A Native American photographer took powerful portraits of members of every tribe across the US

By: Talia Lakritz

22 November 2024 at 09:37

A Native American man in a traditional headdress. — Matika Wilbur took intimate portraits of Native people across America.
Matika Wilbur

Matika Wilbur photographed members of every federally recognized Native American tribe.
She named the series Project 562 for the number of recognized tribes at the time.
She published a book of her photos titled "Project 562: Changing the Way We See Native America."

Photographer Matika Wilbur was on assignment in South America when her grandmother appeared to her in a dream and told her to go capture her own people.

Wilbur, who is Native American, listened.

She embarked on a yearslong project photographing members of every federally recognized Native tribe in North America. In 2023, she published her collection of photos in a book titled "Project 562: Changing the Way We See Native America."

Wilbur spoke with Business Insider about her project, her photos, and the importance of agency in Native American representation.

Take a look at Wilbur's powerful portraits.

Photographer Matika Wilbur went on a mission to photograph members of every federally recognized Native tribe in North America.

A self portrait of Matika Wilbur. A woman stands next to a van on the edge of a cliff. — Matika Wilbur.
Matika Wilbur

Wilbur herself is Swinomish and Tulalip.

She drove hundreds of thousands of miles and photographed members of different Native American tribes for Project 562.

A group of Native American people photographed by Matika Wilbur. — The Walkers on their "Journey for Existence."
Matika Wilbur

When Wilbur began her project in 2012, there were 562 federally recognized Native American tribes. Now, there are 574.

The project has grown from a photo series to a documentary project to a full-blown archive of Native people, their communities, and their stories.

Chief Bill James, Lummi Nation. A man poses for a portrait in front of a canoe and water. — Chief Bill James, Lummi Nation.
Matika Wilbur

"We're always redrafting the language to describe this project," Wilbur told Business Insider.

Wilbur photographed her subjects on black-and-white film using a method called the Zone System.

A young member of Navajo Nation photographed by Matika Wilbur. — Bahazhoni Tso, Navajo Nation.
Matika Wilbur

The Zone System creates more dynamic range in the images.

She's drawn to peer portraiture with simple landscape backdrops.

A Native woman photographed by Matika Wilbur. She looks up at the sky with her hands extended at her sides. — Dr. Mary Evelyn Belgarde, Pueblo of Isleta and Ohkay Owingeh.
Matika Wilbur

"I figured that that was sort of irresponsible when I started this project, to travel all over the country and not show the landscape," Wilbur said.

She let her subjects choose where and how they'd like to be photographed, giving them agency over how they'd be represented.

A Native American man in a cowboy hat and red bandana poses for a portrait. — Leon Grant, Omaha.
Matika Wilbur

"Sometimes I'll be in the Grand Canyon and I'd rather take somebody's picture at Havasupai Falls because it's magnificent and there's this incredible blue-green water coming out of the ground ... and they want to be photographed on their front porch because they love where they live," she said. "I'll do what they want to do because people should be represented in a way that is important to them, especially in Indian Country."

"We've been photographed so many times by non-Indians and we've had our stories told so many times by people outside our community, and they get the story wrong," Wilbur said.

Tulalip tribe members Darkfeather, Bibiana, and Eckos Ancheta pose for a portrait. — Darkfeather, Bibiana, and Eckos Ancheta from the Tulalip tribe.
Matika Wilbur

In the above portrait, Wilbur photographed three members of the Tulalip tribe: Darkfeather, Bibiana, and Eckos Ancheta.

"We aim to correct that narrative through honest individual agency and storytelling," she said.

A Native American from the Dine' tribe woman poses for a portrait. — Jaclyn Roessel, Dine' (Navajo Nation).
Matika Wilbur

Dine' (Navajo Nation) member Jaclyn Roessel posed for one of Wilbur's portraits.

Wilbur asked people questions about themselves and their lives as she took their pictures.

Northern Cheyenne tribe members, a young woman and her grandmother, pose for a portrait. — Jennie Parker and granddaughter Sharlyce, Northern Cheyenne.
Matika Wilbur

Their conversations touched on family, love, heartbreak, moments that shaped them, and their hopes for the future.

She also asked about their Native American identities.

Rupert Steele of the Goshute tribe poses in a headdress. — Rupert Steele, Goshute.
Matika Wilbur

"I find that people have really interesting things to say when you ask them what it means to be whatever their tribe is, and then when you ask them what it means to be an 'Indian,'" she said. "I'm fascinated by that."

Sometimes her subjects wore traditional Native clothing, while others wore everyday outfits.

Ailee Fregoso of the Cheyenne River Sioux tribe poses in her traditional dress. — Ailee Fregoso, Cheyenne River Sioux.
Matika Wilbur

Ailee Fregoso of the Cheyenne River Sioux tribe showed off her colorful fringed shawl.

Wilbur published her work in a book called "Project 562: Changing the Way We See Native America."

Rosebud Quintana of the Northern Ute and Dine tribes poses for a portrait. — Rosebud Quintana, Northern Ute and Dine.
Matika Wilbur

The book, published in 2023, became a New York Times bestseller.

What began as a photo series has become an archive rich with history, culture, language, and resilience.

Kumu Ka'eo Izon of the Kanaka Maoli tribe poses for a portrait. — Kumu Ka'eo Izon, Kanaka Maoli.
Matika Wilbur

Wilbur also cohosts the podcast All My Relations, in which she and Adrienne Keene — a professor who is also Native American — discuss their relationships to land, ancestors, and other Native peoples.

Wilbur values the connections she's made throughout the creative process.

A Native American woman laughs while holding her baby. — Myra Masiel Zamora, Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians.
Matika Wilbur

"I didn't know that strangers can become family relatively quickly," she said. "It's such a whirlwind of a journey."

Editor's note: This story was originally published in 2016. It was updated in 2022 and 2024.

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