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  • A child of a mahout, tries to touch an elephant that is used for tourists in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India. A mahout is a person who drives an elephant.  Usually, a mahout starts as a boy in the 'family business' when he is assigned an elephant early in its life and they would be attached to each other throughout the elephant's life. The Indian Elephant  is one of three recognized subspecies of the Asian elephant, and native to mainland Asia. Since 1986, Elephas maximus has been listed as endangered by IUCN as the population has declined by at least 50% over the last three generations, estimated to be 60–75 years. The species is pre-eminently threatened by habitat loss, degradation and fragmentation.
    DSC_6165.TIF
  • Sockeye salmon that are still grey in color because they just arrived from the sea to the fresh water of the river wait to enter into Kurilskoye Lake at a research institute fish counting gate in the southern tip of the Russian peninsula August 7, 2007. The salmon  are threatened as poachers are paid large sums in a depressed economy for the caviar.
    IMG_1175.tif
  • This is one of the villages that was established after the Moroccans threatened to kill anyone possessing manuscripts in Timbuktu. The Kati family escaped and came to this place along the Niger river and has been living here since. Recently, a library was established in Timbuktu and the hidden manuscripts were brought back to be catalogued and preserved in the Fondo Kati Library.
    DSC_0199.jpg
  • Livestock traders take their animals to a local market May 12, 2006 in Wajir, Kenya. Most pastoralists lost nearly 90 percent of their animals in the ongoing drought and the animals that did survive are getting about half of the normal market rate. During the past decade, the frequency of drought has been increasing with shorter recovery periods, having an intense impact on the pastpralists who are among the regions most vulnerable population. Of the more than 8 million people in need of humanitarian assistance in the Horn of Africa, 1.6 million are children below the age of five years, threatened mainly by malnutrition. The loss of the animals, prime sources of meat and milk and the main financial assets of the pastoralists,  has created a spiralling cycle of poverty and insecurity. (Ami Vitale)
    _DSC0018.jpg
  • A brown bear takes a break from feasting on salmon in Kamchatka, Russia. The western Bering Sea suffers from high levels of illegal fishing and many areas are overfished. The increasing demand for salmon and salmon caviar, a delicacy in Russia and Japan, is reducing salmon populations beyond the point which they can naturally recover.  Salmon habitat is also under increasing development pressure. The pristine rivers - spawning grounds for salmon - and surrounding landscape are being cut by roads and infrastructure for development. Bears are being threatened not only by poaching but by a dwindling food source.
    66-MPOY-Vitaa-21.jpg
  • Brown bears fight for the salmon in Katmai Park in Alaska whose rivers host the worlds largest population of sockeye salmon but are now threatened by the proposed Pebble Mine. ?
    7KNAS.jpg
  • The fragile landscape of Alaska is threatened by a proposed development to create the largest North American open-pit gold mine.  The Pebble Mine has been described by proponents as "Alaska's second Gold Rush." If approved, it could create a 1,000-square-mile industrialized mining zone within the Bristol Bay watershed and be mined for the next 40 to 50 years, and will produce some of hard-rock mining's most toxic wastes. Salmon, both farmed and wild, face many dire threats related to things such as land development and pollution. Over the years, demand for salmon has gone up, while the population of salmon has steadily gone down. If this growing trend continues, it may not be long before salmon are on the verge of extinction.
    7BNAS.jpg
  • Kamchatkan Brown bears eat sockeye salmon in Kurilskoye Lake in the southern tip of the Russian peninsula August 5, 2007. The salmon and bears are both threatened as poachers and hunters pay large sums in a depressed economy.
    DSC_0004.tif
  • Sockeye salmon that are still grey in color because they just arrived from the sea to the fresh water of the river wait to enter into Kurilskoye Lake at a research institute fish counting gate in the southern tip of the Russian peninsula August 7, 2007. The salmon  are threatened as poachers are paid large sums in a depressed economy for the caviar.
    IMG_1007.tif
  • Sockeye salmon that are still grey in color because they just arrived from the sea to the fresh water of the river wait to enter into Kurilskoye Lake at a research institute fish counting gate in the southern tip of the Russian peninsula August 7, 2007. The salmon  are threatened as poachers are paid large sums in a depressed economy for the caviar.
    IMG_1090.tif
  • Sockeye salmon that are still grey in color because they just arrived from the sea to the fresh water of the river wait to enter into Kurilskoye Lake at a research institute fish counting gate in the southern tip of the Russian peninsula August 7, 2007. The salmon  are threatened as poachers are paid large sums in a depressed economy for the caviar.
    IMG_1152.tif
  • Sockeye salmon that are still grey in color because they just arrived from the sea to the fresh water of the river wait to enter into Kurilskoye Lake at a research institute fish counting gate in the southern tip of the Russian peninsula August 7, 2007. The salmon  are threatened as poachers are paid large sums in a depressed economy for the caviar.
    IMG_1150.tif
  • Sockeye salmon that are still grey in color because they just arrived from the sea to the fresh water of the river wait to enter into Kurilskoye Lake at a research institute fish counting gate in the southern tip of the Russian peninsula August 7, 2007. The salmon  are threatened as poachers are paid large sums in a depressed economy for the caviar.
