Funagata (2002)
61 Funagata, or boats, were released from a river tributary to travel to the Atlantic Ocean. Slips of paper were mailed to friends and family to pen a message that were later folded and sealed into the hull of each boat. The Japanese culture, having such prominence in my life as a child, influenced the fusion of ancient ancestral rites of Okuribi, with my American Indian tradition of casting out a canoe with the personal affects of the deceased. Both cultures believe this process is necessary in order to release the soul from this wrls to the next.