Marc Dadigan

When Caleen Sisk-Franco first looked at old photographs depicting her tribe’s puberty ceremony, she was confused.

Waimem hugs her father and the Winnemem headman Mark Franco during the 2006 ceremony.

Because of persecution, boarding schools and the destruction of their sacred lands, it had been 70 years since her tribe, the Winnemem Wintu of [...]

Winnemem Nick Wilson, 14, exchanges a hongi, the traditional Maori greeting, with Rick Tau of the Ngai Tahu tribe.

My first Maori welcoming ceremony, or Pōwhiri, began with a towering woman with emerald, tattooed lips belting a sonorous summoning song as we entered the grounds of the marae, or community center.

We sat down [...]