Photographer's decade-long, 600,000 mile journey shows Indigenous life : The Picture Show : NPR
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
April 28, 20235:00 AM ET
Melissa Block
Photographer's decade-long, 600,000-mile journey shows Indigenous life in new book
Professor Emerita Henrietta Mann (Cheyenne), a pioneer in Native American studies, received a National Humanities Medal from President Biden in 2021. The White House citation honors Mann "for dedicating her life to strengthening and developing Native American education."
Professor Emerita Henrietta Mann (Cheyenne), a pioneer in Native American studies, received a National Humanities Medal from President Biden in 2021. The White House citation honors Mann "for dedicating her life to strengthening and developing Native American education."
Matika Wilbur
Photographer Matika Wilbur was tired of seeing one-dimensional, insipid, degrading depictions of Native Americans in mainstream media and popular culture. So in 2012, Wilbur, who is of Swinomish and Tulalip descent, decided to create her own catalog of images.
She sold everything in her Seattle apartment and, with Kickstarter backing, headed out on the road, cameras in hand. Her goal: To illustrate Native Americans' diversity and complexity by photographing members of all of the then-562 federally-recognized U.S. tribes.
Sisters Isabella and Alyssa Klain of the Dine tribe, photographed outside Salt Lake City, Utah.
Matika Wilbur, pictured here in a self portrait, describes her work as a narrative correction.
Ten years, 600,000 miles, and several vehicles later, Wilbur has published her work - portraits and interviews - in a stunning new book: Project 562: Changing the Way We See Native America . Over hundreds of pages, we meet Native elders, rappers, professors, artists, activists, linguists, dancers, ranchers, comedians, and more.
"In a lot of ways, this work is narrative correction work," Wilbur said. "When I was talking to folks, I was aiming to understand, 'What are some of the true stories about your people that you want people to know?'"
Artist and filmmaker Holly Mititquq Nordlum (Inupiaq) is helping to revitalize the tradition of Inupiaq tattoos. A woman's chin tattoos - tavlugun - "are markers of her life and the celebration of her milestones," she told Wilbur. "I'm wearing my lineage on my face.
The sketch comedy troupe The 1491s "use slapstick and satire in performances that unpack stereotypes, debunk racism, raid contemporary culture," Wilbur writes. Pictured left to right: Bobby Wilson (Sisseton-Wahpeton Dakota), Ryan RedCorn (Wazhazhe), Sterlin Harjo (Seminole, Muscogee [Creek] Nation), and Migizi Pensoneau (Ponca, Ojibwe.) Not pictured: Dallas Goldtooth (Mdewakanton Dakota, Dine)
Rapper Frank Waln (Sicangu Lakota) told Wilbur that personal sovereignty extends to his own body: "I grow my hair long and wear braids. It's more about not fitting into the colonial gender binaries.''
In her interviews with the people she photographed, they shared stories about the lasting effects of colonization and relocation; about environmental destruction done to Native lands; and about the traumatic experience of those who had been taken from their homes as children and sent to Indian boarding schools to be "assimilated," forced to give up their language and Native identity.
But along with those painful conversations, Wilbur said, she also heard "the best parts: how we've healed from that, and what our people are doing to move forward, and to develop healthy and strong and thriving Indigenous nations."
Matika Wilbur dedicates Project 562 to her daughter Alma Bee, who was one year old when this photo was taken. Alma Bee is standing along the coast of Washington State on traditional homelands of the Tulalip tribe, with Swinomish land in the background, both reflecting her ancestry.
Wilbur dedicates Project 562 to her daughter Alma Bee, now three years old, with these words:
May your children
hear and breathe
the words of
our Indigenous ancestors.
May we all be so lucky to
know an Indigenous future.
Photos reprinted with permission from Project 562: Changing The Way We See Native America by Matika Wilbur © 2023. Photographs by Matika Wilbur © 2023. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House.
The interview with Matika Wilbur was produced by Michael Levitt and edited by Justine Kenin.
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I started following her journey when she first started and all these years later the book is being published.
Mine is on order.
This is one of my favorite photos by Makita Wilbur.
