Travel

The Raven and Eagle clans

 

Taken in Sitka, Alaska.
Taken in Sitka, Alaska.

Two traditionally carved canoes on display in Sitka, Alaska, show two major clans of Southeast Alaska and British Columbia, the Tlingit and Haida bands. According to the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, tribal members people are born into either the raven or eagle clan line, established matrilineally through their mother’s family. The council’s web site notes that in Tlingit, Yeil is Raven and Ch’aak is Eagle (Wolf is sometimes used interchangeably with Eagle).

If you have ever been to Southeast Alaska, one can see why these two powerful animals are chosen. The raven is the crafty trickster, the one who helped bring man into the world according to legend. The sneaky and beautiful raven makes haunting, complex noises that echo mysteriously in the damp forests of the region and can create a feast with any food that comes its way (my favorite Alaskan animal). Greenlanders on the far side of the Arctic I met also spoke highly of the raven for being a food thief from other predators. The eagle is the great and proud hunter, with the most watchful gaze one can imagine. Seeing it catch a salmon is an unforgettable sight. But they can also be dumpster divers, going after fish scraps from fish processing plants in Alaska, sometimes with sad consequences.

Personally, I think the raven run circles around the eagle, as bird intellects go.

These photos were taken in 1999. Click on each photo to see a larger picture in a separate picture page

Dark and light I found photographing tales from World War II
Taken in 2000, in Aarhus, Denmark.
Taken in 2000.

In 2000, I completed a photodocumentary project highlighting human rights abuses by the Nazis throughout Europe. For part of that project, I met some Danes who were involved in that country’s famous boat lift of its Jewish citizens to Sweden to escape being deported and murdered by the Nazis at death camps. It is one of the few positive stories from this incredibly sad, psychologically dark, and awful episode of human history. One of the couples I met, David and Lilian Birnbaum of Aarhus, Denmark, met in Sweden after they were successfully carried to temporary safety. Some recent exchanges I had from someone who knows them made me think about their incredible story again and how wonderful it was to have stumbled on such a bright tale from such an awful time. The other photo I am including is a sample from hundreds of photos I took at more than 20 death and concentration camps scattered across Europe. This one, Stutthof, is located about 35 kilometers east of Gdansk. It was a terrible place to those sent there. (Click on each photo to see a larger picture on a separate picture page.)

Sitka National Historic Park totem poles

 

Taken in 1999.
Taken in 1999.
Taken in 1999.

The Sitka National Historic Park, in the beautiful southeast Alaska city of Sitka, features some of the finest examples of Tlingit totem carvings, old and new, in the world. It is also among my favorite sanctuaries in the world. I lived in Sitka for a summer in 1992 and visited this place several times a week. These photos were taken during a trip I took in 1999, now 15 years ago (wow). So many of these totems most certainly have aged since I photographed them. More examples of my Alaska photos can be found on my Alaska gallery. (Please click on each photo to see a larger picture on a separate picture page.)

Seattle sunset and selfies from Kerry Park

 

Taken July 7, 2014.
Taken July 7, 2014.
Taken July 7, 2014.

On these amazingly beautiful summer nights in Seattle, one can finds huge crowds of locals and visitors at Kerry Park, on Queen Anne, snapping photos and gazing at Seattle, the Port of Seattle, and the Puget Sound. It’s quite a nice spot. Come if you can. (Click on each photograph to see larger pictures on separate picture pages.)

Summertime, and it is hot

 

This shot was taken in one of several refreshing lakes near Omak, Wash., a beautiful area about four hours by car from Seattle.

In central Washington, temperatures can push up to 100 F during the mid and late afternoon, and residents head for the nearest body of water to cool down. This shot was taken near Omak, Wash., in 2012. (Click on the picture to open the photograph on a separate picture page.)

Eastern Turkey, crossroads of civilization
This fortress, on the Silk Road, in northeast Turkey in the border city of Doğubeyazıt, also has a very distinct and Armenian looking structure that likely predates the later fortress, seen to the left of the structure (taken in 2001). Other and more historic ruins are on the hillside, not seen, include an old Urartu complex that predates the Byzantine Empire.
The Payas Madrassa, one of several historic structures in the coast town of Payas, in Turkey’s Hatay Province (taken 2001).

I travelled throughout all of Turkey in 2001 (see some more of my photographs on my Turkey gallery). It was an unforgettable trip. These are some black and white shots I took. I quickly converted these prints to digital images, and I probably could have been smarter about by using a tripod. But I actually like the look of these now. My actual work prints, and final prints, are a lot sharper. The palace is located in Doğubeyazıt, reportedly near the spot where the Bible’s fabled Noah’s Ark landed after the great flood. This is in far east Turkey, a mostly Kurdish region, near the Iran border. A major military base is here, obviously, and stocked with American made heavy armor, from what I remember seeing. I remember seeing goats walking down the main street, outside the Internet cafe where I passed the time.The shot from Payas, of a somewhat infamous madrassa, is along the coastal area, near Iskenderun. It sits next to a famous caravansary and kalesi (castle). This building dates from the Middle Ages. (Click on each photograph to see a larger picture on a separate picture page.)

