Kwadahi Dancers Dance in Europe

Brightly colored regalia. High energy movements. Storytelling from a rich heritage.

A group of young Amarillo performers will take the pageantry of Native American dance to Europe this summer.

The Kwahadi Dancers will tour Ireland, Scotland and Britain for 17 performances during the 23-day trip, which is scheduled to begin July 19.

“This is a tremendous opportunity for these kids,” said John Madden, associate adviser with the Kwahadi Dancers. “They will get to share their knowledge of Native American culture with people across the globe.”

Intricate Rainforest Sculptures of Olinda

Deep in an Australian rainforest lie sculptures dedicated to the Aboriginal’s of Australia.  In the times between 1949-1960, self taught sculptor William Ricketts learned about the culture of the Pitjantjatjara and the Arrernte peoples and their connection with nature.  These sculptures were born out of that time.

Annie Pootoogook’s Drawings of contemporary Inuit life - Boing Boing

Boing Boing:

The Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian is exhibiting 39 drawings “that chronicle the realities of contemporary Inuit life by renowned artist Annie Pootoogook.” It open on June 13.

Pootoogook’s detailed work describes everyday life in her home community of Cape Dorset, Nunavut. Her scenes of Inuit traditions include the less romantic but real integration of modern technologies such as video games and televisions as well as domestic abuse and tragedy. Her method, carefully outlined shapes in black filled with blocks of solid color, recalls traditional Inuit drawing while the subject matter reflects the unvarnished viewpoint of her generation. Other drawings are more personal and abstract, illustrating an emotional landscape of mental anguish, such as “Sadness and Relief for My Brother,” and the austere but compelling, still life of the artist’s prescription- medicine bottle, cup and a single dangling key in “Composition (Annie’s Tylenol).” Cheerful domestic scenes such as a family opening Christmas presents (“Christmas”) are depicted with the same precision and calm attention to detail as the emotion-laden composition “Memory of My Life: Breaking Bottles.”

Annie Pootoogook’s Drawings of contemporary Inuit life

(img via 4 Wheel War Pony)

from NMAI:

Ramp It Up: Skateboard Culture in Native America
June 12, 2009–September 13, 2009
NMAI on the National Mall, Washington, DC

Ramp it Up celebrates the vibrancy, creativity, and controversy of American Indian skate culture. Skateboarding combines demanding physical exertion with design, graphic art, filmmaking, and music to produce a unique and dynamic culture. One of the most popular sports on Indian reservations, skateboarding has inspired American Indian and Native Hawaiian communities to host skateboard competitions and build skate parks to encourage their youth. Native entrepreneurs own skateboard companies and sponsor community-based skate teams. Native artists and filmmakers, inspired by their skating experiences, credit the sport with teaching them a successful work ethic. The exhibition features rare and archival photographs and film of Native skaters as well as skatedecks from Native companies and contemporary artists.

from (New Scientist):

THE builders of the ancient Mayan temples

at Tikal in Guatemala switched to inferior wood a few decades before they suddenly abandoned the city in the 9th century AD. The shift is the strongest evidence yet that Mayan civilisation collapsed because they ran out of resources, rather than, say, disease or warfare.