Pictured:
Still from Nathan Young, "Alëmi pëmëske (He begins to walk)," 2023. Video and sound. Courtesy of the artist
"Alëmi pëmëske (He begins to walk)" records Nathan Young and Yatika Starr Fields traveling eighteen miles of modern roads on foot from Pipersville, Pennsylvania, where one of the “walkers,” Solomon Jennings, dropped out, to the starting point of the original walk at Wrightstown Friends Meeting. The ominous soundtrack and the monotonous passing of cars and trucks, warns of the challenges and hardships that Young’s ancestors faced as they were forced from their homeland following the Walking Purchase.