• Facebook
  • Twitter
x

Ami Vitale

  • Archive
  • Website
  • About
  • Contact
Show Navigation
Cart Lightbox Client Area

Search Results

Refine Search
Match all words
Match any word
Prints
Personal Use
Royalty-Free
Rights-Managed
(leave unchecked to
search all images)
Next
{ 191 images found }
twitterlinkedinfacebook

Loading ()...

  • A Kashmiri woman looks through a fence outside a graveyard to try and see an unidentified youth who was found killed in the streets of Srinagar, the summer capital of the Indian held state of Kashmir, April 3, 2002. Every Kashmiri citizen has been affected by this  tragic conflict which has been going on for over a decade.  Nearly a dozen militant groups are fighting New Delhi's rule. India accuses Pakistan of arming and training Islamic militants. Pakistan denies the charge and says it only offers moral and diplomatic support to Kashmiri separatists.
    048aa.jpg
  • Kashmiri youth scream "We want freedom" during a protest in the streets of Srinagar on September 24. Few people braved anti-poll violence in Kashmir's main city to vote in a state election after an early morning gun battle between Indian Border Security Forces and suspected Muslim militants.
    040.jpg
  • Villagers of Zigberi get water from the only pump well that offers clean water for miles in a remote part of Burkina Faso in the desert region near the Malian border March 28, 2007.  Water is  precious commodity here and most families end up drinking dirty water rather than walk the miles it takes to get to the well. Ami Vitale
    _DSC2021.jpg
  • Villagers of Zigberi get water from the only pump well that offers clean water for miles in a remote part of Burkina Faso in the desert region near the Malian border March 28, 2007.  Water is  precious commodity here and most families end up drinking dirty water rather than walk the miles it takes to get to the well. Ami Vitale
    _DSC1902.jpg
  • KABUL,AFGHANISTAN - AUGUST 29: Afghan street children watch a Japanese dancer perform a piece called "Reconstruction" at the ASIANA school August 29, 2002 in Kabul Afghanistan.  The Japanese program concluded with 1000 musical instruments donated to the children.  (Photo by Ami Vitale/Getty Images)
    kab115B.jpg
  • KABUL,AFGHANISTAN - AUGUST 29: Afghan street children practice in their costumes and masks for a Japanese sponsored cultural event August 29, 2002 in Kabul, Afghanistan.  The Japanese program concluded with 1000 musical instruments donated to the children.  (Photo by Ami Vitale/Getty Images)
    kab114D.jpg
  • KABUL,AFGHANISTAN - AUGUST 29: Afghan street children watch a Japanese dancer perform a piece called "Reconstruction" at the ASIANA school August 29, 2002 in Kabul Afghanistan.  The Japanese program concluded with 1000 musical instruments donated to the children.  (Photo by Ami Vitale/Getty Images)
    kab113C.jpg
  • KABUL,AFGHANISTAN - AUGUST 29: Afghan street children watch a Japanese dancer perform a piece called "Reconstruction" at the ASIANA school August 29, 2002 in Kabul Afghanistan.  The Japanese program concluded with 1000 musical instruments donated to the children.  (Photo by Ami Vitale/Getty Images)
    kab112D.jpg
  • KABUL,AFGHANISTAN - AUGUST 29: Afghan street children scream as a boy in their school dressed up in a mask tries to scare them at the ASIANA school August 29, 2002 in Kabul Afghanistan.  The children were there for a Japanese music and dance program which concluded with 1000 musical instruments donated to the children.  (Photo by Ami Vitale/Getty Images)
    kab111E.jpg
  • KABUL,AFGHANISTAN - AUGUST 29: Afghan women wait with their children to be seen by a doctor in the Indira Ghandi Hospital for Children August 29, 2002 in Kabul Afghanistan. The hospital has 300 beds but usually it is filled at double capacity with only 118 doctors. One in four children die before the age of 5 in Afghanistan. (Photo by Ami Vitale/Getty Images)
    kab110E.jpg
  • KABUL,AFGHANISTAN - AUGUST 29: Zeeya-u-din, 1, who suffers from severe malnutrition cries in the Indira Ghandi Hospital for Children August 29, 2002 in Kabul Afghanistan. The hospital has 300 beds but usually it is filled at double capacity with only 118 doctors. One in four children die before the age of 5 in Afghanistan. (Photo by Ami Vitale/Getty Images)
    kab106H.jpg
  • KABUL,AFGHANISTAN - AUGUST 29: Afghan women sit by their children Tofan, 1, left, and Zeeya-u-din, 1, who suffer from severe malnutrition in the Indira Ghandi Hospital for Children August 29, 2002 in Kabul Afghanistan. The hospital has 300 beds but usually it is filled at double capacity with only 118 doctors. One in four children die before the age of 5 in Afghanistan. (Photo by Ami Vitale/Getty Images)
