"Go home. Help your people. Be who you were born to be."

May 9, 2019 4:03 AM

Project 562 "While building curriculum for class, [Matika Wilbur] discovered a serious lack of images of Native Americans taken by Native Americans. That void inspired her to launch Project 562, a Kickstarter-funded pursuit to photograph every federally recognized Native American tribe. The ambitious project’s name came from the number of then-recognized tribes." - from Elle

She's on Instagram and has a gallery of images on the Project 562 site

A blog

And has a podcast called All My Relations

Previously on MeFi

posted by kokaku (7 comments total)

From the gallery link:

Starflower Montoya, Digueno (Barona) and Taos Pueblo, California

Starflower was raised in Barona, a Digueno village in Southern California, but she is also Taos Pueblo. Although she feels deeply connected to her Digueno roots, she chose to be photographed in her traditional Taos Manta because of her deep respect for the religious practices of her Pueblo ancestors. Every year she participates in the pilgrimage to the Taos Pueblo people’s most sacred shrine, known as Blue Lake, a beautiful glacier lake located 12,000 feet above sea level. Blue Lake offers more than water and nourishment, it is central to the cultural and spiritual beliefs of the Taos Pueblo people. Starflower expresses that she is “honored to have the opportunity to visit Blue Lake,” as it has been a long-thwarted battle to maintain access to their sacred site. For twelve thousand years the Taos Pueblo people made annual pilgrimages to blue lake. Then in 1906, without warning the Taos Forest Reserve stripped the tribe of their aboriginal title and designated Blue Lake a “multiple-use” area for recreation, grazing, and extraction of natural resources, devastating Taos Pueblo people. In an effort at reconciliation, the Pueblo Lands Act of 1924 awarded the tribe monetary compensation to settle the land dispute, but the tribe continued to press its ancestral right to the area. With continued organizing from Taos Pueblo, the U.S. offered permits for land access in 1933, and finally in 1951 admitted that the land was taken unjustly, but still only offered monetary compensation rather than return of the land. Taos Pueblo continued their campaign, recruiting support from other tribes and the non-Indian public for effective new legislation. The Blue Lake Bill was signed in 1970 by Richard Nixon, returning Blue Lake to the tribe. This was the first Indian activism and legislative campaign that succeeded in returning ancestral land to Native Americans, setting a precedent for self-determination for all American Indian people.

posted by oceanjesse at 5:36 AM on May 9, 2019 [5 favorites]

This post from the blog is beautiful: Hiking the Nüümü Poyo: An Act of Love by Indigenous Women.
posted by daisyk at 8:50 AM on May 9, 2019 [2 favorites]

YES I just saw this the other day, I can't believe it's finally finished.
posted by poffin boffin at 9:58 AM on May 9, 2019 [1 favorite]

These are lovely. All My Relations is great - Adrienne Keene, her co-host, also runs Native Appropriations and is faculty at Brown.
posted by ChuraChura at 10:41 AM on May 9, 2019 [1 favorite]

The podcast is SO GOOD! The mini-episode they recorded about their opposing reactions to the Notre Dame fire was really interesting.
posted by book 'em dano at 12:21 PM on May 9, 2019 [1 favorite]

? I mean, good stock photos of Native Americans taken by Native Americans would be amazing. I love all the different types of photos on her instagram feed, and some of the racism in the stories are just heartbreaking.

"Running has been my absolute passion and my stability. When I transferred schools, I felt as if no one wanted me to succeed. My teacher told me it was in my genetics to be an alcoholic, my basketball coach would drug test only me on the team, and my track coach told me I would just be another stupid Indian runner with no chance in the real running world. I let those words motivate and push me until I earned the fastest times in the school, but she still wouldn't let me race. Once, I remember my whole family coming to watch me run, it was a big deal to me. I was scheduled to run the 800 meters, 1600 meters and the 4x4 meter races. But one after another my coach pulled me off the start line and put someone in my place without explanation. Finally, for the last race I thought, she has to let me do this one. But again, as I was standing on the start line ready to grab the baton for my leg of the 4x4, she pulled me out and put another girl in. I looked up at my family who had waited the whole meet in the cold just to watch me race. As I took my spikes off, embarrassed, my coach stood over me, scolding me in front of my team, my family and the spectators. I had had enough. I stood up, handed her my jersey and walked away. My spirit had officially been broken. I never thought I would run again. Then my dad gave me these words "You can either be a quitter, or come back a success story. Your choice." That summer I trained harder than ever and came back strong. I made it to State. I made first team and placed in the Nike meet in Boise and Footlocker in California. I was Mead High School's #1 runner. My story isn't over. I will keep working hard to reach my goals. I will go to college so I can continue my success story that will inspire my fellow Native youth. I want to let them know that although the odds might not be in our favor, we come from a strong people. We are strong and will rise!" - Hannah Tomeo (Colville, Yakima, Nez Perce, Sioux and Samoan Nations), Northwest Indian Youth Princess

Thanks for sharing, kokaku!
posted by Hermeowne Grangepurr at 2:24 PM on May 9, 2019 [3 favorites]

This is really beautiful. Thank you.
posted by evilmomlady at 4:34 PM on May 22, 2019