• Music: "Flickr," Jonathan Coulton

"you can hear the voice of the cottonwood tree"

I have just returned from an exhilarating time in South Dakota, making a documentary on the U.S. West and Native America for Italian television, filmed by Francesco and Massimo Piccioli of Filmaker and hosted by author, educator, and musical artist Giuseppe Festa. For the part with which I was involved, we managed quite a bit of travel, visiting the Badlands, the Pine Ridge Reservation, Wounded Knee, the Black Hills (including Custer State Park, Wind Cave National Park, and Sylvan Lake), Buffalo Gap, the Crazy Horse Memorial, and Mount Rushmore.

Here I am with my friend Giuseppe, where we filmed one of my segments in Custer State Park in the Black Hills:



We spent a good deal of time at the Wounded Knee Cemetery, which is a truly heartbreaking place:



And, of course, we took in lots of Western flavor, including this saloon in Scenic, South Dakota:



I found it to be an intense and deeply moving journey, which I was fortunate enough to share with wonderful people. I am so happy I could be involved with this project!

You can see all of my pictures from the trip here.

I will be catching up with everyone as soon as possible.


"Perhaps you have noticed that even in the slightest breeze you can hear the voice of the cottonwood tree; this we understand is its prayer to the Great Spirit, for not only men, but all things and all beings pray to Him continually in different ways." - Black Elk