    kab104bA.jpg
  • KABUL,AFGHANISTAN - AUGUST 29: Dr. Abdul Qader Ghafari stitches the hand of  Rashid, 6, in the Indira Ghandi Hospital for Children August 29, 2002 in Kabul, Afghanistan. The hospital has 300 beds but usually it is filled at double capacity with only 118 doctors. (Photo by Ami Vitale/Getty Images)
    kab102H.jpg
  • Villagers of Zigberi get water from the only pump well that offers clean water for miles in a remote part of Burkina Faso in the desert region near the Malian border March 28, 2007.  Water is  precious commodity here and most families end up drinking dirty water rather than walk the miles it takes to get to the well. Ami Vitale
    _DSC1900.jpg
  • Villagers of Zigberi get water from the only pump well that offers clean water for miles in a remote part of Burkina Faso in the desert region near the Malian border March 28, 2007.  Water is  precious commodity here and most families end up drinking dirty water rather than walk the miles it takes to get to the well. Ami Vitale
    _DSC1899.jpg
  • BIHAR, INDIA: AUGUST 13: Villagers cross a river to get to Lalita's village after  she made a visit to her village of Koprah,  60 kilometers from Sitamarhi in northern Bihar, India August 13, 2003. Lalita was visiting after an eight month training course at a MSK and 4 months of teaching karate in another district in Bihar. She has overcome great barriers in a society that regards her as the most disadvantaged since she is a female in one of  the lowest castes in India, the "Musahar "caste which means rat eaters. This tenacious young woman attended,  Mahila Shikshan Kendra, a Women's Education Center,  depsite her father's protests and learned how to read, write and defend herself in a community which frequently abuses women. Now she is teaching karate to other young women in a MSK in Amos block. Bihar is the poorest state in India and women suffer  greatly because of the poverty, lack of education and opportunities. Most of the girls who are attending the eight month course have had to overcome tremendous resistance from families and a society entrenched in the  weight of a caste system which discourages those from the lower castes to be educated, especially women. The 10 centers with 40 students in each are being funded by the World Bank although it was initially started by Unicef . .(Ami Vitale)
    DSC_0093A.jpg
  • EKANGERSERAI, BIHAR: AUGUST 11:Indian children leave Middle School Ekangerserai school after monsoon rains flood their classrooms in a village about 100 kilometers from Patna in the state of Bihar, India August 11, 2003.  Bihar is the poorest state in India and girls often suffer the most because of the poverty, lack of education and opportunities. (Photo by Ami Vitale)
    DSC_0130.jpg
  • MADHOPUR, BIHAR: AUGUST 11:Villagers watch as a group of girls study under the thatch roof of an open hut at the Kishori Kendra Madhopur  in a village about 100 kilometers from Patna in the state of Bihar, India August 11, 2003.  Bihar is the poorest state in India and girls often suffer the most because of the poverty, lack of education and opportunities. (Photo by Ami Vitale)
    DSC_0009.jpg
  • A Buddhist monk enters the formidable doors of Trongsa Dzong, the Ancestral home of Bhutan's monarchy. The Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan has sat in isolation for thousands of years and only recently has been thrust into the glare of modern times after centuries of solitude. Bhutan is a tiny, remote, and impoverished country wedged precariously between two powerful neighbors, India and China. Violent storms coming off the Himalaya gave the country its name, meaning "Land of the Thunder Dragon." This conservative Buddhist kingdom high in the Himalaya had no paved roads until the 1960s, was off-limits to foreigners until 1974, and launched television only in 1999 .
    060.jpg
  • Two and a half-year-old Shuma Bibi sits with her aunt in a make shift refugee camp after they fled their village of Laliyal which was on the International Border between Pakistan and India. Indian and Pakistani troops continue to exchange heavy mortar, artillery and machine-gun fire along the line that divides Kashmir between them and have a million troops amassed along the border.
    097.jpg
  • The relatives and neighbors of Muzzamil Ahmad, a 19-year-old Muslim who was killed when he was hit by an Indian security force vehicle, mourn his death in Srinagar, the summer capital of Kashmir September 28.
