Traditional Subjects

For more than 40 years, James Cook has photographed Native American life throughout the United States. The project began in Wounded Knee, South Dakota as a photo documentary of the living conditions in the poorest community in the country according to the 1980 Census. Historically, Wounded Knee is best known for the 1890 massacre of nearly 300 Lakota men, women, and children by the US Army making its more current conditions that much more significant. 

His work at Wounded Knee attracted the attention of PBS and inclusion in a nationally broadcast program on contemporary photographers. His 1990 photograph of the Centennial Ride to Wounded Knee is on exhibit in the Smithsonian Institute's National Museum of the American Indian as a part of the museum's permanent collection.

Although the initial purpose was to document poverty, dignity and pride were ubiquitous. Cook became increasingly aware of Native Americans who, following decades of repression, were proudly reviving their culture and traditions. In the latter half of the twentieth century, Native Americans slowly but surely saw the historic oppression of their culture and traditions diminish. The ability, the very right, to speak their native language, to hold pow wows or otherwise recognize and celebrate their heritage came into being.

Cook expanded the emphasis from the Lakota and Wounded Knee to include other parts of the country and other native nations. He began locating and portraying individuals who were playing a role in this revival through oral history, arts, dancing, or political activity. It is under the theme of Traditional Subjects that this undertaking has continued.

See the photographs and their stories.

"I don't pretend to know everything about the many Native American cultures and customs. Trying to represent or speak for another culture is hazerdous at best. I'll never truly understand most of it, but I'm interested and I'm learning. In spite of my ambitions, the images can't help but reflect my perceptions. I'll always be an outsider, but hopefully respectful and respected" - James Cook