Indigenous Peoples have a gift to give to us.
The book Dignity is in honor of the rights of Indigenous Peoples and is focused on the
United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which was adopted by 144
countries in 2007, with the exception of four countries that actually voted against it,
the United States, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.
But I'm happy to say now that over three years later, all four of those countries have finally
adopted.
You have been traveling almost 30 years in these countries to get these portrait pictures
and you said you wanted to wait for the right moment.
Why is now the right moment?
This has been an incredible moment with the 50th anniversary of Amnesty International,
the UN Declaration pushing for the four countries to adopt and making an advocacy campaign,
and also the accumulation of almost 30 years of my lifetime body of portrait work, which
I felt was finally ready to be donated and to make an impact for the world.
You talk a lot about the wisdom of the elders and you probably got a lot of wisdom.
What is the main message or the main wisdom that you want to share?
There are two wonderful quotes in the Dignity Book and the Exhibitions.
One is from Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa.
He says that Indigenous Peoples have a gift to give to us and that is the reminder that
we are made for harmony, we are made for interdependence, and it will be our demise as a planet if
we do not embrace this concept.
The second is by revered Native American elder, Faithkeeper Oren Lyons, who is of the
Iroquois tribe in upstate New York in the United States.
There is a philosophy with the Iroquois called the Seventh Generation.
That means that all of our leaders must contemplate their actions based on how it will impact
seven generations from now.
Our children's children's children's children's children's et cetera.
One can see that we would have a very different world if our leaders really listened to that.
For example, we would not drill for oil in the middle of the ocean if we didn't have
an answer for the tragedy of an oil leak.
We would not create nuclear power and thus nuclear waste if we didn't have an answer
for the nuclear waste.
You can see this in many different scenarios on the planet.
We are one tribe, we must heal our world, and I hope that these images surround people
with love and a feeling, a knowledge that we are truly one.
