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By First Peoples Worldwide

You’ve probably heard about Matika Wilbur by now (and if you haven’t, now is a good time to fix that!) Matika Wilbur’s story is that of a young woman with places to go and people to photograph – the 28-year-old Swinomish/Tulalip photographer from the Swinomish Reservation in Washington has started an ambitious project to photograph and collect oral histories from all 562 federally-recognized Indigenous tribes in the United States.

On January 30, 2014, two days after President Obama’s State of the Union address, policy makers, elected officials, tribal leaders, and the press convened in a Washington DC studio for the annual State of Indian Nations address. Because stories from Indian country seldom reach national media, the address is a chance for Native leaders to articulate their vision and concerns for their land and people on a national platform.

By Phoebe Farris

Tonto Canto Pocahontas. Tem Rose Publications. www.temrose.com 2013

Alexei Auld, an alum of Sundance’s Native Writing Workshop, read excerpts of his new novel, Tonto Canto Pocahontas, in November at Fondo del Sol Museum in Washington, DC. Surrounded by paintings and sculptures created by Indigenous artists, Alexei Auld held the multiethnic, multicultural audience spellbound with his humorous reading and insightful responses during the Q&A.

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