Project 562

Project 562
Founded 2012
Founder Matika Wilbur
Type Indigenous
Location
Website Project 562

Project 562 is an endeavor to photograph and document each unique tribal nation in the United States, founded by Matika Wilbur.

Description

Project 562 began in 2012 as a photography documentary focusing on indigenous American tribal members. It derives its name from the 562 tribes found in the United States at the time of conception in 2012, though as of 2015 there are 566 federally recognized tribes located within the boundaries of the US. The artist herself, Matika Wilbur, is a member of both the Swinomish and Tulalip Tribes in Washington State. Wilbur describes the project as "[addressing and remedying] historical inaccuracies, stereotypical representations, and absence of Native American images and voices in mass media and the national consciousness".[1]

This concept of “vanishing race” was originally introduced by Edward S. Curtis in the early 1900s to document native people before their communities and cultures disappeared.[2] Wilbur describes Project 562 as engaging with Curtis’ work. In an interview with The New York Times, Wilbur said, "I can see the importance of Curtis' work, but the inaccuracy of how we are portrayed just doesn’t seem fair."[3] As of August 2015, Wilbur has documented roughly 300 tribes as a part of Project 562. She hopes to complete her work by 2016.[4]

Artist Biography

Matika Wilbur is a Swinomish/Tulalip award winning photographer exhibited in Canada, the United States, and France.[5] She was born on April 28th, 1984. She received her bachelor's degree from the Brooks Institute of Photography in 2006. Wilbur teaches at Tulalip Heritage High School.[6] Project 562 is the fourth project by Matika Wilbur documenting modern indigenous peoples. Her three previous exhibits include; “We Are One People,” a photograph collection of Coast Salish Tribal elders, “We Emerge,” a photograph collection of Native people in modern settings, and “Save the Indian and Kill the Man,” a collection of Native youth expressing their identities.[7] Her other work includes "iHuman", which focuses on the human body as its subject.[8]

Partners and Affiliates

Additional Team Members:

The project was the beneficiary of a successful Kickstarter campaign. As of February 2014, 3,882 backers had pledged $213,461 to the Project 562 Kickstarter fund.[11]

Reach and Influence

Wilbur’s work on Project 562 has been featured in numerous news articles, including The Guardian,[12] and O, The Oprah Magazine. In 2014, Wilbur gave a talk about Project 562 at a TED conference. In her interview with The Guardian, Wilbur said “I’m ultimately doing this because our perception matters ... Our perception fuels racism. It fuels segregation. Our perception determines the way we treat each other.” In a TED Talk Wilbur gave in 2014, she describes how indigenous Americans are portrayed within mass media citing that between 1990 and 2000 there were 5,868 blockbuster release films of which:

“12 included of American Indians. All of them showed Indians as spiritual or in-tune with nature. 10 of them as impoverished and/or beaten down by society. 10 as continually in conflict with whites. However, the image of the professional photographer, the musician, the teacher, the doctor, they were largely absent… If society only sees us as these images, it means that our modern issues don’t exist… How can we be seen as modern, successful people, if we are continually represented as the leathered and feathered, vanishing race?”[13]

Exhibitions

The exhibition of Project 562, titled Photographic Presence and Contemporary Indians: Matika Wilbur’s Project 562, featuring 40 of Wilbur’s Native American portraits, as well as audio narratives from select sitters debuted at the Tacoma Art Museum, and ran May 17 through October 5, 2014.[14] On October 23, 2015 Project 562 went on display as a main feature at the Hibulb Cultural Center in Tulalip, Washington.[15]

References

  1. ↑ "Home". Project 562.
  2. ↑ Francis, Daniel (1992). The Imaginary Indian: The image of the Indian in Canadian Culture. Vancouver, BC: Arsenal Pulp Press. p. 53. ISBN 978-1-55152-425-2.
  3. ↑ Richardson, Whitney (Feb 19, 2014). "Rejecting Stereotypes,Photographing ‘Real’ Indians". New York Times. Retrieved Nov 9, 2015 – via web.
  4. ↑ "How Matika Wilbur Shows Native Americans Through a Different Lens". Oprah.com. Retrieved 2015-12-09.
  5. ↑ Daily Mail Report. "The ultimate tribal gathering: Photographer travels from coast-to-coast to photograph all 566 recognized Native American tribes".
  6. ↑ "Matika Wilbur Photography". www.matikawilbur.com. Retrieved 2015-12-09.
  7. ↑ Walker, Richard (2013-01-15). "Photographer Matika Wilbur's Three-Year, 562-Tribe Adventure". Indian Country Today Media Network.
  8. ↑ "Blog - Project 562- A Photo Project by Matika Wilbur documenting Native America". www.matikawilbur.com. Retrieved 2015-12-09.
  9. ↑ "Meet the 562 team". Project 562.
  10. ↑ "Deidra Lynn Peaches". National Museum of the American Indian.
  11. ↑ "Project 562: Changing The Way We See Native America (Phase2)".
  12. ↑ Isler, Hilal. "One woman's mission to photograph every Native American tribe in the US". the Guardian. Retrieved 2015-12-09.
  13. ↑ Campbell, Matthew. "Surviving Disappearance, Re-Imagining & Humanizing Native Peoples: Matika Wilbur at TEDxSeattle". Tribal Education Departments National Assembly. Retrieved 2015-12-09.
  14. ↑ "MEDIA RELEASE: DAZZLING VISUAL EXPERIENCE OF CONTEMPORARY NATIVE AMERICA, TACOMA ART MUSEUM’S INAUGURAL EXHIBITION OF MATIKA WILBUR’S PROJECT 562". Tacoma Art Museum. April 16, 2014.
  15. ↑ "Hibulb Cultural Center :: Exhibits :: Project 562". www.hibulbculturalcenter.org. Retrieved 2015-12-09.
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