    IMG_1361.tif
  • Fatima Ahamed, 18, prepares a dinner of maize given out by World Food Program for her husband and 2 children May 11, 2006 in Arba Geramso, 35 kilometers outside of  Wajir, Kenya. Most pastoralists lost nearly 90 percent of their animals in the ongoing drought and 80 percent of the population relies on food aid for survival. During the past decade, the frequency of drought has been increasing with shorter recovery periods, having an intense impact on the pastpralists who are among the regions most vulnerable population. Of the more than 8 million people in need of humanitarian assistance in the Horn of Africa, 1.6 million are children below the age of five years, threatened mainly by malnutrition. The loss of the animals, prime sources of meat and milk and the main financial assets of the pastoralists,  has created a spiralling cycle of poverty and insecurity. (Ami Vitale)
    _DSC0332.jpg
  • Hussein, 8, stands in front of a cow carcass May 12, 2006 in his village of Dasheq near Wajir, Kenya. Most pastoralists lost nearly 90 percent of their animals in the ongoing drought and the animals that did survive are getting about half of the normal market rate. During the past decade, the frequency of drought has been increasing with shorter recovery periods, having an intense impact on the pastpralists who are among the regions most vulnerable population. Of the more than 8 million people in need of humanitarian assistance in the Horn of Africa, 1.6 million are children below the age of five years, threatened mainly by malnutrition. The loss of the animals, prime sources of meat and milk and the main financial assets of the pastoralists,  has created a spiralling cycle of poverty and insecurity. (Ami Vitale)
    _DSC0217.jpg
  • Nomadic Pastoralists take their animals for grazing outside of Wajir, Kenya May 13, 2006.  During the past decade, the frequency of drought has been increasing with shorter recovery periods, having an intense impact on the pastoralists who are among the regions most vulnerable population. Of the more than 8 million people in need of humanitarian assistance in the Horn of Africa, 1.6 million are children below the age of five years, threatened mainly by malnutrition. The loss of the animals, prime sources of meat and milk and the main financial assets of the pastoralists,  has created a spiralling cycle of poverty and insecurity. (Ami Vitale)
    _DSC0146.jpg
  • Relics from a  puja ceremony to Hindu Gods including Ganesh, the half human-half elephant God sit on the banks of a river in Tezpur, in Assam, eastern India December 25, 2003. India and its sacred elephants are threatened by deforestation and encroachment of the reserved land and natural forests.  As a result, wild elephants are rampaging through villages, killing people and destroying their homes and crops but still people revere the elephants. (Ami Vitale)
    Elephants051.jpg
  • Villagers, many of whom lost their homes, crops, and even a man who was killed by elephants perform a "puja" or holy ceremony to the Hindu God Lord Ganesha who is half human and half elephant to ask him to protect the village from real elephants coming back and causing more destruction  near Tezpur in Assam, eastern India January 6, 2004.  Villagers have been forced to stay up lighting fires, banging tin cans, throwing firecrackers to keep elephants from destroying their crops, homes and somtimes killing people. India and its sacred elephants are threatened by the deforestation caused by encroachment of the reserved land and natural forests.  As a result, wild elephants are rampaging through villages, killing people and destroying their homes and crops. (Ami Vitale)

    Elephants046.jpg
  • Villagers who lost their homes to elephants wake up on the floor of a neighbors house  near Tezpur in Assam, eastern India January 6, 2004.  Villagers have been forced to stay up lighting fires, banging tin cans, throwing firecrackers to keep elephants from destroying their crops, homes and somtimes killing people. India and its sacred elephants are threatened by the deforestation caused by encroachment of the reserved land and natural forests.  As a result, wild elephants are rampaging through villages, killing people and destroying their homes and crops. (Ami Vitale)

    Elephants042.jpg
  • Hundreds, perhaps thousands of villagers, forest rangers, police and wildlife experts attempt to drive a herd of elephants from a village on the outskirts of Tezpur, Assam in Eastern India December 22, 2003.  India and its sacred elephants are threatened by poaching, deforestation and encroachment of the reserved land and natural forests.  As a result of the loss of land, wild elephants are rampaging through villages, killing people and destroying their homes and crops. During this drive, a baby elephant, only days old was seperating from his mother and faces probable death without her. He is now at a rescue center in Kaziranga. (Ami Vitale)
    Elephants041.jpg
  • Hundreds, perhaps thousands of villagers, forest rangers, police and wildlife experts attempt to drive a herd of elephants from a village on the outskirts of Tezpur, Assam in Eastern India December 22, 2003.  India and its sacred elephants are threatened by poaching, deforestation and encroachment of the reserved land and natural forests.  As a result of the loss of land, wild elephants are rampaging through villages, killing people and destroying their homes and crops. During this drive, a baby elephant, only days old was seperating from his mother and faces probable death without her. He is now at a rescue center in Kaziranga. (Ami Vitale)
    Elephants037.jpg
  • Indian Forest rangers take a man accused of murder and illegal logging back to the murder scene in Sonitpur district in Assam, eastern India  December 29,2003.   India and its elephants are threatened by deforestation because of encroachment of the reserved land and natural forests.  As a result, wild elephants are rampaging through villages, killing people and destroying their homes and crops. (Ami Vitale)
    Elephants030.jpg
  • Wildlife graze inside the Kaziranga National Park in Assam, eastern India where thousands of tourists visit each year January 6, 2004. India and its sacred elephants are threatened by deforestation and encroachment of the reserved land and natural forests.  As a result, wild elephants are rampaging through villages, killing people and destroying their homes and crops. (Ami Vitale)
    Elephants029.jpg
  • Muslim children sit inside Dariya Khan Ghhumnat Rahat refugee camp set up outside a school in the state of Gujarat in Ahmedabad, India May 10, 2002. The extent of the damage and displacement of more than 120,000 people has threatened the secular ideals of India and left the government under attack for its inadequate relief arrangements....
    Gujarat11.jpg
  • Mae M. Bruton Adams and her two children take time to enjoy the stunning nature of the remote island of Pohnpei in the Federated States of Micronesia in the Pacific. She works to protect the enviroment that is threatened by rising water,  habitat alteration and loss, destructive harvesting, and the over-exploitation of natural resources.
    66-MPOY-Vitaa-45.jpg
  • Sockeye salmon that are still grey in color because they just arrived from the sea to the fresh water of the river wait to enter into Kurilskoye Lake at a research institute fish counting gate in the southern tip of the Russian peninsula August 7, 2007. The salmon  are threatened as poachers are paid large sums in a depressed economy for the caviar.
    IMG_1007.jpg
  • The footprints of an Asian elephant symbolize what may be all that is left of the giant creatures that once ruled most of India.The sacred elephants are threatened by deforestation and encroachment of the reserved land and natural forests.  As a result, wild elephants are rampaging through villages, killing people and destroying their homes and crops. ....
