Indigenous Photograph 2021 Year in Pictures

It’s been a big year for Indigenous Photograph — we more than doubled the database with our international expansion, we rebranded from Natives Photograph to Indigenous Photograph, we exhibited the work of three members at Photoville, launched the first Indigenous Photograph Project Grant in collaboration with Photoville and Leica, and curated the Indigenous Futures Storytelling Project with IllumiNative. We hope you’ll enjoy this 2021 Year in Pictures from our members, through their assignment work, portraiture, long term projects, and personal stories. Sending you wishes for a healthy, safe, and happy 2022!

— Brian Adams, Tailyr Irvine, Josué Rivas, & Daniella Zalcman

**JEREMY DENNIS**
*Shinnecock*
www.jeremynative.com | @jeremynative

”The *Rise* series reflects upon the inherent fear that, one day, oppressed groups may rise and defend themselves. As an Indigenous tribal member who has observed the aftermath of colonization and followed my curiosity in the story of survival, especially as a federally recognized tribe east of the Mississippi, *Rise* approaches the concept of a future Native American uprising from a complicated perspective of military and land deed neutrality, cultural assimilation, and as a people hiding in plain sight.
With the rise of the zombie motif in popular culture, the zombie may be interpreted as the great celebratory enemy, replacing the American Indian. Thus, *Rise* appropriates the aesthetic and concept of the zombie apocalypse by replacing the gory zombie figure with the American Indian, whose simple presence causes terror.”

**TAILYR IRVINE**
*Confederated Salish & Kootenai*
www.tailyrirvine.com | @tailyrirvine

Michael Irvine hunts with his son Michael and grandson Andrew on the Flathead Reservation in Montana on November 25. The Irvines –– members of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes –– hunt each year and meet after for a meal on Thanksgiving. They do not celebrate the history of the holiday but instead use it as a reason to gather with family. The toast at dinner concluded, “Today we gather not because of the pilgrims but in spite of them. Today is a good day to be Indigenous.”

**TAIWO AINA**
*Yoruba*
www.taiwoaina.com | @taiwoaina_

The Osun Osogbo festival kicks off with Iwopopo, where devotees and lovers of Osun walk around the community to celebrate the commencement of the festival. Osogbo, Nigeria.

**THOMAS RYAN REDCORN**
*Osage*
@redcorn

George Shannon (Osage) and Elnora Supernaw (Osage/Quapaw).

**PAT KANE**
*Timiskaming First Nation*
www.patkanephoto.com | @patkanephoto

A small herd of caribou run across the arctic tundra at Lac de Gras, Northwest Territories, Canada.

**CITLALI FABIAN**
*Zapoteca*
www.citlalifabian.com | @citlalifabian

Ancestras is part of “Where my belly button is buried” a mixed media series of hand-manipulated photo objects to reflect on my experiences in the deconstruction of my Indigenous identity.
This is a personal process of healing, where photography turned into a part of the rituals that define my relationship with my roots. In this practice, I direct my mother energy to heal the wounds suffered from colonization politics. Each stitch is an act of resistance, reaffirmation of my existence, to write my history, to endure my affectivities, to honor my past. In this piece, I'm reunited with my mother, grandmother and great-grandmother in our homeland. A copal tree represents the past and future members of our family.

**JOSUÉ RIVAS**
*Mexica + Otomi*
www.josuerivasfoto.com | @josue_foto

My son Tonatiuh Rivas raises his fist in support of Indigenous rights. Mt. Shasta 2021. The image is part of Kwikaxochitl (Flowers and Songs), a long term multimedia project that aims to share the healing journey of losing my father to COVID-19.

**MORENA PÉREZ JOCHIN**
*Mam*
www.morena.com.gt | @wmorena

A woman taking a leaf bath as a symbol of cleaning the bad vibrations in life. As a traditional culture in Brazil, people clean themselves with flowers and herbs to take away the bad spirits.

**SHELBY LISK**
*Kanyen'kehá:ka (Mohawk)*
www.shelbyliskphoto.com | @shelbyliskphoto

The momument at Parliament Hill, in Ottawa, to commemorate the 215 burial sites found at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School.

