You don't build her up by tearing down Curtis.

Her work seems to dovetail nicely with Aaron Carapella's work mapping native place names. http://www.tulalipnews.com/wp/2013/05/22…. Very ambitious, very necessary, and of incredible value to current and future generations.

@3 Excellent suggestion.

I know this sounds extraordinarily egotistic, but I do hope Matika reads my comment. That aside, aloha nui loa to all photographers — both digital and film-based. For my finest photographs, I like large, extravagantly framed, oversize prints. More is more! Oh how I hate minimalism. Decoration is wonderful when well done. But for B&W photos, I prefer platinum–palladium prints. While silver-gelatin is quite nice, the tonality and range of tonalities from the myriad ratios of platinum to palladium are sublime. (I prefer an 80:20 ratio for its particularly lovely, warm sepia glow.) Having both digitally and manually retouched and colored prints, I prefer platinum–palladium to silver. Makita, isn't part of your mission to elevate? The physical result of your opus should reflect the highest craftsmanship, don't you think? I'm curious what other photographers think...

Great stuff. Gorgeously written.

@3 @4 I also would be interested in that.

I really appreciate this article. Great work! It is written with sensitivity, and I so love your frustrating ending, Jen Graves.
I got a visceral impression while reading that you underwent a many-layered learning process during your research. Thank you for sharing the lessons freely.

An amazing article about an incredible photographer! I have been aware of Maticka's work and admire her pursuit of a personal passion. I will reread this piece many times - well done Jen Graves.

I have no argument with anything except the statements about Curtis. He too was a complex man who pursued a personal passion.
We should not judge Curtis without understanding the historic reality - yes, he thought the Native people and their culture were disappearing and certainly few would argue that their culture was indeed disappearing and that the populations of many tribes seemed on the edge of extinction. Now his photos are valued by many native people as a window on the past.

Read Tim Egan's "Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher" about Curtis for a more fair and in depth explanation of his life and times.

Thanks for bring Maticka Wilbur forward as a true artist; as a photographer and as one who does appreciate Native culture past and present I am excited to see the fruits of her hard work and commitment.

I am inspired by this article, and the subject of it. It resonates with my own strong desire to uncover the true face of America, and all of different tribes and communities which are often sadly ignorant of one another.I feel that sometimes there is a quiet resistance to those who wish to unmask communities that are still widely seen as "the other" by mainstream white, powerholding America because offering those communities sovereignty over their own image construction results in several false stereotypes to be ripped away. This is the mask i speak of and its removal makes the subject in question suddenly more multifaceted, and less dismissible to the common eye of ignorance. Indians pictured in any other attitude and dress than those by which they can be cast in a racist fed mythos as the plaintive heroes of bygone days (no longer to be concerned with), are affrontive to the comfortable light of antuquity we cast them in. I just want to thank Matika,for leading with her strong heart and allowing herself to make people uncomfortable, perhaps even inspiring the pains of a growing mind in some of those who need it most. Thanks also to the author of this article, for exposing Matika's mission to me in palpable detail. You are both inspiring.