    048aaa.jpg
  • Villagers of Zigberi get water from the only pump well that offers clean water for miles in a remote part of Burkina Faso in the desert region near the Malian border March 28, 2007.  Water is  precious commodity here and most families end up drinking dirty water rather than walk the miles it takes to get to the well. Ami Vitale
    _DSC2006.jpg
  • Villagers of Zigberi get water from the only pump well that offers clean water for miles in a remote part of Burkina Faso in the desert region near the Malian border March 28, 2007.  Water is  precious commodity here and most families end up drinking dirty water rather than walk the miles it takes to get to the well. Ami Vitale
    _DSC1995.jpg
  • Children carry water for their teacher, Ouedraoga Madi in Zigberi, in a remote part of Burkina Faso in the desert region near the Malian border March 24, 2007. The village had no school and after years of waiting the parents decided to build their own school, desperate to get an education for their children.  Female education in Burkina Faso and West Africa is particularly difficult given the demands placed on the women and girls in society to do all of the household work like pounding the millet, preparing food, getting wood and water which is sparce and often kilometers away.  Ami Vitale
    DSC_0092.jpg
  • KABUL,AFGHANISTAN - AUGUST 29: An Afghan child attends a Japanese music and dance performance  at the ASIANA school August 29, 2002 in Kabul, Afghanistan.  The Japanese program concluded with 1000 musical instruments donated to the children.  (Photo by Ami Vitale/Getty Images)
    kab109D.jpg
  • KABUL,AFGHANISTAN - AUGUST 29: Afghan street children watch a Japanese dancer perform a piece called "Reconstruction" at the ASIANA school August 29, 2002 in Kabul Afghanistan.  The Japanese program concluded with 1000 musical instruments donated to the children.  (Photo by Ami Vitale/Getty Images)
    kab107F.jpg
  • KABUL,AFGHANISTAN - AUGUST 29: Amir Rahman, 2, and Farshad, 6 months, sleep in the Indira Ghandi Hospital for Children August 29, 2002 in Kabul Afghanistan. The hospital has 300 beds but usually it is filled at double capacity with only 118 doctors. One in four children die before the age of 5 in Afghanistan. (Photo by Ami Vitale/Getty Images)
    kab105G.jpg
  • KABUL,AFGHANISTAN - AUGUST 29: Afghan women sit by their children Tofan, 1, left, and Zeeya-u-din, 1, who suffer from severe malnutrition in the Indira Ghandi Hospital for Children August 29, 2002 in Kabul Afghanistan. The hospital has 300 beds but usually it is filled at double capacity with only 118 doctors. One in four children die before the age of 5 in Afghanistan. (Photo by Ami Vitale/Getty Images)
    kab104F.jpg
  • KABUL,AFGHANISTAN - AUGUST 29: Afghan women wait with their children to be seen by a doctor in the Indira Ghandi Hospital for Children August 29, 2002 in Kabul Afghanistan. The hospital has 300 beds but usually it is filled at double capacity with only 118 doctors. One in four children die before the age of 5 in Afghanistan. (Photo by Ami Vitale/Getty Images)
    kab103G.jpg
  • KABUL,AFGHANISTAN - AUGUST 29: Afghan women wait with their children to be seen by a doctor in the Indira Ghandi Hospital for Children August 29, 2002 in Kabul Afghanistan. The hospital has 300 beds but usually it is filled at double capacity with only 118 doctors. (Photo by Ami Vitale/Getty Images)
    kab101H.jpg
  • Villagers of Zigberi get water from the only pump well that offers clean water for miles in a remote part of Burkina Faso in the desert region near the Malian border March 28, 2007.  Water is  precious commodity here and most families end up drinking dirty water rather than walk the miles it takes to get to the well. Ami Vitale
    _DSC2003.jpg
  • Villagers of Zigberi get water from the only pump well that offers clean water for miles in a remote part of Burkina Faso in the desert region near the Malian border March 28, 2007.  Water is  precious commodity here and most families end up drinking dirty water rather than walk the miles it takes to get to the well. Ami Vitale
    _DSC1857.jpg
  • BIHAR, INDIA: AUGUST 14: Lalita'gathers water at a pump in her village of Koprah,  60 kilometers from Sitamarhi in northern Bihar, India August 14, 2003. She was visiting after an eight month training course at a MSK and 4 months of teaching karate in another district in Bihar. She has overcome great barriers in a society that regards her as the most disadvantaged since she is a female in one of  the lowest castes in India, the "Musahar "caste which means rat eaters. This tenacious young woman attended,  Mahila Shikshan Kendra, a Women's Education Center,  depsite her father's protests and learned how to read, write and defend herself in a community which frequently abuses women. Now she is teaching karate to other young women in a MSK in Amos block. Bihar is the poorest state in India and women suffer  greatly because of the poverty, lack of education and opportunities. Most of the girls who are attending the eight month course have had to overcome tremendous resistance from families and a society entrenched in the  weight of a caste system which discourages those from the lower castes to be educated, especially women. The 10 centers with 40 students in each are being funded by the World Bank although it was initially started by Unicef . .(Ami Vitale)