    00004194-NPS-012.jpg
  • Elephants roam inside the Kaziranga National Park in Assam, eastern India where thousands of tourists visit each year January 4, 2004. India and its sacred elephants are threatened by deforestation and encroachment of the reserved land and natural forests.  As a result, wild elephants are rampaging through villages, killing people and destroying their homes and crops. (Ami Vitale)
    Elephants035.jpg
  • Villagers who lost their homes to elephants wake up on the floor of a neighbors house  near Tezpur in Assam, eastern India January 6, 2004.  Villagers have been forced to stay up lighting fires, banging tin cans, throwing firecrackers to keep elephants from destroying their crops, homes and somtimes killing people. India and its sacred elephants are threatened by the deforestation caused by encroachment of the reserved land and natural forests.  As a result, wild elephants are rampaging through villages, killing people and destroying their homes and crops. (Ami Vitale) 

    Elephants034.jpg
  • Villagers who lost their homes to elephants wake up on the floor of a neighbors house  near Tezpur in Assam, eastern India January 6, 2004.  Villagers have been forced to stay up lighting fires, banging tin cans, throwing firecrackers to keep elephants from destroying their crops, homes and somtimes killing people. India and its sacred elephants are threatened by the deforestation caused by encroachment of the reserved land and natural forests.  As a result, wild elephants are rampaging through villages, killing people and destroying their homes and crops. (Ami Vitale)

    Elephants033.jpg
  • Wildlife graze inside the Kaziranga National Park in Assam, eastern India where thousands of tourists visit each year January 6, 2004. India and its sacred elephants are threatened by deforestation and encroachment of the reserved land and natural forests.  As a result, wild elephants are rampaging through villages, killing people and destroying their homes and crops. (Ami Vitale)
    Elephants031.jpg
  • The signs of changing times are evident as Maasai children relax with a game of football as their elders walk by cloaked in traditional clothing during lunch break at the Endulen Primary school in Ngornogoro District in Tanzania September 29, 2003.  Most Maasai now see the value of sending their children to school so they can have a voice in the government to protect themselves with increasing land loss. The Maasai were thrown out of the Crater in 1972 in the name of conservation and are being threatened again  under a torrent of new legislation. Like other indigenous people the world over, they continue to be evicted from their land in the name of tourism and conservation. They have lived on these lands for centuries but now struggle to survive on their borders, especially in the difficult drought years. Though they were able to live in harmony with the wildlife for centuries, the places with rich water sources are now preserved for tourists.  Eco-tourism, the government solution to chronic poverty, brings in vast revenues but sadly, the dispossessed Maasai are not allowed to benefit. Only a handful, mostly foreign owned tourist operators profit and only a tiny portion of the money actually filters through to the local economy.
    ami123.jpg
  • Naitemu Letur pushes a jug of water back to her manyatta. "Before, we would walk for hours every day just to get water. Sometimes it was not safe but now we have plenty of water near our homes and this has made our lives more secure. " The Northern Rangelands Trust in Northern Kenya  is a group of conservanices that make conservation a self-sustaining proposition—financially and socially—by providing water, health care, education and jobs for the local community through responsible tourism and complementary agro-pastoralism. Ths makes the community deeply invested in the effort’s success. In earlier conservation efforts, threatened forests and endangered species were protected by uniformed guards. In the NRT, they are protected by women and school children, who have a vested interest in a healthy environment because they benefit directly. Rather than something that has to be guarded from local communities, the environment becomes a source of sustainable economic activity for those communities.
    KEN_1280.JPG
  • Akuguk Roman Cholkovich (74), an indigenous Chukchu tribal hangs salmon at their summer fishing camp along the river Vyvenka in Khailino, Kamchatka. His family along with other indigenous families are most vulnerable to the dwindling salmon stocks as they rely on it as a main source of protein for the entire year. Poaching in Kamchatka is on such a large scale that, like the sturgeon, the Pacific salmon is at risk of disappearing altogether. The economy is struggling and the only way for most people to survive is through poaching and fishing in the short summer months. So now the fish population is rapidly declining as poachers collect the eggs and don't allow the salmon to spawn for the next generations
    66-15-Vitaa-03.jpg
  • Koryak men who have been hired as salmon caviar poachers gather spawning fish along the Vyvenka river near Khailinina in Northern Kamchatka. Poaching is one of the biggest dangers to wild salmon. Since salmon eggs are in high demand in some countries like Russia and far more lucrative than any other viable trade in the region, many see this as the only opportunity for survival. The result is a vast decrease among the salmon population. Over the years, demand for salmon has gone up, while the population of salmon has steadily gone down. If this growing trend continues, it may not be long before salmon are on the verge of extinction.
    66-MPOY-Vitaa-25.jpg
  • Akuguk Roman Cholkovich (74) and  his wife Raisa Romanovna (79), indigenous Chukchu tribals rest after a 16 hour day of catching salmon that they filet and dry at their summer fishing camp along the river Vyvenka in Khailino, Kamchatka July 15, 2007. Most indigenous people rely on the salmon harvested in the summer for the whole year. They dry it and feed it to themselves and their dogs that they use to get around on sleds in the harsh winter months. Because the area is so remote and no longer subsidized by the Russian or Soviet government of the past goods and gasoline are extremely expensive. The economy is struggling and the only way for most people to survive is through poaching and fishing in the short summer months. So now the fish population is rapidly declining as poachers collect the eggs and don't allow the salmon to spawn for the next generations.
    66-MPOY-Vitaa-23.jpg
  • Elephants roam inside the Kaziranga National Park in Assam, eastern India where thousands of tourists visit each year January 4, 2004. India and its sacred elephants are threatened by deforestation and encroachment of the reserved land and natural forests.  As a result, wild elephants are rampaging through villages, killing people and destroying their homes and crops. (Ami Vitale)
    Elephants057.jpg
  • Elephants roam inside the Kaziranga National Park in Assam, eastern India where thousands of tourists visit each year January 4, 2004. India and its sacred elephants are threatened by deforestation and encroachment of the reserved land and natural forests.  As a result, wild elephants are rampaging through villages, killing people and destroying their homes and crops. (Ami Vitale)
    Elephants054.jpg
  • Elephants roam inside the Kaziranga National Park in Assam, eastern India where thousands of tourists visit each year January 4, 2004. India and its sacred elephants are threatened by deforestation and encroachment of the reserved land and natural forests.  As a result, wild elephants are rampaging through villages, killing people and destroying their homes and crops. (Ami Vitale)
    Elephants052.jpg
  • Hundreds, perhaps thousands of villagers, forest rangers, police and wildlife experts attempt to drive a herd of elephants from a village on the outskirts of Tezpur, Assam in Eastern India December 22, 2003.  India and its sacred elephants are threatened by poaching, deforestation and encroachment of the reserved land and natural forests.  As a result of the loss of land, wild elephants are rampaging through villages, killing people and destroying their homes and crops. During this drive, a baby elephant, only days old was seperating from his mother and faces probable death without her. He is now at a rescue center in Kaziranga. (Ami Vitale)
    Elephants039.jpg
