First Nations

Historically, Indigenous Americans have largely been portrayed in unfavorable stereotypes in the media and their presence has been mostly invisible in education, pop culture, and politics in the U.S.

Currently, there are 574 federally recognized Indigenous American Nations. I estimate I have photographed individuals from over 60 Nations from the U.S. and Canada so far. I have traveled to numerous intertribal gatherings around the U.S. to meet and photograph First Nations dancers and wisdom keepers. Through this photo series, I seek to illuminate these contemporary Indigenous Americans who are simultaneously preserving and evolving their traditions.

I was inspired to start this portrait series during the Standing Rock Reservation protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline in 2016 because I wanted to know more about the Indigenous traditions in the U.S. As a young person attending public school, I feel I received a limited education about the history of Indigenous Americans. As I worked on this series, I heard many personal stories told to me by the people I photographed. In turn, I captured their stories that are not spoken but are told through the radiance of their eyes and spirit.

Jeanny Tsai

Jeanny Tsai is a photographer, storyteller, and lover of life specializing in documentary, ethnographic, and portrait photography. Jeanny has a passion for photographing people and cultures that express their devotion to the divine through rituals and celebrations and for those facing environmental or social challenges threatening established culturally rich ways of life, including in Brazil, India, Indonesia, Nepal, and the U.S. She desires that her photos convey a positive, uplifting testimony of people and places despite the existing external circumstances.