GRIOTS REPUBLIC - An Urban Black Travel Mag - Jan 2016

DOCUMENTING
NATIVE IDENTITY
captures through her lens and every story that is
shared with her has a sense of beauty but also
urgency. Beauty in that there are people working
to keep the culture thriving, and urgency in that
there are many obstacles in preserving the culture
and educating others about its true history.
When Matika Wilbur set out on her journey across the
country in an RV, her mission was to visit places not
marked on the typical American sightseeing map, to
chart the places filled with just as many artifacts,
culture, and stories waiting to be heard. These are the
stories of a people that make up the 562 Native
American Tribes federally recognized throughout the
United States. Over the course of three years, Wilbur
tasked herself with capturing images of Native people
living in Western Society and exhibiting them in the
aptly named, Project 562.
Throughout her travels the old adage, “There are two
sides to every story” rings true. Every picture she
As cultures are fighting to be heard, to matter, and
for their history not be washed over with stories of
peaceful exchanges rather than the first steps of
erasure, acknowledgements like the recent push to
rename Christopher Columbus Day as Indigenous
People’s Day is a step in a different direction.
Wilbur’s art makes the Indigenous voice even more
public.
When it comes to the mission of her photography,
Wilbur “always believed that it would be necessary
for our voices to be heard in massive media.” Her
work has garnered attention but she insists on the
spotlight being on the work and the issues
effecting Native communities such as student