  • Wildlife graze inside the Kaziranga National Park in Assam, eastern India where thousands of tourists visit each year January 6, 2004. India and its sacred elephants are threatened by deforestation and encroachment of the reserved land and natural forests.  As a result, wild elephants are rampaging through villages, killing people and destroying their homes and crops. (Ami Vitale)
    Elephants026.jpg
  • Elephants roam inside the Kaziranga National Park in Assam, eastern India where thousands of tourists visit each year. India and its sacred elephants are threatened by deforestation and encroachment of the reserved land and natural forests.  As a result, wild elephants are rampaging through villages, killing people and destroying their homes and crops. They are often atttracted by the rice farms and in one night can destroy an entire villages' crop. (Ami Vitale)
    Elephants019.jpg
  • Elephants roam inside the Kaziranga National Park in Assam, eastern India where thousands of tourists visit each year. India and its sacred elephants are threatened by deforestation and encroachment of the reserved land and natural forests.  As a result, wild elephants are rampaging through villages, killing people and destroying their homes and crops. They are often atttracted by the rice farms and in one night can destroy an entire villages' crop. (Ami Vitale)
    Elephants017.jpg
  • Elephants roam inside the Kaziranga National Park in Assam, eastern India where thousands of tourists visit each year. India and its sacred elephants are threatened by deforestation and encroachment of the reserved land and natural forests.  As a result, wild elephants are rampaging through villages, killing people and destroying their homes and crops. They are often atttracted by the rice farms and in one night can destroy an entire villages' crop. (Ami Vitale)
    Elephants015.jpg
  • Elephants roam inside the Kaziranga National Park in Assam, eastern India where thousands of tourists visit each year. India and its sacred elephants are threatened by deforestation and encroachment of the reserved land and natural forests.  As a result, wild elephants are rampaging through villages, killing people and destroying their homes and crops. They are often atttracted by the rice farms and in one night can destroy an entire villages' crop. (Ami Vitale)
    Elephants010.jpg
  • Elephants roam inside the Kaziranga National Park in Assam, eastern India where thousands of tourists visit each year. India and its sacred elephants are threatened by deforestation and encroachment of the reserved land and natural forests.  As a result, wild elephants are rampaging through villages, killing people and destroying their homes and crops. They are often atttracted by the rice farms and in one night can destroy an entire villages' crop. (Ami Vitale)
    Elephants008.jpg
  • Elephants roam inside the Kaziranga National Park in Assam, eastern India where thousands of tourists visit each year. India and its sacred elephants are threatened by deforestation and encroachment of the reserved land and natural forests.  As a result, wild elephants are rampaging through villages, killing people and destroying their homes and crops. They are often atttracted by the rice farms and in one night can destroy an entire villages' crop. (Ami Vitale)
    Elephants006.tif
  • Elephants roam inside the Kaziranga National Park in Assam, eastern India where thousands of tourists visit each year. India and its sacred elephants are threatened by deforestation and encroachment of the reserved land and natural forests.  As a result, wild elephants are rampaging through villages, killing people and destroying their homes and crops. They are often atttracted by the rice farms and in one night can destroy an entire villages' crop. (Ami Vitale)
    Elephants005.tif
  • Elephants roam inside the Kaziranga National Park in Assam, eastern India where thousands of tourists visit each year. India and its sacred elephants are threatened by deforestation and encroachment of the reserved land and natural forests.  As a result, wild elephants are rampaging through villages, killing people and destroying their homes and crops. They are often atttracted by the rice farms and in one night can destroy an entire villages' crop. (Ami Vitale)
    Elephants003.tif
  • Elephants roam inside the Kaziranga National Park in Assam, eastern India where thousands of tourists visit each year. India and its sacred elephants are threatened by deforestation and encroachment of the reserved land and natural forests.  As a result, wild elephants are rampaging through villages, killing people and destroying their homes and crops. They are often atttracted by the rice farms and in one night can destroy an entire villages' crop. (Ami Vitale)
    Elephants002.tif
  • Muslim children sit inside Dariya Khan Ghhumnat Rahat refugee camp set up outside a school in the state of Gujarat in Ahmedabad, India, May 10, 2002. The extent of the damage and displacement of more than 120,000 people has threatened the secular ideals of India and left the government under attack for its inadequate relief arrangements.
    Gujarat012.jpg
  • Seasonal fish workers take a break after processing a small amount of salmon brought in late in the evening at the factory Okean -Zapad in Ust Bosheresk, Kamchatka. The dwindling salmon population illustrates that wildlife and humans alike are at risk  on both sides of the international boundary line.  The western Bering Sea suffers from high levels of illegal fishing and many areas are overfished. The increasing demand for salmon and salmon caviar, a delicacy in Russia and Japan, is reducing salmon populations beyond the point which they can naturally recover. Over the last two decades, the relatively well-protected Kamchatka fisheries have deteriorated along with the capacity of management agencies to enforce laws regulating harvest. Salmon habitat is also under increasing development pressure. The pristine rivers of the Kamchatka Peninsula - spawning grounds for salmon - and surrounding landscape are being cut by roads and infrastructure for mining and oil and gas expansion. 
    66-MPOY-Vitaa-28.jpg
  • Elephants roam inside the Kaziranga National Park in Assam, eastern India where thousands of tourists visit each year January 4, 2004. India and its sacred elephants are threatened by deforestation and encroachment of the reserved land and natural forests.  As a result, wild elephants are rampaging through villages, killing people and destroying their homes and crops. (Ami Vitale)
    Elephants040.jpg
  • Wildlife graze inside the Kaziranga National Park in Assam, eastern India where thousands of tourists visit each year January 6, 2004. India and its sacred elephants are threatened by deforestation and encroachment of the reserved land and natural forests.  As a result, wild elephants are rampaging through villages, killing people and destroying their homes and crops. (Ami Vitale)
    Elephants032.jpg
  • Wildlife graze inside the Kaziranga National Park in Assam, eastern India where thousands of tourists visit each year January 6, 2004. India and its sacred elephants are threatened by deforestation and encroachment of the reserved land and natural forests.  As a result, wild elephants are rampaging through villages, killing people and destroying their homes and crops. (Ami Vitale)
    Elephants025.jpg
  • Elephants roam inside the Kaziranga National Park in Assam, eastern India where thousands of tourists visit each year. India and its sacred elephants are threatened by deforestation and encroachment of the reserved land and natural forests.  As a result, wild elephants are rampaging through villages, killing people and destroying their homes and crops. They are often atttracted by the rice farms and in one night can destroy an entire villages' crop. (Ami Vitale)
    Elephants021.jpg
  • Elephants roam inside the Kaziranga National Park in Assam, eastern India where thousands of tourists visit each year. India and its sacred elephants are threatened by deforestation and encroachment of the reserved land and natural forests.  As a result, wild elephants are rampaging through villages, killing people and destroying their homes and crops. They are often atttracted by the rice farms and in one night can destroy an entire villages' crop. (Ami Vitale)
    Elephants020.tif
  • Elephants roam inside the Kaziranga National Park in Assam, eastern India where thousands of tourists visit each year. India and its sacred elephants are threatened by deforestation and encroachment of the reserved land and natural forests.  As a result, wild elephants are rampaging through villages, killing people and destroying their homes and crops. They are often atttracted by the rice farms and in one night can destroy an entire villages' crop. (Ami Vitale)
