Meet Washington storyteller and photographer Matika Wilbur (Tulalip and Swinomish Tribes) and learn how she is changing the ways we see Native Americans.
In 2012, Matika sold everything in her Seattle apartment and created Project 562, reflecting her commitment to visit, engage and photograph all 562 plus Native American sovereign territories in the United States. She has traveled hundreds of thousands of miles in an effort to create an unprecedented repository of imagery and oral histories that accurately portrays contemporary Native Americans.
Matika Wilbur was raised in the Swinomish Tribal community and is enrolled in the Tulalip Tribe, where she currently lives with her husband and baby. She integrates fine art and social justice as a long-form photo documentarian, writer, filmmaker, podcaster, and public speaker. She is the founder and photographer of Project 562, a documentary project dedicated to “changing the way we see Native America”. After earning her BFA from Brooks Institute of Photography, Matika began her career in fashion and commercial photography in Los Angeles but quickly decided to instead use photography as a tool for social justice. Project 562 is Matika’s fourth major creative project elevating Native American identity and culture.
She co-hosts the popular Native issues podcast, All My Relations, which invites guests to explore the connections between land, creatural relatives, and one another. Dispatches from Project 562 can be found @project_562, and on matikawilbur.com, project562.com, and allmyrelationspodcast.com.