**KAPULEI FLORES**
*Hawaiian*
www.kapzphotography.com | @kapzphotography

The shift from Lono to Kū, from winter to spring, is acknowledged through this Hawaiian ceremony on March 13. This ceremony was located at Pelekane Beach on the island of Hawaiʻi and symbolizes the continuation of Hawaiian culture as well as honoring our Hawaiian gods.

**SARA ALIAGA TICONA**
*Aymara*
www.sarawayraphoto.weebly.com | @sarawayraphoto

A family sings at the grave of a relative in the clandestine cemetery "la llamita" in the city of La Paz, Bolivia. Every October the "All Saints" holiday is celebrated where they remember their loved ones who passed away.

**WAYNE QUILLIAM**
*Palawa*
www.aboriginal.photography | @waynequilliam

Silently shifting to the will of a southern winds, oceans of sand ebb and flow across the dark silence, forever destined to embrace the spirits of the ancestors. Infusing modern fashion with the spirit of my people has been a lifelong passion, these creations realize the strength of collaboration.

**CODY HAMMER**
*Cherokee*
www.thecodyhammer8.wixsite.com/mysite | @_codyhammer_

Honor Hammer (Osage, Cherokee, Muscogee, Cheyenne & Arapaho) lies on her family’s cedar chest.

**OKE OLUWASEGUN**
*Yoruba*
www.okeoluwasegunm.wordpress.com | @okeoluwasegunmoses

Photograph of a woman building a fire in Ogbomoso during the Egungun Festival on August 8. The Egungun Ajomagbodo festival usually occurs during the rainy season, and if rain were to fall, it means the masquerade won’t be seen for another year which brings negative repercussions. So it was said and believed that during the festival that Ajomagbodo has a spiritual power to stop rain and change weather from cloudy to sunny — as long as the fire keeps burning, the rain will never fall.

**KALEN GOODLUCK**
*Three Affiliated Tribes & Navajo & Tsimshian*
www.kalengoodluck.com | @kalengoodluck

Santiago Romero of Cochiti Pueblo collects red amaranth seeds by sifting the seeds and gently blowing the debris away, dusting the air red and revealing the precious grain at the Flowering Tree Permaculture Institute’s new seed bank in Española, New Mexico, USA.

**BRIAN ADAMS**
*Inupiaq*
www.baphotos.com | @brianadamsphotography

Tokala Little Sky for the 2021 Si?hona shoe by Pharrell Willams for Adidas.

**PAUL WILSON**
*The Klamath Tribes*
www.maqlaqsmedia.com | @paulrww

Niimiipu tribal members lead the Return to Am'Sáaxpa ceremony on horseback in the Wallowa Valley. The Nez Perce Tribe purchased this 148 acre property, returning to their lands to celebrate #LandBack.

**ADESEGUN ADEOKUN**
*Yoruba*
www.behance.net/adesegunadeokun | @adeokunadesegun

Siblings whose family house had been demolished stare into the sky to watch a drone fly as it captures the destruction in the area.

**KALI SPITZER**
*Kaska Dena + Jewish*
kalispitzer.com | @kali_spitzer_photography

Emerencz Merkle. visual artist, pleasure worker, and sound artist. Cree from Chapleau Cree First Nation, Croatian, Hungarian, and English Settler. Made 2021 on the unceded territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and sel̓íl̓witulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.

**RUSSEL ALBERT DANIELS**
*Diné + Ho-Chunk*
www.russeldaniels.com | @russelalbertdaniels

Moises Gonzales visits and prays at Cerrito de Santa Cruz on the Cañon de Carnué Land Grant and to view the setting sun over Albuquerque, the city once protected by their land grant community. Gonzales is a descendant of a Genízaro family from the Cañon de Carnué Land Grant settlement east of Albuquerque, New Mexico established in 1763. Genízaro is the colonial era caste name given to enslaved and Christianized Native Americans trafficked into Spanish settlements.

**DAWNEE LEBEAU**
*Cheyenne River Tetonwan*
www.dawneelebeau.com | @dawneelebeauphoto

Lori High Elk, Cheyenne River Lakota, shares her connection with Uŋči Maká (mother earth), connecting Uŋči Maká (mother earth) and the Oyate (relatives) in a project named Gradual Ascent with Augsburg Galleries.