    Elephants016.jpg
  • Elephants roam inside the Kaziranga National Park in Assam, eastern India where thousands of tourists visit each year. India and its sacred elephants are threatened by deforestation and encroachment of the reserved land and natural forests.  As a result, wild elephants are rampaging through villages, killing people and destroying their homes and crops. They are often atttracted by the rice farms and in one night can destroy an entire villages' crop. (Ami Vitale)
    Elephants009.tif
  • Elephants roam inside the Kaziranga National Park in Assam, eastern India where thousands of tourists visit each year. India and its sacred elephants are threatened by deforestation and encroachment of the reserved land and natural forests.  As a result, wild elephants are rampaging through villages, killing people and destroying their homes and crops. They are often atttracted by the rice farms and in one night can destroy an entire villages' crop. (Ami Vitale)
    Elephants007.tif
  • Elephants roam inside the Kaziranga National Park in Assam, eastern India where thousands of tourists visit each year. India and its sacred elephants are threatened by deforestation and encroachment of the reserved land and natural forests.  As a result, wild elephants are rampaging through villages, killing people and destroying their homes and crops. They are often atttracted by the rice farms and in one night can destroy an entire villages' crop. (Ami Vitale)
    Elephants004.tif
  • Elephants roam inside the Kaziranga National Park in Assam, eastern India where thousands of tourists visit each year. India and its sacred elephants are threatened by deforestation and encroachment of the reserved land and natural forests.  As a result, wild elephants are rampaging through villages, killing people and destroying their homes and crops. They are often atttracted by the rice farms and in one night can destroy an entire villages' crop. (Ami Vitale)
    Elephants001.tif
  • Maasai pastoralists collect water at one of the few sources in Endulen, outside of the pristine Ngornogoro Crater in Tanzania, October 4, 2003.  The Maasai were thrown out of the Crater in 1972 in the name of conservation and are being threatened again with further land loss under a torrent of new legislation. Like other indigenous people the world over, they continue to be evicted from their land in the name of tourism and conservation. They have lived on these lands for centuries but now struggle to survive on their borders, especially in the difficult drought years. Though they were able to live in harmony with the wildlife for centuries, the places with rich water sources are now preserved for tourists.  Eco-tourism, the government solution to chronic poverty, brings in vast revenues but sadly, the dispossessed Maasai are not allowed to benefit. Only a handful, mostly foreign owned tourist operators profit and only a tiny portion of the money actually filters through to the local economy.
    ami104.jpg
  • BLANTYRE, MALAWI - JULY 2: A Malawian women suffering from the HIV virus lies in her bed with a cross put on her by a relative at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Blantyre, Malawi, July 4, 2002.  In Malawi, as in several other affected countries,widespread poverty and the increasing economic and social disruption caused by a devastating HIV/AIDS crisis are additional factors disrupting agriculture and causing a growing food shortage which threatens 3.2 million people in Malawi -- 500,000 of which are already affected by the crisis.  The food crisis is part of a region-wide shortage affecting several countries in southern Africa, the result of a combination of harsh climatic conditions (droughts and flooding), poor management of food reserves and political and economic instability.   (photo by Ami Vitale/Getty Images)
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  • Mike Palmer, left and Richard Jeo, right take out a hook as Brendan Felix Head, 14, watches  as the Dene First Nation youth  paddle on the waters of the Thelon river August, 2011.  The Thelon is the largest and most remote game sanctuary in North America, which almost no one has heard of.  For the Akaitcho Dene, the Upper Thelon River is "the place where God began."  Sparsely populated, today few make it into the Thelon. Distances are simply too far, modern vehicles too expensive and unreliable. For the Dene youth, faced with the pressures of a western world, the ties that bind the people and their way of life to the land are even more tenuous. Every impending mine, road, and dam construction threatens to sever these connections.(Photo by Ami Vitale)
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  • Mike Palmer, left and Richard Jeo, right take out a hook as Brendan Felix Head, 14, watches  as the Dene First Nation youth  paddle on the waters of the Thelon river August, 2011.  The Thelon is the largest and most remote game sanctuary in North America, which almost no one has heard of.  For the Akaitcho Dene, the Upper Thelon River is "the place where God began."  Sparsely populated, today few make it into the Thelon. Distances are simply too far, modern vehicles too expensive and unreliable. For the Dene youth, faced with the pressures of a western world, the ties that bind the people and their way of life to the land are even more tenuous. Every impending mine, road, and dam construction threatens to sever these connections.(Photo by Ami Vitale)
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  • The Thelon is the largest and most remote game sanctuary in North America, which almost no one has heard of.  For the Akaitcho Dene, the Upper Thelon River is "the place where God began."  Sparsely populated, today few make it into the Thelon. Distances are simply too far, modern vehicles too expensive and unreliable. For the Dene youth, faced with the pressures of a western world, the ties that bind the people and their way of life to the land are even more tenuous. Every impending mine, road, and dam construction threatens to sever these connections. In July and August, 2011 a group of youth paddled to their ancestral hunting ground and spiritual abode.  this next generation of young leaders will be the ones who will need to speak for the Thelon the loudest. (Photo by Ami Vitale)
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  • The Thelon is the largest and most remote game sanctuary in North America, which almost no one has heard of.  For the Akaitcho Dene, the Upper Thelon River is "the place where God began."  Sparsely populated, today few make it into the Thelon. Distances are simply too far, modern vehicles too expensive and unreliable. For the Dene youth, faced with the pressures of a western world, the ties that bind the people and their way of life to the land are even more tenuous. Every impending mine, road, and dam construction threatens to sever these connections. In July and August, 2011 a group of youth paddled to their ancestral hunting ground and spiritual abode.  this next generation of young leaders will be the ones who will need to speak for the Thelon the loudest. (Photo by Ami Vitale)
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  • The Thelon is the largest and most remote game sanctuary in North America, which almost no one has heard of.  For the Akaitcho Dene, the Upper Thelon River is "the place where God began."  Sparsely populated, today few make it into the Thelon. Distances are simply too far, modern vehicles too expensive and unreliable. For the Dene youth, faced with the pressures of a western world, the ties that bind the people and their way of life to the land are even more tenuous. Every impending mine, road, and dam construction threatens to sever these connections. In July and August, 2011 a group of youth paddled to their ancestral hunting ground and spiritual abode.  this next generation of young leaders will be the ones who will need to speak for the Thelon the loudest. (Photo by Ami Vitale)
