September 22, 2017
Dismantling Native American stereotypes through photography
Acclaimed photographer who wants to transform the way Native Americans are presented in the mass media will speak on campus
The University of Waterloo’s Equity Office, in partnership with the Waterloo Aboriginal Education Centre, welcomes students, faculty and community members to attend Matika Wilbur’s lecture – Changing the Way We See Native America: Dismantling Native American Stereotypes. The event, in celebration of the University of Waterloo’s 60th anniversary, will take place on Tuesday, September 26 at 3:30 pm at the Theatre of the Arts, in the Modern Languages building.
Wilbur is an acclaimed portrait photographer and social documentarian from the Swinomish and Tulalip tribes of the Pacific Northwest. She pursued photography studies at both the Rocky Mountain School of Photography and the Brookes Institute of Photography before teaching at Tulalip Heritage High School.
“The time is upon us to change the way we see Native America. The indigenous story is a more accurate story. It is a story that honours and respects the original people of this land and it’s something that we can all learn from and celebrate,” said Wilbur in a recent keynote presentation.
Wilbur’s current focus is to transform the way Native Americans are presented in mass media and to accurately portray modern Native Americans through Project 562. Since 2012, Wilbur has been traveling across the United States to photograph every federally recognized tribe and to allow Native Americans to tell their story.
Her previous project, We Are One People, featured portraits of Coast Salish elders and was showcased at The Seattle Art Museum as well as the Royal British Columbia Museum of Fine Arts.
Those interested can learn more about registration on the Matika Wilbur lecture event page.
We acknowledge that we are on the traditional territory of the Neutral, Anishnawbe and Haudenosaunee peoples.