    DSC_0036.jpg
  • EKANGERSERAI, BIHAR: AUGUST 11:Indian children leave Middle School Ekangerserai school after monsoon rains flood their classrooms in a village about 100 kilometers from Patna in the state of Bihar, India August 11, 2003.  Bihar is the poorest state in India and girls often suffer the most because of the poverty, lack of education and opportunities. (Photo by Ami Vitale)
    DSC_0159.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
  • 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
  • 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)
    DSC_8687.TIFF
  • 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)
    DSC_8679.TIFF
  • 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)
    DSC_8652.TIFF
  • 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)
    DSC_8544.TIFF
  • 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)
    DSC_8330.TIFF
  • 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)
    DSC_8326.TIF
  • 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)
    DSC_8298.TIFF
  • 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)
    DSC_8280.TIF
  • 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)
    DSC_8230.TIFF
  • Dene First Nation Youth take a break from canoing on their trip 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)
    DSC_3415.TIFF
  • Dene First Nation youth watch the last float plane leave before they begin to their journey along 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)
    DSC_3323.TIFF
  • First Nation Dene youth beat drums near a fire 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)
    DSC_8790.TIF
  • 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)
    DSC_8614.TIFF
  • 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)
    DSC_8279.TIF
  • 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)
    DSC_4701.TIFF
  • Dene First Nation youth Shonto Catholique, 21, back and Amber Lynn Powder, 20 paddle down the Thelon river In the middle of the largest and most remote game sanctuary in North America, in the Northwest Territories, just south of the Arctic Circle. Its fate now hangs in the balance, protected on paper, but with little management, no money, and no voice for the Dene, its most ardent advocate for protection, while mining (for diamonds, gold, and uranium) threats, buoyed by recent prices, loom.  Dene youth have rarely been deep into the Thelon, yet the caribou is still their life blood, reverentially important.  These Dene are amongst the last hunter/gatherers in the Northern Hemisphere.   (Photo by Ami vitale)
    DSC_7455.TIF
  • Richard Jeo, a scientist with the Nature Conservancy, front, and Dr. Sanjayan Muttulingam paddle with Dene First Nation youth down the Thelon river In the middle of the largest and most remote game sanctuary in North America, in the Northwest Territories, just south of the Arctic Circle. Its fate now hangs in the balance, protected on paper, but with little management, no money, and no voice for the Dene, its most ardent advocate for protection, while mining (for diamonds, gold, and uranium) threats, buoyed by recent prices, loom.  Dene youth have rarely been deep into the Thelon, yet the caribou is still their life blood, reverentially important.  These Dene are amongst the last hunter/gatherers in the Northern Hemisphere.   (Photo by Ami vitale)
    DSC_7431.TIFF
  • Steve Ellis, back, Hawke Ellis Williams, 4, middle and Dene First Nation youth Tristen Jade Lockhart, 14, paddle down the Thelon river In the middle of the largest and most remote game sanctuary in North America, in the Northwest Territories, just south of the Arctic Circle. Its fate now hangs in the balance, protected on paper, but with little management, no money, and no voice for the Dene, its most ardent advocate for protection, while mining (for diamonds, gold, and uranium) threats, buoyed by recent prices, loom.  Dene youth have rarely been deep into the Thelon, yet the caribou is still their life blood, reverentially important.  These Dene are amongst the last hunter/gatherers in the Northern Hemisphere.   (Photo by Ami vitale)
    DSC_7417.TIFF
  • Steve Ellis, back, Hawke Ellis Williams, 4, middle and Dene First Nation youth Tristen Jade Lockhart, 14, paddle down the Thelon river In the middle of the largest and most remote game sanctuary in North America, in the Northwest Territories, just south of the Arctic Circle. Its fate now hangs in the balance, protected on paper, but with little management, no money, and no voice for the Dene, its most ardent advocate for protection, while mining (for diamonds, gold, and uranium) threats, buoyed by recent prices, loom.  Dene youth have rarely been deep into the Thelon, yet the caribou is still their life blood, reverentially important.  These Dene are amongst the last hunter/gatherers in the Northern Hemisphere.   (Photo by Ami vitale)