Robert and Fannie Mitchell. Tribal affiliation: Dine (Navajo)
Bahazhoni Tso Tribal Affiliation: Navajo Nation
Morning Kavika... brilliant photos and what an incredible journey to do.
what an awesome journey and project.
It really is and her ability to show NAs in their real environment and not the nonsense we usually see is, IMO, the heart of the book.
as a wannabe navajo, my kids will spread my ashes in the morning shadow of navajo mountain at the foot of rainbow bridge.
LOL, a wannabe Navajo, now your being very specific.
my favorite area and my favorite people...
I tend to favor the Anishinaabe, but that's just me...
yeah well, I don't feel like being ass deep in the snow, even when I'm dead. I want to hang with my spirit brother ravens on the canyon rims and rob the pilgrim's campsites.
I belong to the Southern Anishinaabe, we don't do snow.
75+ degree NA's...
LOL, for sure.
Totally fascinating!
It sure is, RW.
I like the black and white landscapes with the people in subtle colors in these two pics.
Like you, pat, I really like her style in those photos.
I like how the outdoor portrait backgrounds stretch into infinity.
Excellent article. Her name is familiar to me, as is the photo of the Mitchells. Did we ever do a collaboration of her work?
I don't remember if we did or not, Buzz. I know that I did a article or two but not with photos.
Actually, Kavika, I just searched her name and photos, recognized many of them, and now I know that we DID do a collaboration of her photos a number of years ago.
AND in fact HERE IT IS: link ->
Great find, Buzz and five years after this photo essay she has finished her work and the book is now published and available on Amazon among other places.
You should repost the five year old article sepertly so everyone can enjoy more of her works.
I'll try to do that now - look for it on the Creative Arts group and see if I can promote it to the Front (Home) Page. There are 55 photos on it. Some are very artistic, like the one looking down at a canoe with a person lying in it.
That would be great, Buzz.
Evening Buzz/anyone...speaking of front home pages, the headline articles that use to appear seems to have disappeared down here in the Great Southern Land..
Yesterday when I logged on I got an error server message and that was it..a blank screen and cactus..(dead).
Hmmm thought that was a bit odd and I suspected the usual culprits as I always do when it comes to technology..🇷🇺
When I log on now it just goes straight to "recent articles"..and no headline article can be seen.
Are you/anyone able to throw any light on it at all by any chance??
Our original article is now reposted under the Creative Arts group and promoted to the Front (Home) Page with all the original comments attached. Here is the link to it ->
There was a system glitch last night that blocked the site from everyone, which is now been corrected. I suggest you send a PN to Perrie about your specific problem.
The site is experienced technical difficulties doing updates. I posted a META article, which was NOT APPRECIATED. There are ongoing differences. For several hours yesterday morning I could not reply to or flag comments on the articles I had seeded. The trolls thought it was a free-for-all to attack me, until things got fixed. They are working on it according to TiG and Perrie.
Morning shona, I've been following it since she first started and over the years posted a few articles on it. Now that it is complete I can hardly wait to get my copy.
Nice. Definitely worth a look.
It sure is, Ender.
Fantastic story and she has an interesting photographic style.
She really does, G.
Great seed, Kav! The photos and the narratives are a great insight to NA culture. I like that she shows that the different tribes have their own unique culture.
She actually went all the way to Alaska! I bet she loved it there
She does show the many unique cultures of 562 tribes yet even with the differences between tribes (language, customs, etc) we consider ourselves one people.
I didn't know that. Thanks for that info
Really wonderful seed Kavika! What great photos of contemporary Indigenous people, which one rarely sees. It gives you a real feeling for their lives and loves of our people!
Buzz and I did an article five years ago on her with dozens of her photos and Buzz just re posted it this morning. Check it out.
The article from 5 years ago definitely confirms her quality as a photographer and documentarian. Excellent.
She certainly has established herself as a top photographer.
Wow, I totally forgot that photo essay. She is very talented!
Thanks Buzz for the repost.
Love the photos.
Important too.
Check out the link in 6.1 there are dozens more.
very cool...
Nice article!
Thanks, Thomas.