I first photographed the Kashaya Pomo dance group "Su Nu Nu Shinal" in 2013 when they performed publicly at Fort Ross State Historic Park. I shared some of the photos with the dancers, and they invited me to photograph their annual meeting of several local tribes called "Big Time."
The idea of the portrait series "Dancing Between Two Worlds" came to me when I approached one of the dancers, Lamont. His face was shrouded by the orange feathers of his headdress, and he told me that tradition prohibits him from speaking behind the mask, for he was no longer Lamont, but a conduit of his ancestors.
I came to understand that the ancient rituals of song and dance were a way of taking each dancer out of their modern lives and connecting with their ancestors and Native culture.
The diptych images reveal the sharp contrast between the dual identities of each dancer.
In this portrait series, I have photographed eleven members of the dance group Su Nu Nu Shinal in traditional Kashaya Pomo regalia and their modern attire. Each dancer shares their struggle to balance their Native ancestral traditions with their modern American life. Combining the two opposing images reveals the stark contrast of their dual identities. Billyrene Pinola and her cousin Colleen McCloud started the family dance group in 1993, naming it "Su Nu Nu Shinal," which in Kashaya translates to "Huckleberry Heights," the name of their reservation at Stewarts Point Rancheria in Northern California.
Today, the group is led by Billyrene and her husband, Lester. For them, the dancing and singing is essential to preserve their Native language and culture, as fewer tribal members engage in Kashaya ceremonies. Billyrene explains:
"Every time I go out there, and I sing, and I see the kids dance to the songs handed down to me, I do that for my ancestors. I do that for my father and my grandmother. My grandmother always told us never to forget. Don't forget who you are and what was handed down to you."
I started photographing the dance group in 2013 at Fort Ross State Historic Park when Jerry Pinola and his family were granted permission to build a ceremonial dance circle outside the gate of the fort that once served as a fur trading outpost for Russian colonists from 1812-1842.