    DSC_7406.TIF
  • Joseph Catholique rests after carrying his canoe for 5 miles through rough terrain to avoid the rap[ids of the Thelon river. A group of Dene First Nation paddled in the Thelon Sanctuary August, 2011. It is a place ruled by the biggest and smallest--the grizzly and the mosquito--and by the extremes of sub-arctic seasons. The Thelon is the largest and most remote game sanctuary in North America, which almost no one has heard of. (Photo by Ami Vitale)Dene First Nation youth paddle down the Thelon river In the middle of the largest and most remote game sanctuary in North America, in the Northwest Territories, just south of the Arctic Circle. Its fate now hangs in the balance, protected on paper, but with little management, no money, and no voice for the Dene, its most ardent advocate for protection, while mining (for diamonds, gold, and uranium) threats, buoyed by recent prices, loom. Dene youth have rarely been deep into the Thelon, yet the caribou is still their life blood, reverentially important. These Dene are amongst the last hunter/gatherers in the Northern Hemisphere. (Photo by Ami vitale)
    DSC_6860.TIFF
  • Dene First Nation youth cut up trout caught along the Thelon river In the middle of the largest and most remote game sanctuary in North America, in the Northwest Territories, just south of the Arctic Circle. Its fate now hangs in the balance, protected on paper, but with little management, no money, and no voice for the Dene, its most ardent advocate for protection, while mining (for diamonds, gold, and uranium) threats, buoyed by recent prices, loom.  Dene youth have rarely been deep into the Thelon, yet the caribou is still their life blood, reverentially important.  These Dene are amongst the last hunter/gatherers in the Northern Hemisphere.   (Photo by Ami vitale)
    DSC_5118.TIF
  • Dene First Nation youth Shonto Catholique, 21, back and Amber Lynn Powder, 20 paddle down the Thelon river In the middle of the largest and most remote game sanctuary in North America, in the Northwest Territories, just south of the Arctic Circle. Its fate now hangs in the balance, protected on paper, but with little management, no money, and no voice for the Dene, its most ardent advocate for protection, while mining (for diamonds, gold, and uranium) threats, buoyed by recent prices, loom.  Dene youth have rarely been deep into the Thelon, yet the caribou is still their life blood, reverentially important.  These Dene are amongst the last hunter/gatherers in the Northern Hemisphere.   (Photo by Ami vitale)
    DSC_5033.TIFF
  • Dene First Nation youth Tristen Jade Lockhart, 14 paddles down the Thelon river  with Steve Ellis and Hawke Ellis Williams, 4, In the middle of the largest and most remote game sanctuary in North America, in the Northwest Territories, just south of the Arctic Circle. Its fate now hangs in the balance, protected on paper, but with little management, no money, and no voice for the Dene, its most ardent advocate for protection, while mining (for diamonds, gold, and uranium) threats, buoyed by recent prices, loom.  Dene youth have rarely been deep into the Thelon, yet the caribou is still their life blood, reverentially important.  These Dene are amongst the last hunter/gatherers in the Northern Hemisphere.   (Photo by Ami vitale)
    DSC_5008.TIFF
  • Dene First Nation youth Tristen Jade Lockhart, 14 paddles down the Thelon river  with Steve Ellis and Hawke Ellis Williams, 4, In the middle of the largest and most remote game sanctuary in North America, in the Northwest Territories, just south of the Arctic Circle. Its fate now hangs in the balance, protected on paper, but with little management, no money, and no voice for the Dene, its most ardent advocate for protection, while mining (for diamonds, gold, and uranium) threats, buoyed by recent prices, loom.  Dene youth have rarely been deep into the Thelon, yet the caribou is still their life blood, reverentially important.  These Dene are amongst the last hunter/gatherers in the Northern Hemisphere.   (Photo by Ami vitale)
    DSC_5012.TIFF
  • 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)
    DSC_2954.TIFF
  • 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)
    DSC_2949.TIF
  • 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)
    DSC_8874.TIF
  • 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)
    DSC_8871.TIF
  • 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)
    DSC_8758.TIFF
  • 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)
    DSC_8502.TIFF
  • 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)
    DSC_8498.TIFF
  • 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)
    DSC_8491.TIFF
  • 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)
    DSC_8490.TIFF
  • 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)
    DSC_8488.TIFF
  • 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)
