Matika Wilbur is the founder of
Project 562. Her mission was to create a foundation of images that serve to change the perspective others might have about Native Americans. Matika has travelled to all 50 states in the United States to capture the lives of all 562 plus tribes and illustrate their rich and diverse experiences. On her website,
matikawilbur.com, Matika describes her hopes for Project 562, "My goal is to unveil the contemporary true essence of contemporary Native issues, the beauty of Native culture, the magnitude of tradition, and expose her vitality." Project 562 aims to give a voice to those who have been silenced by the media and accurately represent their history without the stereotypes. Many tribes have welcomed Matika into their communities because they too are hoping for a change in the way people view them.
A blog post from
Project562.com, brought to my attention the almost 40 year old tradition of running from San Francisco to Washington D.C.,
The Longest Walk.
The Longest Walk, was established by the American Indian Movement in order to bring attention to "The Native American Equal Opportunity Act." These Native Americans pursue this message in order to end the drug abuse and domestic violence. These Native Americans believe that each "prayerful step" will create a "magnanimous vision to heal Indian Country." In addition to
The Longest Walk, there have been several other variations of it;
The Longest Walk 2 focuses on protecting sacred tribal lands,
The Longest Walk 3 highlights the diabetic epidemic which is striking many tribal communities, and
The Longest Walk 5(the most popular and well known) which strives to end drug abuse and domestic violence. Many Native American participate in this walk/run each year. It helps them to have a voice in protecting they culture. Bobby Wallace, a member of the Barona Band of Mission Indians, said, "We don't need to be scared.[...] We bleed red."Another participant, Melissa Hill, vocalizes, "I was running for my life. Running to save it." She explains that her purpose for running was in order to save her culture and protect her identity.
An article on
The Stranger describes her work on Project 562. Matika Wilbur is a Native American herself, coming from Swinomish and Tulalip descent. She continues to find new methods of capturing the beauty of Native American lifestyle that doesn't have the restrictions and artificial bounds of how her own family's history was captured. As a teenager, she experienced drug addition and went through recovery. Early in her photography career, she dropped out of a photo shoot she thought was "meaningless" and "exorbitantly expensive." Her photographs serve as propaganda for living. They are of two things: people and land. Jen Graves, the author of the article, puts it best, "
They are here." Matika has endured treacherous journeys to take photos of her subjects. Her only request is that they are taken within their own "indigenous lands." In the article, she has travelled to the depths of the Grand Canyon, the water's edge of Washington State and even the sub-zero waters of Hawaii. Matika takes black and white photographs and once they are printed, she adds oil paint to highlight specific parts of the images.
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