Matika Wilbur facts for kids

Matika Wilbur (born in 1984) is a Native American photographer and teacher from Washington state. She is a member of the Tulalip Tribes of Washington and also has Swinomish people heritage. She is most famous for her photography project called Project 562.

About Matika Wilbur

Matika Lorraine Wilbur was born on April 28, 1984. Her Native name is Tsa-Tsiq, which means "She Who Teaches."

She grew up in La Conner, Washington, where her family worked as fishermen. Matika finished high school in La Conner. In 2006, she earned her college degree from the Brooks Institute of Photography.

Her Photography Journey

After finishing her photography degree, Matika Wilbur started working in fashion and commercial photography. But she soon realized these jobs weren't what she truly wanted to do. So, she decided to take her photography in a different direction.

Matika also became a certified teacher. She taught at The Tulalip Heritage High School for five years. While teaching, she saw that there weren't enough good learning materials to show Native youth in a positive way. This experience helped shape her future work.

Matika's first three photo projects were:

• We Are One People: This collection showed pictures of Coast Salish elders, who are respected older people in the community.
• We Emerge: This project featured Native people in modern settings, showing their lives today.
• Save the Indian and Kill the Man: This collection focused on Native youth expressing who they are.

She also created a project called "iHuman", which showed images woven with cedar bark. Another project, "All Alone" from 2012, looked at how Native American cultures were forced to change between the 1880s and 1980s. Her 2013 project, "iHuman," explored the idea that Native Americans often live with two different cultures at the same time.

Matika specializes in making special black-and-white photos called silver gelatin prints. She then adds color to these photos by hand. She plans to publish a book about her amazing photography.

Project 562: A Big Photo Adventure

Project 562 is Matika Wilbur's biggest project. Her goal is to take pictures of members from all the Native American tribes in the United States, right on their own tribal lands. She started "Project 562" in 2012. In November of that year, she began traveling across the country. She even raised over $35,000 through a Kickstarter campaign to help with her travel costs. Since then, she has traveled more than 250,000 miles to photograph Indigenous people.

The project's name, "562," refers to the number of Native North American tribes officially recognized by the United States when Matika began her work. This number can change over time as tribes work to regain their official status. Matika says her grandmother came to her in a dream and suggested she do this important work. She works closely with tribal leaders and members to create the photographs. Matika sees Project 562 as a way to show a different story than the old photos taken by Edward S. Curtis a century ago. Curtis took over 40,000 photos of 80 tribes.

Sharing Stories: The Podcast

Matika Wilbur also hosts a podcast called "All My Relations" with Adrienne Keene. The podcast talks about how Native people connect to the land, to animals, and to each other. In each episode, guests join them to discuss different topics facing Native peoples today. They keep it real, play games, laugh a lot, and sometimes even cry.

Where Her Work Has Been Shown

• 2014: Photographic Presence and Contemporary Indians: Matika Wilbur's Project 562, Tacoma Art Museum, Washington
• 2014–2016: As We See It: Contemporary Native American Photographers, Yekaterinburg Museum of Fine Arts, Ekaterinburg, Russia; The Fifth Biennial of Contemporary Photography; Novosibirsk State Art Museum, Novosibirsk, Russia; 516 ARTS, Albuquerque, NM
• 2016: Seed of Culture: The Portraits and Stories of Native American Women, Radcliffe Institute at Harvard University
• March 13 - June 13, 2021: Whatcom Museum: Seeds of Culture, Bellingham, WA
• October, 2018 - January, 2018: El Segundo Museum of Art Matriarchs Exhibition, El Segundo, CA
• November, 2018 - December, 2018: Anne Kittrell Art Gallery, Project 562, Campus Collection Series, Fayetteville, AR