Ethnographic Lens

Environmental Racism in the Sahara Desert. Idrissou Mora Kapi, 2004. 

Firefighter Uniform

Japan

c.1900

Edo (now Tokyo) in the 17th century had some massive problems. The city had only become the official capital in 1603. Before the 16th century, it had been an inconsequental fishing town. After becoming the capital, the city boomed and population more or less exploded.

The numbers I could find are the following:

1640: 400′000 residents

1693: 800′000 residents

1721: 1′100′000 residents

All in all, Edo became a massive, sprawling city in a very short amount of time. All kinds of people came to Edo, from poor women that were literally sold into prostiution by their parents to the leaders of the country.

The rapid population growth wasn’t the only problem the city faced, however. Some other factors include:

Building material: Most houses were built almost entirely out of wood, which, surprise, burns easily.

Building structures: Houses were often built in rows, with narrow streets in between, perfect for the quick spread of fire

Weather: Constant strong winds, especially in the winter and in spring, helped along with that, too

Arson: Yes, people literally set fires in the hope that they would manage to loot something valuable in the process. These people were often from the lower strata of society, showing that not all was well in Edo. (In short: being poor sucks massively.) Sometime merchants just wanted to destroy their rival’s business, though. Burn that fucker to the ground, or something like that.

Due to these factors, the city experienced 49 large fires between 1601 and 1867, and over a thousand smaller fires. Which means there were approximately 7 smaller fires a year, as well as one massive fire every five years… not great odds if you just wanna do your thing in the big city. The largest fire in 1657 killed around 100′000 people, which was, if you look at the numbers up there, probably around a quarter of the population.

While the shogun quickly commanded the creation of a firefighting force to prevent the burning of his buildings, he was less concerned about the rest of the city. It took until the 18th century (I think somewhere in the 1720s) until he finally ordered the creation of a city-wide firefighting force that protected people from fires and put them out.

In short, because of the frequency of the fires, this was a massively important job.

(Above: Fireman in gear. Take note of the fire hook. These hooks were standard gear for any firefighter, and usually used to destroy buildings to prevent the spread of a fire.)

(Above: Firemen at work. The lanterns and the matoi they are carrying are symbols to identify the “department”.)

And I don’t know, but it seems like an universal rule that important people like to show off, or maybe it’s just a side-effect of running into rapidly-spreading fires, but at some point, they started the tradition of “ladder climbing.” It’s now part of a yearly ceremony that takes place just after new years, but the exact origin of this tradition is unclear.

(Above: We have no time for your foolish safety measures. Get on our level. Hahahaha.)

Anyway, what they do every year in this ceremony is this:

One or more dudes climb a straight ladder that’s only secured with the fire hooks of their colleagues on the ground (you can see them do that in the image), and on top of that ladder they perform various acrobatic feats to show off their awesome firefighting skills (not really). Now if you say this is obviously a print and does not depict reality at all, let me direct you towards some newer technology:

(Above: AAAAH.)

And the tradition lives on until today:

(Above: You can also clearly see this goddamn ladder is not secured at all, other than with the fire hooks. You can only hope none of your colleagues are planning to murder you.)

And if you want to see the entire thing in movement:

In this video, you can see some very nice close-ups of the ladder and the way it’s being secured by the fire hooks. The best stunts come towards the end. Here you can see three dudes on the ladder, and here’s a video of a woman doing the stunts.

Yemenite Jewish girl, Irit Kapach, wearing golden ceremonial dress and gold and silver jewelry. Goldsmiths and other craft people are among the Jews who emigrated to Israel from Yemen. 

Location: Israel

North Wind Mask (Negakfok)

Yup’ik culture, Alaska, early 20th century

…After freezeup in the winter, performance cycles were undertaken that were important to maintaining proper human, animal, and spirit-world interactions. Among these ceremonies, were those where costumed dancers performed with masks that transformed them into spirits, both benevolent and malevolent, for the community. The mask here, one of a pair, represents “Negakfok,” meaning the north wind or, more eloquently, the spirit that likes cold and stormy weather. Its white spots are said to represent snow flakes, and the many wood danglers clattered when moved giving a voice to the spirit of the north wind. One of a series of masks that includes representations of the south and east winds as well, the series is thought to refer to a particularly memorable weather event that took place in the early 1900s.

Skull of Candelaria Cave, Coahuila, Mexico AD 1100 - 1300

“ For The Buffalo that could not dream, German photographer Felix von der Osten chronicles life on Montana’s the Fort Belknap Reservation, where since 1888, the Gros Ventre and Assiniboine Native American tribes have raised their families and continued to foster a deeply-felt respect for the land. “

If you have seen Edward Curtis photos (and who hasn’t?) these were taken in the same vein and tell about as much about Natives as Curtis’ did (which is not a lot).

Posed, un-smiling, dressed in regalia - heck, not one picture that this Felix guy took has anyone who is smiling! Not even the children! All posed and stern, with serious faces - this is not the full reality and isn’t the most important part of our communities! Even in the landscape pictures he conveyed isolation and emptiness when it’s not really like that. How can the land be empty when my grandpa taught me how to speak to it?

Shooting Back was made by Native children who were sharing and exploring different aspects of their LIVES. It shows how life really is within a Native community by young Native people. It’s not someone who showed up on a reservation for a month because his girlfriend had extended family there and took pictures. This is a glimpse of a moment out of their day and holds so many aspects of their life that you cannot view from an outsider’s pictures.

It shows you that there is no one way a Native is suppose to look,

It has chubby babies with big heads and intelligent eyes,

And shows that often our places are run down, and held together with more than a little duct tape, WITHOUT it being poverty porn,

It shows the love of rez dogs and rez cars,

And dads that make funny faces just because he likes to hear you laugh,

It shows a cemetery with too many graves,

And those medicine wheels that your aunt makes when you get a new to you car,

It shows kids playing, goofing around, and laughing!

And standing kinda awkwardly next to a white guy,

And elders that make silly faces too!

But my favorite part of this book is that in a society where our Native youth have some of the highest suicide rates, where they are silenced twofold because not only are they Native but they are also children and apparently that means that you’re not a full person yet, this book gives them a platform for their voice.