haawasti Guujaaw of the Haida Nation and 21 others to Ottawa. Beau started out with his two daughters, Linnea and Geraldine and a dozen other companions in February 2013 from Quatsino on the northwest side of Vancouver Island.
Like a rock dropped into a pond, the ripples from their journey have spread far and risen high.
In Victoria on the steps of the Legislature, they presented coppers brought from their communities and made a Copper Cutting Ceremony, taking the unprecedented step of reintroducing the symbolic breaking of coppers to the modern political world. The following year, they were in Ottawa. Coppers, with all their emotional and institutional weight, were now broken to express how one entity - the indigenous people and their natural environment - had been wronged, disparaged and marginalized by the Canadian government through unjust policies and denying of treaty rights. To damage the environment is to injure the spirit and heart of the indigenous people.
It celebrates the 4,500 km path traveled by Chief Beau Dick, Chief Giindajin Haawasti Guujaaw of the Haida Nation and 21 others to Ottawa. Beau started out with his two daughters, Linnea and Geraldine and a dozen other companions in February 2013 from Quatsino on the northwest side of Vancouver Island.
Like a rock dropped into a pond, the ripples from their journey have spread far and risen high.
In Victoria on the steps of the Legislature, they presented coppers brought from their communities and made a Copper Cutting Ceremony, taking the unprecedented step of reintroducing the symbolic breaking of coppers to the modern political world. The following year, they were in Ottawa. Coppers, with all their emotional and institutional weight, were now broken to express how one entity - the indigenous people and their natural environment - had been wronged, disparaged and marginalized by the Canadian government through unjust policies and denying of treaty rights. To damage the environment is to injure the spirit and heart of the indigenous people.
Paris, December 2015
Dos Polacas at the Paris Climate Change Conference (COP21)
The Paris Climate Change Conference doesn't only include heads of state.
Representatives from scores of indigenous groups from around the planet have met in Paris during the last weeks of 2015.
It began November 25th with "Resilience in a time of uncertainty: Indigenous peoples and climate change” with speakers from many indigenous groups from the Navajo to the Sami, from Tahiti to Tibet.
Between December 5th and December 12th, Dos Polacas has been honored to have their work presented at two different times by indigenous representatives at
the Climate Change Conference.
The Lummi Nation Youth Paddlers have chosen to exhibit a special Dos Polacas slide presentation during their traditional give-away, or potlatch in the Indigenous Pavilion. Photography by Sharon Eva Grainger and the writings of Pamela Pakker-Kozicki combine into a moving display of images highlighting
the spectacular natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest and
the strength of the Lummi Nation Youth Paddlers.
Jon Waterhouse, an indigenous climate activist who has been invited to speak at the Climate Change Conference, will also be showing Dos Polacas' work during his speech “A Call of Action: Sovereign Nations and Global Warming,” using Sharon’s images and Pamela’s writings plus other work by photographers from across North America.
It began November 25th with "Resilience in a time of uncertainty: Indigenous peoples and climate change” with speakers from many indigenous groups from the Navajo to the Sami, from Tahiti to Tibet.
Between December 5th and December 12th, Dos Polacas has been honored to have their work presented at two different times by indigenous representatives at
the Climate Change Conference.
The Lummi Nation Youth Paddlers have chosen to exhibit a special Dos Polacas slide presentation during their traditional give-away, or potlatch in the Indigenous Pavilion. Photography by Sharon Eva Grainger and the writings of Pamela Pakker-Kozicki combine into a moving display of images highlighting
the spectacular natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest and
the strength of the Lummi Nation Youth Paddlers.
Jon Waterhouse, an indigenous climate activist who has been invited to speak at the Climate Change Conference, will also be showing Dos Polacas' work during his speech “A Call of Action: Sovereign Nations and Global Warming,” using Sharon’s images and Pamela’s writings plus other work by photographers from across North America.