Matika Wilbur photographs a Native American

Matika Wilbur is Native Awareness Month Speaker

  • BY Cal State East Bay
  • PHOTOGRAPHY BY Courtesy
  • November 1, 2021

November is Native Awareness Month at Cal State East Bay and the university is hosting Matika Wilbur as its keynote speaker.

Wilbur, a visual storyteller and member of the Swinomish and Tulalip tribes, will have a conversation with Cal State East Bay faculty member Claire Valderama-Wallace on Thursday, Nov. 4 at 12:15 p.m. The event will be in the University Union Multi-Purpose Room and streamed virtually. Please register in advance.

Wilbur is the founder and photographer of Project 562, a multi-year national project dedicated to photographing over 562 federally recognized tribes in the United States. Since Project 562’s genesis in 2011, Wilbur has journeyed 400,000 miles to create images of Native Americans, visiting and photographing Indigenous folks from all 50 states. 

She also currently co-hosts the popular podcast All My Relations, which invites guests to explore the connections between land, creatural relatives, and one another.

Co-sponsored by the Diversity & Inclusion Student Center and the Office of Academic Affairs, Cultural Awareness Months make up a yearlong speaker series in which authors, speakers, activists and leaders promote dialogue among the university community.