**KILIII YUYAN**
*Nanai + Hezhen*
www.kiliii.com | @kiliiiyuyan

A herd of muskox stands steadfast against biting thirty knot winds during temperatures of -15F. Although once locally extinct in this region, muskox were reintroduced from Greenland. They are well suited for these frigid conditions, so much so that they usually face directly into the freezing wind and snow.

**ALEJANDRA RUBIO**
Yavapai-Apache Nation
www.alejandra-rubio.com | @alejandra_rubio_photography

Miss Yavapai-Apache Nation Avery Smith, photographed by the Verde River, Camp Verde, Arizona, USA.

**ELI FARINANGO**
*Kichwa*
www.elifarinango.com | @elifarinango

Growing up I observed my community use carnations in ceremony, celebrations, and at home as offerings to the dead. As I grew up, the carnations became not only a ceremonial flower but a flower that kept me connected to my ancestors. My sister and I visit the waters in Haudenosaunee territory to give gratitude to this land for receiving us, caring for us and giving us a home to grow in.

**WARA VARGAS LARA**
*Quechua*
www.waravargas.weebly.com | @wara_vargas

The oral history of the Chipaya people tells that their culture was born long before the existence of the Sun. When the Sun appeared, it burned the people who lived in the hills, while the Chipayas survived because they lived in the water. That is why they are known as "Qnas Soñi" (People of water, in the Chipaya language). Today the Chipaya people live off the flow of the Lauca River and survive the impact of climate change.

**TATÉ WALKER**
*Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe*
www.jtatewalker.com | @walkerimagining

Té Diamond sparkles during her performances at the Diné Pride “Indigenizing Love” Drag Show. The annual show raised about $400 for the “Navajo Nation Rainbow Scholarship Fund,” which was established to send two Indigenous students to college.

**AISHA BADA**
*Yoruba*
www.aishabada.com | @aisha_bada

Nurse K.V. walking past a COVID-19 patient's room in the LASUTH isolation centre.

**GAVIN JOHN**
*Metis Nation of Alberta*
www.gavinbryanjohn.com | @gjohnjournalism

Morning light silhouettes a sign on a hill near the entrance to the Blackfoot Siksika Nation, an hour east of Calgary, Alberta on April 21, 2021. The Siksika Nation is the second largest First Nation is Canada by size and is home to over 8,000 residents.

**JENNY IRENE MILLER**
*Inupiaq*
www.jennyirenemiller.com | @jennyirenemiller

Nora's hair cut (lock 1 of 6).

**LUVIA LAZO**
*Zapotec*
www.luvialazo.com | @luvialazo

From KANITLOW, Luvia’s project which is the recipient of the 2021 Indigenous Photograph Project Grant.

**TAHILA MINTZ**
*Yaqui*
www.tahila.net | @tahilasnap

Lacrosse is a historically ceremonial game. Traditional wooden lacrosse sticks are still made by craftspeople in the community. Indoor box lacrosse is a major activity on Seneca territory, with leagues for all ages, Many young athletes have attended college through lacrosse scholarships and some have gone on to play professionally. The Gasdo:wä’ is a cultural and ceremonial headdress for men.

**LINDA DUTAN**
*Cañari*
www.cargocollective.com/lindadutan | @via.linfinite

Portrait of Tammy Walking Stick Riley, Native American Delegate at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

**OCTAVIO LÓPEZ**
*Zapotec*
www.octaviolopezjimenez.com | @ehkatl

The night before the municipal president elections, the authorities of San Andrés Zautla, Oaxaca, prohibit of the sale of alcohol to avoid any conflict.

**JAIDA GREY EAGLE**
*Oglala Lakota*
www.jaidagreyeagle.com | @jaida.l.greyeagle

Participants work together to stretch the hide after soaking overnight on the lawn at Northhouse Folk School in Grand Portage, Minnesota, USA.

**MINIK BIDSTRUP**
*Inuk*
www.minikbidstrup.com | @bidstrupp

T'karima Ticitl of Redspirit Womens Motorcycle Riding Club riding her Harley.

**JERO GONZALES**
*Quechua*
www.jerogonzales.com | @jerogh

Coca Quintu, a ritual of gratitude to the Pachamama for agriculture in Cusco, Perú.

Daniella ZalcmanDecember 13, 2021