The new edition of Dana Gluckstein's iconic book, Dignity: In Honor of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, played an important role in the global anti-racism movement at the time of publication. It includes new images of Native Americans and Moroccan Berbers, and a new epilogue from Amnesty International Freedom from Violence calling on the United States to take action against rape and abuse of Indigenous women in America and Alaska.
The first edition of Dignity, three-time winner of the International Photography Awards, contributed to a turning point during the Obama administration when it adopted the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, in partnership with Amnesty International.
The UN declaration, the full text of which is reproduced in Dignity, is the most comprehensive global statement of the actions every government must take to ensure the survival and well-being of Indigenous peoples. It has empowered a global movement of Indigenous peoples to claim stewardship of their lands, air and water.
Gluckstein spent three decades in the Americas, Africa, Asia and the Pacific and made more than 100 black-and-white, duotone portraits portraits shown in Dignity and express the theme 'tribes in transition'.
Since the first edition of Dignity Gluckstein's concerns about the treatment of Indigenous peoples and her commitment to fighting on their behalf have only grown. “Dignity is a call to action against racism,” says Gluckstein.
I believe in the power of images to shift consciousness.
In the introduction to the book, Oren R. Lyons traces the origins of racism to the medieval Catholic Church with the doctrine that Indigenous peoples should be viewed as subhuman and treated like animals to justify stealing land and enslaving the inhabitants.
With the new edition of her book, Gluckstein wants to take action on behalf of American Indian and Alaska Native women. More than one in three Indigenous women will be raped at some point in their lives. Sexual violence is so common in these communities that many American Indian and Alaska Native women don't know women who haven't experienced the trauma. Moreover, many perpetrators remain unpunished.
Gluckstein sees the second edition of Dignity as a contribution to current efforts to ensure that these women receive adequate care after rape, as mandated by the U.S. Tribal Law and Order Act - Sexual Assault Protocols and the UN Declaration. “I believe in the power of images to shift consciousness.”
Dana Gluckstein has photographed many iconic figures including Nelson Mandela, Mikhail Gorbachev, Desmond Tutu and Muhammad Ali, as well as award-winning advertising campaigns for clients such as Apple and Toyota. Her portraits are held in the permanent collections of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, and the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Gluckstein graduated from Stanford University, where she studied psychology, painting and photography, and discovered the power of images in shaping consciousness.
Dignity - In Honor of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Updated Second Edition – Dana Gluckstein
Number of pages: 144
Price: €42.99
Publisher: powerHouse Books
ISBN: 9781576879221
