
Born and raised in the Cheyenne River Reservation, a Lakota sovereign state in South Dakota, Downey Lebow is Oóhenuŋpa Itázipčo (boiler two and without brackets) from Tetonwan Oyate (People of the plains). After losing her father, she found comfort doing things she would do with him, like learning about plants. Lippo was doing this with the family when she made this photo of her niece.
Downey Libo
Hide caption
Caption switch
Downey Libo

Born and raised in the Cheyenne River Reservation, a Lakota sovereign state in South Dakota, Downey Lebow is Oóhenuŋpa Itázipčo (boiler two and without brackets) from Tetonwan Oyate (People of the plains). After losing her father, she found comfort doing things she would do with him, like learning about plants. Lippo was doing this with the family when she made this photo of her niece.
Downey Libo
2020 marked the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower’s arrival from England to Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts, a moment enveloped in the general notion that the following year’s Pilgrims broke bread with the Wampanoag tribe in a friendship.
For generations, this story has been taught – from the point of view of white settlers – to children in schools.
“The Mayflower and its aftermath became the first and most culturally popular story told to many young Americans about the country’s founding and initial relationships with the Natives,” says photographer Sarah Stack.
“But the stories they tell of the golden age of friendship, of new beginnings, and of the untouched wilderness, are legend.”

Photographer Russell Albert Daniels (Diné & Ho-Chunk) lives in Salt Lake City. His projects explore identity, memory, and history. In this photo, Delphine Garcia stands among the remains of an 18th-century Catholic church in New Mexico. A descendant of the Genízaro family of Abiquich, the N.M. Genízaro was a Spanish imperial class of enslaved indigenous people in the southwestern borderlands.
Russell Albert Daniels
Hide caption
Caption switch
Russell Albert Daniels

Photographer Russell Albert Daniels (Diné & Ho-Chunk) lives in Salt Lake City. His projects explore identity, memory, and history. In this photo, Delphine Garcia stands among the remains of an 18th-century Catholic church in New Mexico. A descendant of the Genízaro family of Abekić, the N.M. Genízaro was a Spanish imperial class of enslaved indigenous people in the southwestern borderlands.
Russell Albert Daniels

Veteran veteran Nathan Maebe (Seneca) confronts his own trauma and PTSD through filming. Above, Maybe’s silhouette is covered in a video he made in Iraq. “After combat life involves many struggles,” Maybe says, and this photo exemplifies that. “You miss it, you hate it, you are grateful for the experience, you are angry at the losses.”
Nathan Maybe
Hide caption
Caption switch
Nathan Maybe

Veteran veteran Nathan Maebe (Seneca) confronts his own trauma and PTSD through filming. Above, Maybe’s silhouette is covered in a video he made in Iraq. “After combat life involves many struggles,” Maybe says, and this photo exemplifies that. “You miss it, you hate it, you are grateful for the experience, you are angry at the losses.”
Nathan Maybe
Correcting these myths and looking at the evolution of Native American identity over the past 400 years is important 400 years project, an illustrated collection of Native American lives. Includes original photo essays, text essays, and a digital library of original photographers from the mid-19th century to the present.
Project founders Stacke, Sheena Brings Plenty, and Brian Adams want to tackle colonialism with an emphasis on the original sound.

Kali Spitzer’s work (Casca Dina and Jew) embraces the stories of BIPOC and LGBT people, creating self-representations. This traditional photo of Larissa Lauren Graves (Nisja, Jitxan, Cree, Blackfoot from Pikuni Nation, Metis, Swedish, Irish, and Scottish) was taken in 2021.
Cali Spitzer
Hide caption
Caption switch
Cali Spitzer

Photographer Ryan Redkorn (USAGE) was born in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. He created the series recently Osage cooks, which includes photographs of esteemed chef Jan Phetsacksith and Dale Jesse (Seminole), who works on fire. Being an Osage cook is an honorable position and is often passed down in families for generations.
Ryan Red Corn
Hide caption
Caption switch
Ryan Red Corn

Photographer Ryan Redkorn (USAGE) was born in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. He created the series recently Osage cooks, which includes photographs of esteemed chef Jan Phetsacksith and Dale Jesse (Seminole), who works on fire. Being an Osage cook is an honorable position and is often passed down in families for generations.
Ryan Red Corn
The site’s library of Native American photographers currently has over 60 libraries, but Brings Plenty hopes to expand. The goal is for original photographers to tell their stories and showcase their work. “The library is 100% original and all we ask is that it is dedicated to the skill of photography,” says Brings Plenty.
COVID-19 pandemic and its tragedy Influences on Native American Tribes It brought parallels with the ordeal that Native Americans had faced since the days of the Mayflower. Death rates among Native Americans and Alaska Natives are more than twice that of white people. Stacke says it “highlighted how desperately there is a need to protect knowledge keepers and why the commitment to preserving and recording stories is as urgent as ever.”

Madison Hay Long (Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians) is a North Carolina-based photographer who has been inspired by landscape artists and painters throughout history. from the series Contemporary artisans define Cherokee culture, this photo of the eastern Cherokee Monk Walkingstick woodcarving was taken on the Qualla Boundary, the eastern Cherokee’s home, in the Great Smoky Mountains.
Madison High Long
Hide caption
Caption switch
Madison High Long

Madison Hay Long (Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians) is a North Carolina-based photographer who has been inspired by landscape artists and painters throughout history. from the series Contemporary artisans define Cherokee culture, this photo of the eastern Cherokee Monk Walkingstick woodcarving was taken on the Qualla Boundary, the eastern Cherokee’s home, in the Great Smoky Mountains.
Madison High Long

Eli Farinango is an award-winning Kichwa artist and photographer, born in Quito, Ecuador, and raised in Ottawa, Canada. In the photo above, Virginia Anrango is holding the fingers she made for her daughters. “Tostado is a traditional food from Ecuador. With its simple preparation, its beads carry the memory of our ancestors no matter where we are,” says Farinango.
Elizabeth Farinango
Hide caption
Caption switch
Elizabeth Farinango

Eli Farinango is an award-winning Kichwa artist and photographer, born in Quito, Ecuador, and raised in Ottawa, Canada. In the photo above, Virginia Anrango is holding the fingers she made for her daughters. “Tostado is a traditional food from Ecuador. With its simple preparation, its beads carry the memory of our ancestors no matter where we are,” says Farinango.
Elizabeth Farinango
Sheyahshe Littledave is a regionally known author/writer and a registered member of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians. Based on Qualla Boundary in North Carolina.
Follow The 400 Years Project on Instagram @400 years
0 Comments