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  • First Nation Dene youth gather  during a spiritual gethering in Reliance after a group returns on a canoe trip from the Upper Thelon River is "the place where God began."  Sparsely populated, today few make it into the Thelon. Distances are simply too far, modern vehicles too expensive and unreliable. For the Dene youth, faced with the pressures of a western world, the ties that bind the people and their way of life to the land are even more tenuous. Every impending mine, road, and dam construction threatens to sever these connections. In July and August, 2011 a group of youth paddled to their ancestral hunting ground and spiritual abode.  this next generation of young leaders will be the ones who will need to speak for the Thelon the loudest. (Photo by Ami Vitale)
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  • First Nation Dene youth gather  during a spiritual gethering in Reliance after a group returns on a canoe trip from the Upper Thelon River is "the place where God began."  Sparsely populated, today few make it into the Thelon. Distances are simply too far, modern vehicles too expensive and unreliable. For the Dene youth, faced with the pressures of a western world, the ties that bind the people and their way of life to the land are even more tenuous. Every impending mine, road, and dam construction threatens to sever these connections. In July and August, 2011 a group of youth paddled to their ancestral hunting ground and spiritual abode.  this next generation of young leaders will be the ones who will need to speak for the Thelon the loudest. (Photo by Ami Vitale)
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  • First Nation Dene youth gather  during a spiritual gethering in Reliance after a group returns on a canoe trip from the Upper Thelon River is "the place where God began."  Sparsely populated, today few make it into the Thelon. Distances are simply too far, modern vehicles too expensive and unreliable. For the Dene youth, faced with the pressures of a western world, the ties that bind the people and their way of life to the land are even more tenuous. Every impending mine, road, and dam construction threatens to sever these connections. In July and August, 2011 a group of youth paddled to their ancestral hunting ground and spiritual abode.  this next generation of young leaders will be the ones who will need to speak for the Thelon the loudest. (Photo by Ami Vitale)
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  • First Nation Dene youth gather  during a spiritual gethering in Reliance after a group returns on a canoe trip from the Upper Thelon River is "the place where God began."  Sparsely populated, today few make it into the Thelon. Distances are simply too far, modern vehicles too expensive and unreliable. For the Dene youth, faced with the pressures of a western world, the ties that bind the people and their way of life to the land are even more tenuous. Every impending mine, road, and dam construction threatens to sever these connections. In July and August, 2011 a group of youth paddled to their ancestral hunting ground and spiritual abode.  this next generation of young leaders will be the ones who will need to speak for the Thelon the loudest. (Photo by Ami Vitale)
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  • First Nation Dene youth gather  during a spiritual gethering in Reliance after a group returns on a canoe trip from the Upper Thelon River is "the place where God began."  Sparsely populated, today few make it into the Thelon. Distances are simply too far, modern vehicles too expensive and unreliable. For the Dene youth, faced with the pressures of a western world, the ties that bind the people and their way of life to the land are even more tenuous. Every impending mine, road, and dam construction threatens to sever these connections. In July and August, 2011 a group of youth paddled to their ancestral hunting ground and spiritual abode.  this next generation of young leaders will be the ones who will need to speak for the Thelon the loudest. (Photo by Ami Vitale)
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  • The Thelon is the largest and most remote game sanctuary in North America, which almost no one has heard of.  For the Akaitcho Dene, the Upper Thelon River is "the place where God began."  Sparsely populated, today few make it into the Thelon. Distances are simply too far, modern vehicles too expensive and unreliable. For the Dene youth, faced with the pressures of a western world, the ties that bind the people and their way of life to the land are even more tenuous. Every impending mine, road, and dam construction threatens to sever these connections. In July and August, 2011 a group of youth paddled to their ancestral hunting ground and spiritual abode.  this next generation of young leaders will be the ones who will need to speak for the Thelon the loudest. (Photo by Ami Vitale)
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  • The Thelon is the largest and most remote game sanctuary in North America, which almost no one has heard of.  For the Akaitcho Dene, the Upper Thelon River is "the place where God began."  Sparsely populated, today few make it into the Thelon. Distances are simply too far, modern vehicles too expensive and unreliable. For the Dene youth, faced with the pressures of a western world, the ties that bind the people and their way of life to the land are even more tenuous. Every impending mine, road, and dam construction threatens to sever these connections. In July and August, 2011 a group of youth paddled to their ancestral hunting ground and spiritual abode.  this next generation of young leaders will be the ones who will need to speak for the Thelon the loudest. (Photo by Ami Vitale)
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  • The Thelon is the largest and most remote game sanctuary in North America, which almost no one has heard of.  For the Akaitcho Dene, the Upper Thelon River is "the place where God began."  Sparsely populated, today few make it into the Thelon. Distances are simply too far, modern vehicles too expensive and unreliable. For the Dene youth, faced with the pressures of a western world, the ties that bind the people and their way of life to the land are even more tenuous. Every impending mine, road, and dam construction threatens to sever these connections. In July and August, 2011 a group of youth paddled to their ancestral hunting ground and spiritual abode.  this next generation of young leaders will be the ones who will need to speak for the Thelon the loudest. (Photo by Ami Vitale)
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  • The Thelon is the largest and most remote game sanctuary in North America, which almost no one has heard of.  For the Akaitcho Dene, the Upper Thelon River is "the place where God began."  Sparsely populated, today few make it into the Thelon. Distances are simply too far, modern vehicles too expensive and unreliable. For the Dene youth, faced with the pressures of a western world, the ties that bind the people and their way of life to the land are even more tenuous. Every impending mine, road, and dam construction threatens to sever these connections. In July and August, 2011 a group of youth paddled to their ancestral hunting ground and spiritual abode.  this next generation of young leaders will be the ones who will need to speak for the Thelon the loudest. (Photo by Ami Vitale)
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  • The Thelon is the largest and most remote game sanctuary in North America, which almost no one has heard of.  For the Akaitcho Dene, the Upper Thelon River is "the place where God began."  Sparsely populated, today few make it into the Thelon. Distances are simply too far, modern vehicles too expensive and unreliable. For the Dene youth, faced with the pressures of a western world, the ties that bind the people and their way of life to the land are even more tenuous. Every impending mine, road, and dam construction threatens to sever these connections. In July and August, 2011 a group of youth paddled to their ancestral hunting ground and spiritual abode.  this next generation of young leaders will be the ones who will need to speak for the Thelon the loudest. (Photo by Ami Vitale)
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  • The Thelon is the largest and most remote game sanctuary in North America, which almost no one has heard of.  For the Akaitcho Dene, the Upper Thelon River is "the place where God began."  Sparsely populated, today few make it into the Thelon. Distances are simply too far, modern vehicles too expensive and unreliable. For the Dene youth, faced with the pressures of a western world, the ties that bind the people and their way of life to the land are even more tenuous. Every impending mine, road, and dam construction threatens to sever these connections. In July and August, 2011 a group of youth paddled to their ancestral hunting ground and spiritual abode.  this next generation of young leaders will be the ones who will need to speak for the Thelon the loudest. (Photo by Ami Vitale)