Getting around in Indonesia: trains, planes, bemos, buses, kecaks, and ferries

I posted this video online five years ago to highlight the often chaotic world of public transportation in Indonesia. As worried as I was about the large number of jet crashes and ferry sinkings there, the hazards of riding local public transportation gave me more concern. And, these concerns are well-justified.

Road injuries are ranked 10th of all contributors to the global burden of disease–more so in developing nations. In Indonesia, approximately 49,000 people die annually on the roads. Having seen in person several fatal road accidents there, usually involving small motorcycles and larger vehicles, I can say unequivocally that these are horrific ways to die. In fact, the United States Department of State offers this warning to would-be American visitors to my very much beloved Indonesia: “Air, ferry, and road accidents resulting in fatalities, injuries, and significant damage are common. … While all forms of transportation are ostensibly regulated in Indonesia, oversight is spotty, equipment tends to be less well maintained than that operated in the United States, amenities do not typically meet Western standards, and rescue/emergency response is notably lacking.”

However, it is cheap to move around. Train travel was super easy, as was hopping on a bus, or the smaller bemos. I just would not advise getting in a taxi late at night during the seasonal typhoons and have the driver then tell you that his headlights are not working, in broken English, as you navigate back roads in a city you know nothing about. Ah, the memories of travel. Priceless.

By all means, please do visit Indonesia, support the local businesses there with your money, and use a bit of common sense. Or your can stay at home, thinking you are safe and cozy, and never really understand how things work in places as dynamic and important as the largest Moslem-majority country in the entire world. For that is what corporate greenwashing campaigns like the Rainforest Alliance’s Follow the Frog want us to do: never ever leave home and never ever learn about the world first-hand. The choice is truly yours. I say, be curious, be friendly, and definitely be mobile.

See my picture gallery of Indonesia photos on my web site. (Ed. Note: I legally changed my name to Rudy Owens from Rudy Brueggemann after I had produced this film, so that is why you will see that name on the video.)

Look around and you might find art about American Indians
This picture of a buffalo hunt decorates an electric utility box near Forest Park, in St. Louis, Mo., (Taken in May 2013.)
I took this picture depicting the treaty signed by the U.S. Government and tribes in Oregon in 1855, which decorates the side of a building in The Dalles, Ore. (Taken in June 2014.)

 

I took a drive from St. Louis to Seattle in 2013, with the goal of visiting a few places with historic significance to the story of American Indians/Native Americans. Oddly enough, the first thing I took a picture of was an electric box in St. Louis, by the light rail station, which had been painted with scenes of a buffalo hunt. I thought this must have been a locally supported art project, and I really liked these pieces. The same day I visited the Museum of Westward Expansion, under the Gateway Arch, which has a superb exhibit of the story of the West, including the loss of lands, conquest, and cultural collapse of bands who once called the American West their own.

This summer, I was passing through The Dalles, Ore., and saw the side of a local store that was painted with a mural telling the story of the treaty signed by the U.S. Government and Oregon tribes, which ceded much of the state to the United States. Large mural art by Alaskan Natives and American Indians can be found throughout the United States, but also in Canada and Mexico (by their first nations and indigenous artists). When you see something bold and creative, stop for a moment and think about the story. The art tells the tale of the land you are standing on. And the story is long, complex, and continuing.

(Please click on each photograph to see a larger picture on a separate picture page.)

Cemetery, Vik, Iceland
You can see how Icelanders’ naming traditions are expressed on these headstones (son of and daughter of). I snapped this in June 1998 during my first trip to Iceland.

I stayed in Vik for a night way back in 1998, and I enjoyed the location on the windswept North Atlantic, facing the sea. Lots of great opportunities for photographic moments in such a small place. (Click on the photograph to see a larger picture on a separate picture page.)

You never forget the first time you step foot in Greenland

 

I took this shot in June 1998, on a beautiful Greenland morning.

Yesterday I discovered some nice photos taken of east Greenland, in fjords near the air hub of Kulusuk. This is the sparsely inhabited region of Greenland, a home rule territory still within the Kingdom of Denmark. I landed in Kulusuk in June 1998. I will never forget this flight, from Reykjavik, Iceland. I flew on the very tough Bombardier Dash-8 prop plane, and my captain was a wonderful Greenlander who I then hired to charter a boat trip up a fjord near Nuuk, the capital, to find Viking archaeological ruins. The air when I stepped off for the refueling stop was crisp. Those arctic low hanging fog clouds shrouded the mountains. My fellow passengers were all delighted to be back home. I was in heaven. This trip changed my life.

You can see more of my photos shot in 1998, 1999, and 2000 on my Greenland picture gallery. (Click on photograph to open a larger picture on a separate picture page.)