ARTIST STATEMENT

These photographs were taken at the Grand Portage reservation during Rendezvous Days at four separate powwow gatherings.

At opening ceremonies tribal flags are carried along with the flags of Canada and the United States. Veterans of foreign war and the families of those who died in military service are honored. Moccasined feet touch the earth in traditional steps as ancestors are remembered. The elders speak of how they felt the same heartbeat of the drums and rhythm of the dance in the land of many nations, long before there were reservations