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  • The Thelon is the largest and most remote game sanctuary in North America, which almost no one has heard of.  For the Akaitcho Dene, the Upper Thelon River is "the place where God began."  Sparsely populated, today few make it into the Thelon. Distances are simply too far, modern vehicles too expensive and unreliable. For the Dene youth, faced with the pressures of a western world, the ties that bind the people and their way of life to the land are even more tenuous. Every impending mine, road, and dam construction threatens to sever these connections. In July and August, 2011 a group of youth paddled to their ancestral hunting ground and spiritual abode.  this next generation of young leaders will be the ones who will need to speak for the Thelon the loudest. (Photo by Ami Vitale)
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  • The Thelon is the largest and most remote game sanctuary in North America, which almost no one has heard of.  For the Akaitcho Dene, the Upper Thelon River is "the place where God began."  Sparsely populated, today few make it into the Thelon. Distances are simply too far, modern vehicles too expensive and unreliable. For the Dene youth, faced with the pressures of a western world, the ties that bind the people and their way of life to the land are even more tenuous. Every impending mine, road, and dam construction threatens to sever these connections. In July and August, 2011 a group of youth paddled to their ancestral hunting ground and spiritual abode.  this next generation of young leaders will be the ones who will need to speak for the Thelon the loudest. (Photo by Ami Vitale)
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  • The Thelon is the largest and most remote game sanctuary in North America, which almost no one has heard of.  For the Akaitcho Dene, the Upper Thelon River is "the place where God began."  Sparsely populated, today few make it into the Thelon. Distances are simply too far, modern vehicles too expensive and unreliable. For the Dene youth, faced with the pressures of a western world, the ties that bind the people and their way of life to the land are even more tenuous. Every impending mine, road, and dam construction threatens to sever these connections. In July and August, 2011 a group of youth paddled to their ancestral hunting ground and spiritual abode.  this next generation of young leaders will be the ones who will need to speak for the Thelon the loudest. (Photo by Ami Vitale)
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  • Brendan Felix Head, 14, relaxes after cutting wood for a campsite as First Nation Dene youth finish their trip from the Upper Thelon River, where their ancestors believe is "the place where God began."  Sparsely populated, today few make it into the Thelon. Distances are simply too far, modern vehicles too expensive and unreliable. For the Dene youth, faced with the pressures of a western world, the ties that bind the people and their way of life to the land are even more tenuous. Every impending mine, road, and dam construction threatens to sever these connections. In July and August, 2011 a group of youth paddled to their ancestral hunting ground and spiritual abode.  this next generation of young leaders will be the ones who will need to speak for the Thelon the loudest. (Photo by Ami Vitale)
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  • Brendan Felix Head, 14, relaxes after cutting wood for a campsite as First Nation Dene youth finish their trip from the Upper Thelon River, where their ancestors believe is "the place where God began."  Sparsely populated, today few make it into the Thelon. Distances are simply too far, modern vehicles too expensive and unreliable. For the Dene youth, faced with the pressures of a western world, the ties that bind the people and their way of life to the land are even more tenuous. Every impending mine, road, and dam construction threatens to sever these connections. In July and August, 2011 a group of youth paddled to their ancestral hunting ground and spiritual abode.  this next generation of young leaders will be the ones who will need to speak for the Thelon the loudest. (Photo by Ami Vitale)
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  • Brendan Felix Head, 14, cuts wood for a campsite as First Nation Dene youth finish their trip from the Upper Thelon River, where their ancestors believe is "the place where God began."  Sparsely populated, today few make it into the Thelon. Distances are simply too far, modern vehicles too expensive and unreliable. For the Dene youth, faced with the pressures of a western world, the ties that bind the people and their way of life to the land are even more tenuous. Every impending mine, road, and dam construction threatens to sever these connections. In July and August, 2011 a group of youth paddled to their ancestral hunting ground and spiritual abode.  this next generation of young leaders will be the ones who will need to speak for the Thelon the loudest. (Photo by Ami Vitale)
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  • Brendan Felix Head, 14, cuts wood for a campsite as First Nation Dene youth finish their trip from the Upper Thelon River, where their ancestors believe is "the place where God began."  Sparsely populated, today few make it into the Thelon. Distances are simply too far, modern vehicles too expensive and unreliable. For the Dene youth, faced with the pressures of a western world, the ties that bind the people and their way of life to the land are even more tenuous. Every impending mine, road, and dam construction threatens to sever these connections. In July and August, 2011 a group of youth paddled to their ancestral hunting ground and spiritual abode.  this next generation of young leaders will be the ones who will need to speak for the Thelon the loudest. (Photo by Ami Vitale)
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  • Brendan Felix Head, 14, cuts wood for a campsite as First Nation Dene youth finish their trip from the Upper Thelon River, where their ancestors believe is "the place where God began."  Sparsely populated, today few make it into the Thelon. Distances are simply too far, modern vehicles too expensive and unreliable. For the Dene youth, faced with the pressures of a western world, the ties that bind the people and their way of life to the land are even more tenuous. Every impending mine, road, and dam construction threatens to sever these connections. In July and August, 2011 a group of youth paddled to their ancestral hunting ground and spiritual abode.  this next generation of young leaders will be the ones who will need to speak for the Thelon the loudest. (Photo by Ami Vitale)
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  • Dene First Nation Youth Damian Kailek, left,  and Brendan Felix Head, eat the last scraps of food on the final day of a journey  to the Upper Thelon River, where their ancestors believe is "the place where God began."  Sparsely populated, today few make it into the Thelon. Distances are simply too far, modern vehicles too expensive and unreliable. For the Dene youth, faced with the pressures of a western world, the ties that bind the people and their way of life to the land are even more tenuous. Every impending mine, road, and dam construction threatens to sever these connections. In July and August, 2011 a group of youth paddled to their ancestral hunting ground and spiritual abode.  this next generation of young leaders will be the ones who will need to speak for the Thelon the loudest. (Photo by Ami Vitale)
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  • The Thelon is the largest and most remote game sanctuary in North America, which almost no one has heard of.  For the Akaitcho Dene, the Upper Thelon River is "the place where God began."  Sparsely populated, today few make it into the Thelon. Distances are simply too far, modern vehicles too expensive and unreliable. For the Dene youth, faced with the pressures of a western world, the ties that bind the people and their way of life to the land are even more tenuous. Every impending mine, road, and dam construction threatens to sever these connections. In July and August, 2011 a group of youth paddled to their ancestral hunting ground and spiritual abode.  this next generation of young leaders will be the ones who will need to speak for the Thelon the loudest. (Photo by Ami Vitale)
