My friend Linda is retiring from full-time teaching this year. To help celebrate, my friend Rachel and I made a digital story for Linda.

We were asked to create a video about Linda’s impact on the Australia/New Zealand Study Abroad program, which Linda and Rachel created as a result of their work with Digital Storytelling. Rachel and I realized the story could not just be about the international cultural exchange program, that it needed to encompass the power of storytelling as well. To get a look at the big picture, so we could distill it, we tried to map out, on a whiteboard, the entire series of events that culminated with an international exchange focused on indigenous culture. There were too many events, though, so we mapped what felt like the truly essential pieces.

We could easily have made an hour-long documentary film with all the material collected over the last ten years or so. Linda went on a sabbatical where she traveled the world interviewing storytellers. Linda and Rachel have taught Digital Storytelling classes for several years, impacting the lives of hundreds of students. They also teach the process to faculty, sometimes with my help. And the international exchange has been ongoing for the last four summers. We’ve also hosted at least four return visits. The metaphor of ripples helped us distill this material, and the impact of Linda in particular, to its utter essence, and into this 5-minute story.

We both felt it would be inappropriate to narrate, and instead we chose to let the stories do the talking. We excerpted them, but did not edit them, which means we left the voices and visuals intact. We added a bit of text, and some beautiful photos to accompany our words. We connected the dots of “aha” moments and experiences. We chose not to worry if anyone else “gets it.” This video is for Linda, and she gets it. If you feel it as a summation of years, instead of a linear narrative, you’ll get it.

I’m not sure what he is. I think he’s a hybrid toad, maybe part red-spotted toad and Woodhouse’s toad or maybe Arizona toad since he did have a tendency to hop rather than “walk.” Not really sure. While trying to identify him, I found a really nice description of the lives of toads in Arizona’s riparian areas.

Today, I am so glad I made this recording of the birds singing. I still think the crows have an Aussie accent. I know there were magpies around, and a mated pair of beautiful green parrots of some sort. And there was a little bird that looked a lot like a quail, only with the wrong colors. I don’t know all the other voices, but hearing them is still a form of sustenance.

Robert Croma asked if there is more from Australia. I’m actively looking for a few videos I remember making. I’m not sure if they are on tape, or already waiting my attention on a hard drive here in my office. But the travelogue I wrote with my mom still exists: Dreaming Down Under. And so do two photo galleries, one from 2004 and one from 2005.

I tried to record a lot of little moments that recurred daily at Korrawinga. There was a daily ritual the coffee addicts went through involving a personal French press. There was the daily walk down a gravelly, muddy dirt road to use one of the two outdoor showers. We had to watch for poisonous snakes on the way, and kick out the cane toads. There was being awakened at night by the dogs going through the trash, and awakened in the morning by the most beautiful birdsong I could imagine. And, every night, on the way to the toilet, there was the required stop to stand, shivering, staring at the sky, seeking out the new constellations, and searching for the familiar one we had in common, Orion, rising upside-down in the pre-dawn sky.

Good times.

Of course, my mom is also a source of awe-inspiring beauty and energy, and you’ll hear her voice along with the sounds of the Well.

If you ever come through Phoenix, I’d love to take you up here for a picnic.

Finally, 12 posts later, we have reached the end of the videos depicting how I spent a few hours on June 28, 2006 at Puniho Pa Marae in the Taranaki region of Aotearoa (New Zealand). Understand that I left for this journey about three days after Vloggercon, and was all fired up to document my trip. To force myself to remain in the moment, I took only three miniDV tapes with me. I had to capture video every night, or lose the ability to record more. But after this particular night, I couldn’t keep up, so this has been sitting on a hard drive since 2006.

I’m so glad I could finally share it. You have no idea.

By the way, the woman in red on screen left is Mahinekura the way I will always remember her.

I should mention we were gently told later that women do not stick out their tongues when they pukana. This wasn’t mentioned during our learning because the evening was all in fun. But our Maori friends told us afterward so that, should we visit other marae, we would not do something that might be offensive or embarrassing.