    DSC_8486.TIFF
  • 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)
    DSC_8472.TIF
  • 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)
    DSC_8454.TIFF
  • 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)
    DSC_8453.TIFF
  • Joseph Catholique looks for wildlife at a campsite as Dene First Nation youth made a trip along the Thelon river In the middle of the largest and most remote game sanctuary in North America, in the Northwest Territories, just south of the Arctic Circle. Its fate now hangs in the balance, protected on paper, but with little management, no money, and no voice for the Dene, its most ardent advocate for protection, while mining (for diamonds, gold, and uranium) threats, buoyed by recent prices, loom.  Dene youth have rarely been deep into the Thelon, yet the caribou is still their life blood, reverentially important.  These Dene are amongst the last hunter/gatherers in the Northern Hemisphere.   (Photo by Ami vitale)
    DSC_8271.TIFF
  • Joseph Catholique looks for wildlife at a campsite as Dene First Nation youth made a trip along the Thelon river In the middle of the largest and most remote game sanctuary in North America, in the Northwest Territories, just south of the Arctic Circle. Its fate now hangs in the balance, protected on paper, but with little management, no money, and no voice for the Dene, its most ardent advocate for protection, while mining (for diamonds, gold, and uranium) threats, buoyed by recent prices, loom.  Dene youth have rarely been deep into the Thelon, yet the caribou is still their life blood, reverentially important.  These Dene are amongst the last hunter/gatherers in the Northern Hemisphere.   (Photo by Ami vitale)
    DSC_8242.TIFF
  • Tristen Jade Lockhart, 14, fishes  as the Dene First Nation youth paddle down the Thelon river In the middle of the largest and most remote game sanctuary in North America, in the Northwest Territories, just south of the Arctic Circle. Its fate now hangs in the balance, protected on paper, but with little management, no money, and no voice for the Dene, its most ardent advocate for protection, while mining (for diamonds, gold, and uranium) threats, buoyed by recent prices, loom.  Dene youth have rarely been deep into the Thelon, yet the caribou is still their life blood, reverentially important.  These Dene are amongst the last hunter/gatherers in the Northern Hemisphere.   (Photo by Ami vitale)
    DSC_8045.TIFF
  • 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)
    DSC_6040.TIF
  • 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)
    DSC_5888.TIF
  • 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)
    DSC_5672.TIF
  • 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)
    DSC_4764.TIFF
  • 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)
    DSC_4754.TIFF
  • 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)
    DSC_4711.TIFF
  • 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)
    DSC_4678.TIFF
  • 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)
    DSC_4663.TIFF
  • Sanjayan Muttulingam, left and Tristen Jade Lockhart, 14 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)
    DSC_4661.TIFF
  • Miles Catholoque, 14, fishes on his canoe along 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)
    DSC_4597.TIFF
  • 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)
    DSC_4175.TIFF
  • 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)
    DSC_4167.TIFF
  • 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)
    DSC_4162.TIFF
  • James Catholique looks for wildlife 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)
    DSC_3603.TIF
  • Brendan Felix Head, 14, prepares to de-feather a duck 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)
    DSC_3457.TIF
  • Dene First Nation youth play in the sub arctic 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)
    DSC_3175.TIF
  • 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)
    DSC_2954.TIF
  • 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)
    DSC_2834.TIFF
  • 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)
    DSC_2834.TIF
  • 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)
    DSC_2427.TIF
  • 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)
    DSC_0796.TIFF
  • 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)
    DSC_0797.TIFF
  • Dene First Nation youth out up their tents along the Thelon river In the middle of the largest and most remote game sanctuary in North America, in the Northwest Territories, just south of the Arctic Circle. Its fate now hangs in the balance, protected on paper, but with little management, no money, and no voice for the Dene, its most ardent advocate for protection, while mining (for diamonds, gold, and uranium) threats, buoyed by recent prices, loom. Dene youth have rarely been deep into the Thelon, yet the caribou is still their life blood, reverentially important. These Dene are amongst the last hunter/gatherers in the Northern Hemisphere. (Photo by Ami vitale)
    DSC_7957.TIF
Next