Issues Background
Vol. 23 No. 3
Fall 2022
Black and white film photograph of a veteran in uniform, smiling in front of a U.S. Marine Corps emblem

On the Cover

Photographer Dugan Aguilar (Mountain Maidu/Pit River/Walker River Paiute) made many portraits of Northern California tribal members, including this 2000 image of U.S. Marine Corps veteran Franklin Mullen (Maidu). 

In the background is the National Native American Veterans Memorial at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C.

Articles

A black and white photograph of Indigenous schoolchildren with hands clasped as if in prayer. Girls dressed in white sit in the front row, while boys dressed in all black stand behind them.
Action is needed to heal government boarding school survivors.
A small brown xolo dog figurine, brightly lit against a black background.

Rescuing the Day of the Dead’s famous xolo dog.

President Biden places the Medal of Honor around the neck of veteran Dwight Birdwell
Cherokee veteran Dwight Birdwell honored for heroic actions in Vietnam War.
A black and white photo of two women walking on wooden train tracks.

Jennie Ross Cobb, the first known Native American female photographer, captured some of the earliest images of life in a Cherokee Nation in Indian Territory.

A group of Aleut descendants of Attu Island inhabitants hold bunches of grass they picked during their reunion on the island.

During World War II, Japanese troops overtook Attu Island and took its Aleut inhabitants to Japan. The descendants of those prisoners are reuniting and reclaiming their culture.

Dugan Aguilar stands in front of a black slab etched with white names of deceased veterans

Indigenous photographer Dugan Aguilar created rare images of Native communities in California that celebrate their traditions, resilience and contemporary lives.

Four colorful screen prints of Plains Native dresses by artist Dyani White Hawk

Sičáŋǧu Lakota artist Dyani White Hawk’s screen prints honor the strength, leadership and care-taking roles of Native women and veterans.

Six officers, masked and in uniform, pull a wooden casket while others around them salute or cover their hearts
In November, the National Museum of the American Indian will be showcasing the work of three Indigenous photojournalists in the “Developing Stories: Native Photojournalists in the Field” at its museum in New York. Find out the story behind one of the captivating images being featured in this exhibition.