So this is the final performance by one of the groups we split into. I think they did a great job! It’s not easy learning to twirl poi if you didn’t do it as a child. Your wrists just aren’t that flexible. But this group did a wonderful job, and performed with joy and enthusiasm.

Performances continue tomorrow – stay tuned!

I gave my camera to my Maori photographer friend, Jo Tito, who shot great footage of us learning to haka. I love that she also shot the crowd observing us – it looks like they had a good time! I had about ten minutes of great footage and only cut it down to 5:30 – mainly because I want anyone from our group to be able to use this video to re-learn this haka. If our Aotearoa friends visit the U.S. we can welcome them in proper style!

Don’t worry, I’ve got all the final performances coming up next, and then some!

You’ve go to hand it to this “Sharing Cultures, Connecting Communities” international travel course. Where else would you find this diverse group from the U.S. all playing together, cooperatively, in such a spirit of love and respect. There are over seven cultural groups represented, including Choctaw, Euchee-Creek, Navajo, Mexican, Spanish, European and Maori. And I know I’m forgetting Jim’s tribal heritage – one of the tribes whose lands straddles the Canadian/U.S. border if I recall correctly.

Mark does a great job as an orator. Though we do not understand the Maori language, the intent of his speech is crystal clear. He helps us with his gestural language and his facial expressions. A waiata (song) always follows such a speech. It means that the singers support what has been said.

This is something I love about the Maori people I met. They are committed to preserving their language and culture, which they do for their children by immersing them in it. That means no compromise with respect to te reo (the Maori language). The Maori have the utmost respect for their guests, but they do not pause to interpret for them during formal greetings like this one. They trust in themselves that the spirit of their intent will come through, and they trust in you to take it in, to get it.

You may think the video is too long at over four minutes, but I challenge you to value another culture and language enough to watch and really listen. There are ideas being expressed for which English has no words. Therefore this moment is a treasure beyond measure.

Ooh! I found the words to this song.

Ehara i te Mea

Ehara i te mea
Nō naianei te aroha
Nō ngā tūpuna
I tuku iho, i tuku iho
Te whenua, te whenua
He oranga mō te iwi
Nō ngā tūpuna
I tuku iho, i tuku iho

You can see my friend Mahinekura in the background – she’s the woman wearing red. Going through footage from Puniho Pa brought so many great moments and feelings straight back into my heart. I’ll be sharing some of them with you on and off during the rest of December.

Ever.

First, the guerrilla music video I made with D-Squared of their song Little Iraq has been accepted on Neil Young‘s Living with War web site. At one point it ranked number 17 but has since fallen to 25. Every time someone clicks to view it the popularity ranking goes up, and we could use your support. If you have five minutes, visit http://www.neilyoung.com/lwwtoday/lwwvideospage.html and click the Little Iraq link to vote for us. We’re really excited to support and be a small part of Neil Young’s vision!

Next, Ryan Kost wrote about Recapturing the Agua Fria River’s oasis in the Arizona Republic recently, the exact area that inspired the song, and where the video was shot. It looks like Maricopa County Parks and Recreation Department has stopped allowing motor vehicles into the area. Hurray! A first step. And there is a public hearing coming up to discuss this conservation area and appropriate uses for it. If you live in Maricopa County I strongly urge you to attend and make your concerns known. Here is the info:

Sept. 17, 2007, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Albins Civic Center
19005 E. K-Mine Road Center in Black Canyon City
Details: (623) 374-5234

This little spot is important for a lot of reasons. It’s one of the very few natural lakes in this area. It’s a water resource that’s hugely important to the native wildlife, yet it’s being contaminated horribly by all the things people are leaving out there. Think about it: lead from bullets, chemicals from paint and motor oil and gasoline and God knows what else people are taking out there and either shooting up or dumping or just leaving sitting out. All of it leeching into our water supply.

