Dana Gluckstein—Dignity: Tribes in Transition

Over the decades, I have photographed Indigenous Peoples fighting for their lands, their traditions, their languages, and their very lives against corporate, governmental and missionary interests and the encroachment of capitalism.   Years ago, I met a beautiful man in a dusty roadside market in Kenya.  With tribal markings on his forehead and a torn western t-shirt, he was caught between his traditional village and the modern capital of Nairobi.   He asked me to take his portrait.  I called this image “Tribal Man in Transition,” a thematic precursor to my current photographs.

It is my sincere wish that DIGNITY will serve as a critical call-to-action in support of all Indigenous Peoples. “The ancient ones” tell us where we have come from and where we must go as a world community. Humanity’s survival depends on how carefully we listen.”– Dana Gluckstein

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website.