GRIOTS REPUBLIC - An Urban Black Travel Mag - Jan 2016

Dr. Mary Evelyn Belgarde (Pueblo of Isleta and Ohkay Owingeh), 2014.
Wilbur also points out that paying for
her trip was no small task. She turned
to crowdfunding to make it possible.
Her project was not only fully funded,
she exceeded her goal, yet it was still
a humbling experience, according to
Wilbur. “You’re asking people to
believe in your dreams,” she said.
Crowd funding allowed her to
continue working to capture and
highlight the identities of Nat ive
people. In regards to her own identity,
Wilbur describes it as “complex.” She
represents her mother’s tribe
Swinomish and her father’s tribe
Tulalip but is enrolled as a Tulalip due
to a federal policy that allows only
one tribal enrollment.
Despite the hardships associated with
her project, she insists that the people
she has encountered on her journey
have strengthened her resolve, in the
fact, that th ere are many more steps
to be taken in order to educate others
about Indigenous peoples. She
contends that Indigenous people
must also be able to accurately
identify with their own culture in
safe spaces, on and off the
designated areas sanctioned by the
United States.
A long term goal for Wilbur includes
more traveling to discover tribes
around the world and also bringing
her art directly to the public. With
funding, she is looking forward to
the creation of a traveling long
house exhibition, a “nomadic
exhibition that would look like it
belongs in a space of sacredness.”
She wants the exhibition to feel
authentic, complete with a “dirt
floor and fire, and stories that are
going to stay with us in a setting
that feels really safe to Indigenous
people."
She dreams of an exhibition space,
"where we can invite kids to see
She wants the
exhibition to feel
authentic, complete
with a “dirt floor and
fire, and stories that
are going to stay with
us in a setting that
feels really safe to
Indigenous people."
it and they are not going to feel like they
are being pushed by white-walled
institutions with track lighting.”
To find out more about Matika's art or
to help her create her exhibition by
donating to her project, please visit
MatikaWilbur.com or Project562.com.
You can also follow her journey on
Instagram @MatikaWilbur.
P H O T O G R A P H E R R E V I E W