There are amazing animals out there that I’ve never seen anywhere else, including the most incredible little frogs you’d never expect to see in the desert. And the abuse of this area is killing them.

There are also extraordinary petroglyphs out there, left by the ancestors of local First Nations peoples. Their precious cultural record, a huge part of the history of this area – not to mention incredibly beautiful enduring art – is being casually blown to bits by the ignorant.

I documented some of this in Table Mesa Road, which screened at Pixelodeon this summer. If you can go to the meeting and speak out, it’s a chance to make a difference. I’d love it if I could never get a bunch of production equipment out there again due to vehicle restrictions. Remember, take only photographs and leave only footprints – lightly treaded ones. The frogs and I thank you.

Aboriginal Welcome Song by Cheryl Colan is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at hummingcrow.com.

Here is the scene. We have been called onto the Marae (if you’ve seen Whale Rider you know what this sounds like), and speeches have been made (in Maori) to introduce us to the place and its leaders. We have in turn all stood up individually and told the people of this place who we are, where we came from and why we are here. There were many more people waiting to greet us than we expected, and they’ve sung to us twice already, to support the words of the speakers. And we have reciprocated by singing for them in support of the words of our leaders. Our time in this sacred space of meeting has ended, and to come back to normal space and time, we will all share a meal together.

So imagine all of that. And then, these beautiful people who have spent all this time preparing for us, cooking, preparing the space and the table, none will eat until we all help ourselves. And while we help ourselves, this song.

They are singing about what it means to be Maori, their journey as a people from the beginning of time until now, all they have endured and accomplished. Listen to the enormous love and pride in their voices.

I tell you, I couldn’t eat. I sat there with tears streaming down my face and splashing into my plate. And it’s happening again, writing this. Because now, even watching this crappy video, I see at least fifteen people I made a direct heart connection with, and the love contained within the sound of their voices carries across time and distance.

Thanks, David, for the video you shared, and for reminding me to unearth this and share it. It’s way too beautiful to sit on a hard drive, spinning.

But the world seems to be trying all the time to remind me that life is a circle.

During the same time Rosie was slowly leaving this world, these little hummingbirds were arriving. They have been a delight I am happy to share.

Right-click and download a 640×360 (AppleTV-sized) version of this video if you like.

It’s video from when I received my moko in June of 2006. I was in the Taranaki region Aotearoa as part of an intercultural exchange. I handed my good friend Wendy my video camera and she captured the experience for me.

This was a very personal experience that’s hard to put into words. I have been interested in ta moko for a long time. I have a couple of tattoos, but never felt they were a true and deep expression of myself.

Mahinekura Reinfeld arranged for us to meet the artist who designed her moko, Rangi Kipa. Mahinekura explained that instead of picking out something pre-designed, Rangi works by listening to you tell a story about yourself, which he translates into Maori iconography, and that he aligns his artwork with the muscle and skeleton structure of your body. She believes he channels from the spiritual realm as he works. (So do I.) She told us about her own preparations for receiving her moko, including spending three days fasting and purifying herself in a sacred place.

Since I knew I would have the opportunity to receive moko I decided to fast for three days and meditate as much as I could during our busy schedule. With the exception of Wendy, I didn’t tell my travel-mates I was doing this. I didn’t want to dramatize it. I wanted to honor this tradition. And it’s a good thing I did. I waffled about what story I would tell, but on the third day, a mere hour before we were to meet Rangi, the story came to me, and I knew it was right. I’m not sure that would have happened without my fast.

For those tattoo artists and aficionados who copy Maori designs, all I can say is don’t. Ta moko is a highly personal, spiritual process. Stealing a design is akin to crass identity theft, and totally inappropriate. It is more than worth your time, resources and energy to do it properly by working with a Maori artist.

Speaking of which, Rangi Kipa will be in the U.S. during May. At least I hope he will. Keep your eyes open for his visit, and come support his art.

More about Rangi:

• http://www.maoriart.org.nz/profiles/rangi_kipa
• http://www.whenua04.com/artists/rangi_kipa.htm