Over the last weeks I’ve filmed at the Ethnic Dance Festival for the Ohlone Profiles Project, to document what everyone is calling the return of the Ohlone. At each event the folks like Ann Marie Sayers or Corrina Gould remind us that they never left, they were just driven from their original home in the bay area and now their history is finally being recognized in a beautiful way — let this just be the beginning!
June 3rd at city hall, Mayor Lee presented Rumsen Ohlone Tribal Chief Tony Cerda with the Festival’s annual Malonga Casquelourd Lifetime Achievement Award, which was followed by a presentation of song and dance. Last weekend the tribe was at the Yerba Buena Center (YBCA) where they performed, and at the evenings close held a healing ceremony for their ancestors who are buried below the YBCA and the Yerba Buena Gardens.
If you haven’t checked it out, the World Arts West Ethnic Dance Festival features bay area dancers performing dances from their culture and as Alastair Macaulay at the New York times puts it, “what other city in the world has anything like the ethnic dance festival.” It is truly a unique and powerful experience with dances from around the globe. This years dances originate from places like Peru, India, Lebanon, Hawaii, Mexico and yes, right here, San Francisco’s original people, the Ohlone. If you are looking for a meaningful event for your fourth of July weekend check out the Coastanoan Rumsen Tribe’s performance among other dancers at the YBCA Novelluss Theater on July 1, 2, or 3rd.
If you want to learn more and follow the latest Ohlone News, check out the Ohlone Profiles project. You might want to check out this bit of local while you’re here (why not, go for it!):
I’m facing a moral and environmental dilemma and I’m not sure what to do.
Earlier today I was ready to march up to my landlord’s door, (let’s call him Russell) and um, and, yes I would…well, and my plan got stuck there at inception because what would I do?
Berate him for cutting squares of Styrofoam into rounded shapes with such abandon that the Styrofoam coated the backyard, making it look as if a fake snow had just fallen? Should I point out that it’s not good for his son to inhale Styrofoam? (Because, it wasn’t Russell, who cut the Styrofoam, but his 16 year old son, who regularly breathes in all of those tiny Styrofoam balls into his young body as he shapes piece after piece.) Was I to cry about my small garden patch that now has Styrofoam pieces littering it? Was I to hand him facts about Styrofoam (one word: TOXIC) and suggest Styrofoam alternatives? Then ask if I could borrow one of his (many!) tools to fix something? Hi you morally bankrupt Styrofoam spilling MONSTER, can I borrow your handy box of tools? Read More at Conducive Chronicle
OR Watch the video evidence here:
m1m2 creative recently relocated back to the USA from Sydney Australia. Prior to that we lived in Germany. This has led to some interesting and comedic observations on the cultural differences which I will try to post in the future. For the moment I’m excited by all of the “green” ideas, companies, media organizations that are getting increasing press here.
I recently ran across the may/june 2006 (older but!) issue of UTNE which features “new capitalists” and discusses what’s happening out there to revolutionize the way businesses think and operate. Very worth checking out.
Somewhat related to this is an interesting company with a 3D camera and editing system that stitches the images together. It looks promising. I would love to play with it.
In the meantime, resources lifted from the utne magazine:
Santa did not bring me the Barbie Video Girl this year... perhaps next. (sigh)
; - ) http://t.co/XnHtJSO2 2011/12/26
RT @freerangestudio: Very cool -- a blog post on the @gatesfoundation blog called, "Can Stories Save Lives?" I think we know the answer! ... 2011/12/23
This video by @WomensEarthAlly and @freerangestudio is media at it's best and brightest http://t.co/H1riaf9f 2011/12/23
Over the last weeks I’ve filmed at the Ethnic Dance Festival for the Ohlone Profiles Project, to document what everyone is calling the return of the Ohlone. At each event the folks like Ann Marie Sayers or Corrina Gould remind us that they never left, they were just driven from their original home in the bay area and now their history is finally being recognized in a beautiful way — let this just be the beginning!
