{"id":108194,"date":"2024-03-27T20:09:43","date_gmt":"2024-03-28T00:09:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/?post_type=featured-work&p=108194"},"modified":"2025-07-15T15:18:40","modified_gmt":"2025-07-15T19:18:40","slug":"natural-wanderment-stewardship-sovereignty-sacredness","status":"publish","type":"featured-work","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/featured-work\/natural-wanderment-stewardship-sovereignty-sacredness\/","title":{"rendered":"Natural Wanderment: Stewardship. Sovereignty. Sacredness."},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Natural Wanderment: Stewardship. Sovereignty. Sacredness.<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
January 18 \u2013 March 8, 2024<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

808 Gallery<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Boston University Arts Initiative, in partnership with Boston University Art Galleries, presented a special exhibition at 808 Gallery in spring 2024: Natural Wanderment: Stewardship. Sovereignty. Sacredness.<\/em>,<\/strong> which is part of the expansive Project 562<\/em>: Changing the Way We See Native America. <\/em>The book by the same name was published in April 2023, and instantly became a New York Times<\/em> Best Seller.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Created by acclaimed visual artist and social documentarian Matika Wilbur<\/strong>, who is from the Tulalip & Swinomish Tribes, Project 562<\/em> is a bold creative expedition to collaborate with each of the 562-plus sovereign Native American nations in the United States in their own territories for superb photographic portraits and compelling narratives of contemporary Native American identity. Over the course of producing Project 562,<\/em> Wilbur traveled through all 50 states, from Seminole country, now known as the Everglades in South Florida, to Inuit territory, now known as the Bering Sea in Alaska. By her estimation, she photographed some 1200 people, personally visiting about 400 different tribes. This creative, consciousness-shifting work is now distributed as curricula in partnership with the National Education Association: \u201cA Visual Leaning Guide to Transform, Indigenize & Decolonize,\u201d in her 416 page book published by Ten Speed Press, at various exhibitions around the world, through her podcast All My Relations, <\/em>and at Project562.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Matika
Matika Wilbur, a member of the Swinomish and Tulalip nations, lives in Washington. In addition to her photography, she is the cohost of All My Relations,<\/em> a podcast exploring Native American relationships and representation. Photo courtesy of Matika Wilbur<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Wilbur\u2019s goal is to unveil the dynamic identity, consciousness, and expression of the numerous distinct indigenous peoples of the nation, especially the positivity of Tribal existence. \u201cI look for our heroes and we have them \u2013 they walk among us,\u201d says Wilbur, whose mission includes producing vital \u201chealing imagery\u201d so desperately needed by Native American youths while fostering intense visibility and interconnectedness among Native peoples. Wilbur\u2019s innovative artistry in documenting the peoples and stories of Project 562<\/em> has enjoyed tremendous national and international success and appeal, with multifaceted, passionate support to build cultural bridges, abolish stereotypes, and renew and inspire a national legacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Natural Wanderment: Stewardship. Sovereignty. Sacredness.<\/em><\/strong> is based on perhaps the most important truth Wilbur has discovered in her journey to date: that ancestral land is the basis of Native American identity. \u201cI have had to experience for myself the incredible range of homelands of tribal nations, to interact with peoples in their ancient territories to grasp how the connection to natural places makes us who we are.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Despite western ideologies and systems that undermine this living truth, reflects Wilbur, there remain the \u201cpeople of the blue green water,\u201d the \u201cpeople of the tall pine trees,\u201d the \u201cpeople of the tide.\u201d Wilbur\u2019s portrait art expresses the \u201cecological being\u201d of sitters, imbuing these images and narratives with the aspiration and force of the original stewards of the land, which is crucial to not only the sovereignty and dignity of Native Americans, but also the preservation and majesty of the natural world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This special show is being offered at this juncture to share these people\u2019s vital work and understanding and to explore the extraordinary landscapes of Native America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Celebrating Native American Tribal Nations: Photography Exhibition at 808 Gallery<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Natural Wanderment: Stewardship. Sovereignty. Sacredness, on view at the 808 Gallery through March 8, examines Native American relationships to land, spirituality, and the ongoing fight for sovereignty. Photo by Julian Massari (ENG\u201926)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Created by acclaimed visual artist and social documentarian Matika Wilbur, who is from the Tulalip & Swinomish Tribes, Project 562 is a bold creative expedition to collaborate with each of the 562-plus sovereign Native American nations in the United States in their own territories for superb photographic portraits and compelling narratives of contemporary Native American identity. Over the course […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14125,"featured_media":107326,"parent":0,"template":"","meta":{"_bu_prepress_primary_term":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term_manual":""},"bu_progs_degree-option":[],"dicipline":[128],"school":[],"unit":[137,441],"program":[174],"type-of-space":[175],"location":[186],"artist":[],"format-medium":[358],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured-work\/108194"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured-work"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/featured-work"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14125"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured-work\/108194\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":111091,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured-work\/108194\/revisions\/111091"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/107326"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108194"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"bu_progs_degree-option","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu_progs_degree-option?post=108194"},{"taxonomy":"dicipline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/dicipline?post=108194"},{"taxonomy":"school","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/school?post=108194"},{"taxonomy":"unit","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/unit?post=108194"},{"taxonomy":"program","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/program?post=108194"},{"taxonomy":"type-of-space","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/type-of-space?post=108194"},{"taxonomy":"location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/location?post=108194"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=108194"},{"taxonomy":"format-medium","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/format-medium?post=108194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}