Hi everyone-

Today's images were shot earlier this month at the North American Indian Days in Browning, MT on the Blackfeet Nation.

I found the two images interesting because of the vast difference between them.

So many of the Indian Nations are struggling to keep their cultures alive within their people, especially their young people.

This year I was so happy to see a huge increase in the amount of children participating in the pow wow. More than any other year that I can remember. I hope this is a trend that continues.

While most of the tribes struggle in some way to keep their culture alive all are developing or have programs in place to do just that. But I think that the most important part is family involvement and passing traditions and culture onto their children. Many families are obviously making this a priority from what I have seen.

But modern ways and influences are obviously something that will be hard to balance with. Technology has brought the world to the door steps of these nations. While this sounds great many of the people who live there would like some sort of balance between their traditions and culture and that of the modern world.

Today's two images I think speak to these points. The first shows family involvement, and the passing on of the culture and traditions to the youngest of family members. And it represents the innocence that comes with childhood.

The second image shows the juxtaposition of the influence of the modern, outside world on the older youth of the various nations.

I didn't set out to capture images that showed this struggle when I was shooting but through the editing process I noticed these two images and the story that they seemed to tell.

Have a great day!