Photos of the July 2013 Festival of Native Peoples

Here's a link to a great set of photos from the July 2013 Festival of Native Peoples (I did not take these photos; but the one on the left is mine).  The photos show several of the groups that performed dances in Cherokee, NC from all over North America and Mexico (the Hawaiian group is based in Virginia).  The costumes are incredibly beautiful (especially the Aztec dancers!), as well as some of the musical instruments like the drums in the photo at left (in the photo the man on the left is Andy Everson, Northwest Coast artist and graphic designer– check out his great art at www.andyeverson.com).

Below is a video of the Raven Gwawena Dance, performed by the Le-La-La Dancers of Northern Vancouver Island.  They are a traditional Kwakwaka'wakw (pronounced kwa kwa key wok) dance company that has shared their culture by entertaining and educating throughout the world for over 25 years under the direction of George Me'las Taylor (he is on the right in the photo above).