Project 562: Changing the Way We See Native America

Superb collection of images of Indigenous peoples throughout the U.S.

Wilbur, a Swinomish and Tulalip photographer, set out with the aim of developing “a documentary project dedicated to changing the way people see Native America.” She doesn’t present images of all of the 562 federally

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recognized tribes that give her collection its name, but it’s not for want of trying. Featuring hundreds of portraits, this book represents years of travel, conversations, and quiet negotiations, as when Wilbur ventured into the depths of the Grand Canyon to speak with the Havasupai people who live there and was put off for three days until she presented a gift of fry bread to a previously reluctant interlocutor. “We just remain within our people, hidden inside the Earth, inside the canyon,” said her interviewee. “Maybe we can find peace and quiet where we live.” Whether old or young, the people the author portrays speak to the difficult realities of Native life. Many have experienced the devastating effects of deracination imposed from the outside, with the suppression of Indigenous languages and cultural norms. “I’m the only one here that can speak the language…I talk to myself,” notes one Ojibwe elder. Sometimes it’s kind of funny—I don’t want them Crees to hear me talk to myself. They may send me out to the nut house!” Apart from portraying a vast array of individual people, Wilbur punctuates her portfolio with studies of events and themes; especially moving and memorable is her inside view of the water protectors of the Standing Rock Sioux. Some of the author’s subjects are well known, including the famed poet/musician Joy Harjo and the late John Trudell, and some are unknown but making their marks on the world nonetheless. All, Wilbur amply shows, take great pride in being Native even as they battle prejudice, sometimes on many fronts.

Essential for readers interested in modern Native American lives and traditions.
(Kirkus Review)

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