"Ivan Pankararú and Leandro Pataxó representing the Pankararú and Pataxó indigenous peoples of Brazil traveled to the Pacific Northwest to join with the Puyallup on this year’s annual Tribal Canoe Journey. The two traveled to this corner of the globe in order to seek knowledge, build relationships and connect with the theme of this year’s journey: ”Loving, Caring, and Sharing Together.” They started their canoe journey at Owen Beach and carried on through Alki Beach, Suquamish, and Tulalip with the final landing ceremony at the host site in Swinomish.

This past summer I got to do some deep hanging out with folks from Brazil and the Puyallup Tribe as we canoed up the Puget Sound. The encounter grew out of a of conversation that occurred nearly one year ago at the home of Geralda Soares in Araçuaí, Brazil. I was to there to help with the FLIP Brazil: Documentary Filmmaking, Human Rights and Global Activism program. Led by Professors Angelica Macklin, Margaret Griesse and Jonathan Warren the program is jointly sponsored by the University of Washington’s Comparative History of Ideas Program, The Latin American Studies Program in the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies and the Master of Communication in Digital Media (MDCM) program. The FLIP Brazil program is grounded in the work that Jonathan Warren has been doing for over 20 years and is chronicled in his book, “Racial Revolutions: Antiracism and Indian Resurgence in Brazil.”"

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Connecting Through Canoes and Story (Flip the Media 11/15)