Indigenous Arts Initiative

Across the country, university marketing materials often tokenize Native students. Marketing teams have a desire to depict Native students in powwow regalia, projecting stereotypes that Native students in college mean you have to wear regalia. They do this to fit all students into the white view of what it means to be Native.

This series was inspired to oppose this norm. I asked students to pick any KU landmark, pose however they want, and wear what makes them comfortable, confident, and proud. The portraits in the series represent students’ experiences with higher education, not the images universities put out when checking the box of Native representation on the one diversity brochure.