Photographer Matika Wilbur captured this photo of Hannah Tomeo. Tomeo identifies as Colville, Yakama, Nez Perce, Sioux, and Samoan.

©Matika WIlbur, All Rights Reserved 

STANDARDS

NCSS: Culture • Time, Continuity, and Change • People, Places, and Environments • Individual Development and Identity • Individuals, Groups, and Institutions • Power, Authority, and Governance • Science, Technology, and Society • Global Connections

Common Core: RH.6-8.1, RH.6-8.2, RH.6-8.3, RH.6-8.4, RH.6-8.5, RH.6-8.6, RH.6-8.7, WHST.6-8.4, WHST.6-8.9, RI.6-8.1, RI.6-8.2, RI.6-8.3, RI.6-8.4, RI.6-8.5, RI.6-8.6, RI.6-8.7, W.6-8.4, W.6-8.9

COOL SOCIAL STUDIES CAREER

Reframing History

Photographer Matika Wilbur is on a mission to change the way other people see Native Americans. 

Question: How can photojournalism affect how we see the world?

©Matika WIlbur, All Rights Reserved

Matika WIlbur

Matika Wilbur has traveled hundreds of thousands of miles across the country. She’s driven in her RV, “Big Girl.” She’s also traveled on foot and by train, plane, and boat. She even rode a horse to get through the Grand Canyon in Arizona.

Why? To capture the world with her camera. 

Wilbur is a documentary photographer and photojournalist. Photojournalists tell stories through photography. Their images can record history, convey emotion, and inspire people. They can also change the way we see the world. 

Wilbur wants her photographs to change the way many people see Native Americans. She is a member of the Swinomish and Tulalip Tribes in Washington State. She knows some Americans have false ideas about Indigenous people, and she wants to challenge those stereotypes. 

“There are stories the community needs you to tell,” Wilbur says.

She decided to photograph and interview members of 562 Tribal Nations in the United States. That was the number of Tribes that were recognized by the U.S. government when she started the project in 2012. Today there are 574.

Wilbur’s vibrant images depict both young and older Native Americans, often in places that are important to them. Some of the people wear traditional clothes. Others wear more modern outfits. They all look proud and strong, and they highlight the diversity of Native people across the U.S. 

The images are now in a book, Project 562: Changing the Way We See Native America. Each image is accompanied by a narrative that shares the traditions and experiences of the person in the photo. 

Here, Wilbur talks about her work and why it’s important.

“There are stories the community needs you to tell.”

Project 562: By the Numbers 

600,000 miles traveled 
 

11 years spent
 

1,200 people photographed

 

What got you interested in photography?
When I was young, maybe age 15, I heard a National Geographic photographer talking about one of her recent assignments where she had been to Tibet. [Tibet is a region of China.]

I was really drawn to her stories of adventure. I thought, “That’s the kind of life I want to have. I want to be able to travel and tell stories and meet people.” 

What made you decide to photograph Native American Tribes?
For far too long, Native American images have been very stereotypical. We’ve been misrepresented in Hollywood. We’ve been misrepresented in textbooks. I wanted to change that stereotype. 

How did you find people to photograph?
Before I went to visit a Tribe, I would post on social media and say, “Does anybody know anybody here?” A lot of times that worked. 

Sometimes I still wouldn’t know anybody when I got to a Tribe. I’d pull up in my RV and put up a sign: “Free fry bread for a photo.” [Fry bread is a Native American flatbread that is fried until crispy on the outside but soft on the inside.] 

People would invite me to their house or have me over for dinner. They’d say, “You should photograph this elder.” Then that elder might say, “You have to photograph my niece.” It went on like that everywhere I went. I would stay as long as I needed to get the shot. 

A photograph can open a door for our imaginations.”

How did you prepare before a shoot?
I interviewed people until they felt comfortable with me, which usually takes two to three hours. Sometimes it would take two days. I would stick around and do their dishes until we were friends. 

We would talk about identity, race, politics, their life story, and their children. I’d ask them about the things we all go through as human beings and what it means to be a Native person. 

What is the biggest challenge you face in your work?
When people tell you their stories, they often share the difficult things that they have been through, including violence and forced assimilation. [This is when people are made to adopt the beliefs, values, and behaviors of the majority—in this case, the non-Indigenous population.]

It was hard for me to hear those stories and to process my own anger about the Western structures causing those problems. 

HISTORY CONNECTION

Overcoming Oppression

The Granger Collection

This painting shows the Cherokee people being driven from their homeland in 1838.

When Europeans began arriving in North America in the late 1400s, they seized vast areas of land. But millions of people belonging to hundreds of unique cultures were already living there. 

In the centuries that followed, Native Americans tried to hold on to their lands by negotiating treaties. Despite that, White settlers pushed west, backed by the U.S. Army. Many Indigenous people died in the fighting. Millions of others were wiped out by diseases introduced by the Europeans.

By 1880, many Tribes faced hunger and despair. Most Native Americans had been forced onto government-controlled reservations. At the same time, thousands of Indigenous children were sent away to boarding schools. Many of the children were abused. They were forced to stop speaking their languages and practicing their customs.   

Today more than 9 million Native Americans from hundreds of diverse Tribes live in the U.S. Many are actively working to reclaim the land and cultures that were stripped away from them.

Why is photojournalism important?
Seeing is believing. A photograph can open a door for our imaginations to believe in something we haven’t previously been able to believe in.

So many social movements have happened because of photojournalism. Photos end wars. Photos drive compassion to support nonprofits that help people who are hungry or starving. Photos can shape the course of history.

How does your work help people understand society? 
Everywhere in this country, there are sad stories about how Native Americans lost their land and identity. There’s also a tremendous amount of inspiring stories in Indian Country, stories of profound resilience and cultural resurrection. I hope that my work can help teach Native American values and the real history of our country. I hope it will inspire people to ask questions like: How can we be in better relationships with our Indigenous relatives? How can we take better care of the land? There is so much to learn from our Native American communities.

©Matika WIlbur, All Rights Reserved

Helen Thompson Williams, Lovelock Paiute

Thompson Williams was the last living native tongue speaker of the Lovelock Paiute language. In tears, she told Matika Wilbur: “I am the only one left here that I can talk to.” 

How do you share your work?
To promote Project 562, I’ve been to more than 200 schools. I’ve given away more than 15,000 books. I’m teaching educators how to use this book and overcome stereotypes in their classrooms. 

What do you like most about your job?
I like the adventure of it. I want to be out in the world seeing new things. I want to be under the stars, listening to coyotes, eating traditional foods. There are so many great epic journeys left. And that’s really why I’m a journalist. 

What advice do you have for kids and teens interested in photojournalism?
Well, I hope they do it. We need storytellers. We need people to speak truth to power. So I would say: Tell stories, tell honest stories. Whatever you want to do, whoever you want to be, you can do it. 

YOUR TURN

Analyze a Primary Source 

Choose one of Matika Wilbur’s photographs to study. What do you notice about the photo? How would you describe its mood? How might the photo help people to think about Native Americans in a new way?

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