A Native American photographer is taking powerful portraits of members of every tribe across the US

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Talia LakritzNov 27, 2021, 00:03 IST
A Native American photographer is taking powerful portraits of members of every tribe across the US

Matika Wilbur takes intimate portraits of Native people across America.Matika Wilbur

  • Matika Wilbur is photographing members of every federally recognized Native American tribe.
  • She asks people about themselves and their identies and records their answers for an archive.
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Photographer Matika Wilbur is on a mission to photograph members of every federally recognized Native tribe in North America.

Photographer Matika Wilbur is on a mission to photograph members of every federally recognized Native tribe in North America.
Matika Wilbur.Matika Wilbur

Wilbur herself is Swinomish and Tulalip. She began Project 562 after her grandmother appeared to her in a dream and told her to leave an assignment in South America and photograph her own people.

She's driven hundreds of thousands of miles and photographed members of over 400 tribes for Project 562.

She's driven hundreds of thousands of miles and photographed members of over 400 tribes for Project 562.
The Walkers on their "Journey for Existence."Matika Wilbur

When Wilbur began her project in 2012, there were 562 federally recognized Native American tribes. Now, there are 574.

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The project has grown from a photo series to a documentary project to a full-blown archive of Native people, their communities, and their stories.

The project has grown from a photo series to a documentary project to a full-blown archive of Native people, their communities, and their stories.
Chief Bill James, Lummi Nation.Matika Wilbur

"We're always redrafting the language to describe this project," Wilbur told Insider in 2016.

Wilbur photographs her subjects on black-and-white film using a method called the Zone System.

Wilbur photographs her subjects on black-and-white film using a method called the Zone System.
Bahazhoni Tso, Navajo Nation.Matika Wilbur

The Zone System creates more dynamic range in the images.

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She's drawn to peer portraiture with simple landscape backdrops.

She's drawn to peer portraiture with simple landscape backdrops.
Dr. Mary Evelyn Belgarde, Pueblo of Isleta and Ohkay Owingeh.Matika Wilbur

"I figured that that was sort of irresponsible when I started this project, to travel all over the country and not show the landscape," Wilbur said.

She lets her subjects choose where and how they'd like to be photographed, providing them with agency over the way they'll be represented.

She lets her subjects choose where and how they'd like to be photographed, providing them with agency over the way they'll be represented.
Leon Grant, Omaha.Matika Wilbur

"Sometimes I'll be in the Grand Canyon and I'd rather take somebody's picture at Havasupai Falls because it's magnificent and there's this incredible blue-green water coming out of the ground ... and they want to be photographed on their front porch because they love where they live," she said. "I'll do what they want to do because people should be represented in a way that is important to them, especially in Indian Country."

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"We've been photographed so many times by non-Indians and we've had our stories told so many times by people outside our community, and they get the story wrong," Wilbur said.

"We've been photographed so many times by non-Indians and we've had our stories told so many times by people outside our community, and they get the story wrong," Wilbur said.
Darkfeather, Bibiana, and Eckos Ancheta from the Tulalip tribe.Matika Wilbur

In the above portrait, Wilbur photographed three members of the Tulalip tribe: Darkfeather, Bibiana, and Eckos Ancheta.

"We aim to correct that narrative through honest individual agency and storytelling," she said.

"We aim to correct that narrative through honest individual agency and storytelling," she said.
Jaclyn Roessel, Dine' (Navajo Nation).Matika Wilbur

Dine' (Navajo Nation) member Jaclyn Roessel posed for one of Wilbur's portraits.

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Wilbur asks them questions about themselves and their lives as she takes their picture.

Wilbur asks them questions about themselves and their lives as she takes their picture.
Jennie Parker and granddaughter Sharlyce, Northern Cheyenne.Matika Wilbur

Their conversations touch on family, love, heartbreak, moments that shaped them, and their hopes for the future.

She also asks about their Native American identities.

She also asks about their Native American identities.
Rupert Steele, Goshute.Matika Wilbur

"I find that people have really interesting things to say when you ask them what it means to be whatever their tribe is, and then when you ask them what it means to be an 'Indian,'" she said. "I'm fascinated by that."

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Sometimes her subjects wear traditional Native clothing, while others wear their everyday outfits.

Sometimes her subjects wear traditional Native clothing, while others wear their everyday outfits.
Ailee Fregoso, Cheyenne River Sioux.Matika Wilbur

Ailee Fregoso of the Cheyenne River Sioux tribe showed off her colorful fringed shawl.

Project 562 is still ongoing.

Project 562 is still ongoing.
Rosebud Quintana, Northern Ute and Dine.Matika Wilbur

You can follow her work on Project 562's Instagram and website.

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What began as a photo series has become an archive rich with history, culture, language, and resilience.

What began as a photo series has become an archive rich with history, culture, language, and resilience.
Kumu Ka'eo Izon, Kanaka Maoli.Matika Wilbur

Wilbur also co-hosts the podcast All My Relations, in which she, Desi Small-Rodriguez, and Adrienne Keene discuss their relationships to land, ancestors, and other Native peoples.

"I feel so blessed to know so many wonderful people," Wilbur said.

"I feel so blessed to know so many wonderful people," Wilbur said.
Myra Masiel Zamora, Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians.Matika Wilbur

"I didn't know that strangers can become family relatively quickly," she said. "It's such a whirlwind of a journey."

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