Zig Jackson: The Journey of Rising Buffalo

Zig Jackson: The Journey of Rising Buffalo bridges the performative and observational practices of Zig Jackson, a photographer whose work is concerned with the everyday experience of Native American life and culture, with a focus on community, sovereignty, and respect for the land.

A member of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara tribes, Jackson was raised on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in North Dakota before attending several boarding schools including the  Intermountain Indian School in Brigham City, Utah. At this school, he developed life-long friendships and learned that the issues he saw affecting his own people were similar to those affecting members of other tribes.

In some works, Jackson dons a war bonnet and inserts this iconic symbol of the Plains Indians into contemporary American contexts. In another series, he claims ownership over public lands by placing his own “Entering Zig’s Indian Reservation” sign in the landscape. These gestures bring attention to Western stereotypes of Indigenous culture as well as differences in societal beliefs about land ownership, sovereignty, and the removal of Native populations from their ancestral lands.

Jackson’s photographic practice serves as a collection of memories and reflections as he traverses parts of North America, visiting friends and documenting life on the reservations. While photographing both public and private spaces, Jackson’s images quietly contemplate social issues such as family structures, substance abuse, veteran’s issues, homelessness, and access to natural resources.

Through the entirety of his work, Jackson exhibits a living, breathing representation of Indigenous life and culture, while also highlighting the pervasive racism and marginalization experienced by these communities. His photographs are simultaneously playful and somber, attesting to the contradictions and everyday joys and struggles of the people he depicts in his work.

Curated by Jamie M. Allen and Louis Chavez, Department of Photography, with Zig Jackson and Andrew Smith.