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  • Den First Nation youth eat dinner on the edge of  the Thelon river in August, 2011.  The Thelon is the largest and most remote game sanctuary in North America, which almost no one has heard of.  For the Akaitcho Dene, the Upper Thelon River is "the place where God began."  Sparsely populated, today few make it into the Thelon. Distances are simply too far, modern vehicles too expensive and unreliable. For the Dene youth, faced with the pressures of a western world, the ties that bind the people and their way of life to the land are even more tenuous. Every impending mine, road, and dam construction threatens to sever these connections.(Photo by Ami Vitale)
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  • Dene First Nation youth paddle through the Thelon Sanctuary  in August, 2011.  The Thelon is the largest and most remote game sanctuary in North America, which almost no one has heard of.  For the Akaitcho Dene, the Upper Thelon River is "the place where God began."  Sparsely populated, today few make it into the Thelon. Distances are simply too far, modern vehicles too expensive and unreliable. For the Dene youth, faced with the pressures of a western world, the ties that bind the people and their way of life to the land are even more tenuous. Every impending mine, road, and dam construction threatens to sever these connections.(Photo by Ami Vitale)
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  • Scientist Richard Jeo looks for a camp in the Thelon Sanctuary  in August, 2011.  The Thelon is the largest and most remote game sanctuary in North America, which almost no one has heard of.  For the Akaitcho Dene, the Upper Thelon River is "the place where God began."  Sparsely populated, today few make it into the Thelon. Distances are simply too far, modern vehicles too expensive and unreliable. For the Dene youth, faced with the pressures of a western world, the ties that bind the people and their way of life to the land are even more tenuous. Every impending mine, road, and dam construction threatens to sever these connections.(Photo by Ami Vitale)
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  • The Thelon is the largest and most remote game sanctuary in North America, which almost no one has heard of.  For the Akaitcho Dene, the Upper Thelon River is "the place where God began."  Sparsely populated, today few make it into the Thelon. Distances are simply too far, modern vehicles too expensive and unreliable. For the Dene youth, faced with the pressures of a western world, the ties that bind the people and their way of life to the land are even more tenuous. Every impending mine, road, and dam construction threatens to sever these connections. In July and August, 2011 a group of youth paddled to their ancestral hunting ground and spiritual abode.  this next generation of young leaders will be the ones who will need to speak for the Thelon the loudest. (Photo by Ami Vitale)
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  • The Thelon is the largest and most remote game sanctuary in North America, which almost no one has heard of.  For the Akaitcho Dene, the Upper Thelon River is "the place where God began."  Sparsely populated, today few make it into the Thelon. Distances are simply too far, modern vehicles too expensive and unreliable. For the Dene youth, faced with the pressures of a western world, the ties that bind the people and their way of life to the land are even more tenuous. Every impending mine, road, and dam construction threatens to sever these connections. In July and August, 2011 a group of youth paddled to their ancestral hunting ground and spiritual abode.  this next generation of young leaders will be the ones who will need to speak for the Thelon the loudest. (Photo by Ami Vitale)
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  • The Thelon is the largest and most remote game sanctuary in North America, which almost no one has heard of.  For the Akaitcho Dene, the Upper Thelon River is "the place where God began."  Sparsely populated, today few make it into the Thelon. Distances are simply too far, modern vehicles too expensive and unreliable. For the Dene youth, faced with the pressures of a western world, the ties that bind the people and their way of life to the land are even more tenuous. Every impending mine, road, and dam construction threatens to sever these connections. In July and August, 2011 a group of youth paddled to their ancestral hunting ground and spiritual abode.  this next generation of young leaders will be the ones who will need to speak for the Thelon the loudest. (Photo by Ami Vitale)
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  • Brendan Felix Head, 14, plays at a campsite in the Thelon, the largest and most remote game sanctuary in North America, which almost no one has heard of.  For the Akaitcho Dene, the Upper Thelon River is "the place where God began."  Sparsely populated, today few make it into the Thelon. Distances are simply too far, modern vehicles too expensive and unreliable. For the Dene youth, faced with the pressures of a western world, the ties that bind the people and their way of life to the land are even more tenuous. Every impending mine, road, and dam construction threatens to sever these connections. In July and August, 2011 a group of youth paddled to their ancestral hunting ground and spiritual abode.  this next generation of young leaders will be the ones who will need to speak for the Thelon the loudest. (Photo by Ami Vitale)
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  • Dene youth relax at a campsite in the Thelon, the largest and most remote game sanctuary in North America, which almost no one has heard of.  For the Akaitcho Dene, the Upper Thelon River is "the place where God began."  Sparsely populated, today few make it into the Thelon. Distances are simply too far, modern vehicles too expensive and unreliable. For the Dene youth, faced with the pressures of a western world, the ties that bind the people and their way of life to the land are even more tenuous. Every impending mine, road, and dam construction threatens to sever these connections. In July and August, 2011 a group of youth paddled to their ancestral hunting ground and spiritual abode.  this next generation of young leaders will be the ones who will need to speak for the Thelon the loudest. (Photo by Ami Vitale)
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  • Hawke Ellis Williams, 4, plays at a campsite in the Thelon, the largest and most remote game sanctuary in North America, which almost no one has heard of.  For the Akaitcho Dene, the Upper Thelon River is "the place where God began."  Sparsely populated, today few make it into the Thelon. Distances are simply too far, modern vehicles too expensive and unreliable. For the Dene youth, faced with the pressures of a western world, the ties that bind the people and their way of life to the land are even more tenuous. Every impending mine, road, and dam construction threatens to sever these connections. In July and August, 2011 a group of youth paddled to their ancestral hunting ground and spiritual abode.  this next generation of young leaders will be the ones who will need to speak for the Thelon the loudest. (Photo by Ami Vitale)
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  • Miles Catholique, 14, left and Brendan Felix Head, 14, eat at a campsite in the Thelon, the largest and most remote game sanctuary in North America, which almost no one has heard of.  For the Akaitcho Dene, the Upper Thelon River is "the place where God began."  Sparsely populated, today few make it into the Thelon. Distances are simply too far, modern vehicles too expensive and unreliable. For the Dene youth, faced with the pressures of a western world, the ties that bind the people and their way of life to the land are even more tenuous. Every impending mine, road, and dam construction threatens to sever these connections. In July and August, 2011 a group of youth paddled to their ancestral hunting ground and spiritual abode.  this next generation of young leaders will be the ones who will need to speak for the Thelon the loudest. (Photo by Ami Vitale)
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