Matika WilburReviews

This massive book of photographs and narrative from many of Turtle Mountain's now 575 recognized tribes, is so filled with beauty and wisdom that you might want to own it so that you can take the time to look and to read. The author travels across the country to interview primarily those tribal leaders who are teaching, learning, and resurrecting their languages, handicrafts, and rituals. The commanding vistas and the comfort of the elders and the young in their home places (and for many, not even their home places, but the lands (Oklahoma) where they were force-marched to) seem to overcome difficulty in great harmony. So many pages, so much wisdom, so many harsh and lush locales, and many sagas of the terrible boarding schools are shared. Alaska, Hawaii, Washington State, New Mexico, and Minnesota are home to so many tribes and their stories, but on the map enclosed, there is a very large blank, empty space in the Midwest and the South - Iowa, Illinois, Arkansas, Alabama, Mississippi, Missouri - to remind us about yet another unrelenting crime that this government was founded upon.

Beautifully photographed, excellent stories, documenting a segment of our society that is largely unknown. The author has done a great job of saving this information for the future generations. This would be a great coffee table book, one that you could pick up and read a few pages, and then come back to again and again. Or in a high school sociology or history class.

photojournalist, indigenous-people, genocide, historical-places-events, historical-research, historical-figures, current-affairs, cultural-differences, cultural-anthropology, cultural-diversity, cultural-exploration, cultural-heritage*****

Heritage and languages are disappearing from North America and, although it is mostly the fault of the greedy, it WAS the fault of the apathetic. No more! The beautiful and colorful journey through the lands and peoples who are rising up to salvage what was nearly lost is a testament to their endurance. The narrative is potent and active.
My people came from Europe in the twentieth century, but we still bear the shame.
Well suited for sharing WITH someone, and great for gifting to anyone, but especially to a school or your public library! It is DEFINITELY worth the cost!
I requested and received a free temporary e-book on Adobe Digital Editions from Clarkson Potter/Penguin Random House/Ten Speed Press via NetGalley. Thank you!

Project 562: Changing the Way We See Native America by Matika Wilbur is a beautiful and informative glimpse into the variety and depth of indigenous culture(s) in America.

The result of an ambitious plan, this volume will be an eye-opener for anyone regardless of background. In my case, I know very little about my native ancestry beyond what I learned when I would visit cousins when I was young. My family is what used to be called Heinz 57, which in our case meant we knew a little about each and a lot about none of our various heritage strands. I suspect that even many people who know their personal heritage better will still be less aware of the range of cultures within Native America. This project does quite a bit toward remedying that.

The photographs are wonderful portraits, my personal favorites being the ones where the subject is looking directly into the camera. I think I felt that way because I was also reading their words and having that extra bit of personal contact made it all come together very well. That said, the shots where they were looking off camera were all done very well and often conveyed the feeling that came across in their interview. In other words, each portrait didn't just accompany the text but added to it.

Highly recommended whether you're coming mostly for the photographs or the text. Either way, you'll be pleased with both elements.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.

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 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)