Traditional Subjects

For more than four decades, photographer James Cook has created a documentary record of Native American life and culture across the United States. The project began at Wounded Knee, South Dakota, where in 1980 he set out to document the community the Census had called “the poorest in America.” What he found instead was resilience, pride, and creativity, a deeper story of contemporary Native life that reshaped both his work and his understanding.

That experience became the foundation for a larger body of work. From the Plains, Cook expanded his coverage and sought out Native Americans, throughout the country, who were sustaining traditions through art, language, ceremony, and activism. His theme, Traditional Subjects, reflects this ongoing effort to document cultural survival and renewal across many Native nations.

Cook’s photographs have been featured nationally, including a PBS program on contemporary photographers and in solo museum exhibits. His 1990 image of the Centennial Ride to Wounded Knee is part of the permanent collection at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian.

See the images 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 hazardous 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