Photo Collaboration University Without Walls Students x Olivia Mikolai Ridge
Marshall Stewart x Olivia Ridge
Correspondence
Marshall Stewart x Olivia Ridge
Correspondence
Today We Dance With and For Them, 2022, Marshall Stewart and Olivia Ridge
First Correspondence Q & A
02/02/22 & 02/24/22
MS: I’d like to be seen as a servant of Jesus Christ who is Native American. I would like the image to reflect and magnify my heritage spiritually (as Christ’s) and physically (as Native American and Mexican). What is usually not known about me is that I was adopted by my Mexican-American family at infancy; thus I speak, read, write, preach, and sing in Spanish.
OR: Describe the best photograph of yourself. This photograph can be imagined or real.
MS: My last family photo in 2005 is one I covet for a few reasons: it includes all of my children, my huge Galaviz adoptive family, and me holding my child. I am a doting Dad, and now even with my adult children I still dote.
OR: Is there a real or historical place you would like to be photographed? Imagine you can be photographed in any place or setting that holds meaning for you. What would you change your photo ID background to, if it could be anything? A background can be a place, a color, a design, or entirely fictional. How does this setting relate to how you want to be seen?
MS: I’d pray to dance in a Powwow with my children. This holds meaning for me because I am a registered member of the Lac du Flambeau Band of Chippewa Indians, and I have yet to dance with my now-adult children.
OR: What is your relationship to your State ID photo (like it, hate it)? Would you change or edit your State ID photo if you could? If so, what would you do?
MS: My relationship to my State ID is dissonance because it reflects pain and scars associated with my arrest, torture, and hospitalization while in CPD custody. As IDOC mandates a “no smile” policy for photos, I often wonder what my smile looks like now. Also, I’d like to change my hairstyle because we rarely have access to a barber.
03/08/22
Hi Marshall,
Thanks for your thoughtful response. I had to track down photos from graduation to see your smile – Jason shared a folder from the graduation ceremony with me. There are some great pictures in there! I attached them to this letter. I see one big toothy smile and another where your smile is more subtle, but you look happy. Do you have copies of these photos? How do you feel about them?
I am compelled by the way you describe yourself as a father through the simple action of you holding a child. In thinking of ways to make an image that is meaningful and representative of you, I wonder if there are elements of the image you describe of dancing with your children at a Powwow that I could take for you on the outside. I think a lot about what photography can and cannot do. What I hope to offer through this project is a photograph that is made for you, one that you actually want. One of the difficulties of this project is not being able to take a photograph of you. Knowing that any recreation of this image cannot satisfy the real, I’d like to know more about the image you describe.
In your next letter, I’d love to hear more about each of your children, your relationship to where they are now, and how you envision them in a photograph. Which of your children is most like you? Do your children go to Powwows? Where are they held? I’ve heard that some sacred ceremonies are not meant to be photographed. Are there other locations that would be meaningful to your heritage? I wonder about the value of photography here – if it would bring satisfaction or disappointment to recreate parts of the image you describe.
Looking forward to your response,
Olivia
UWW Graduation Ceremony 2019
Photos courtesy Prison + Neighborhood Arts/Education Project
Thank you for researching NEIU graduation photos. I do have copies. I think they are ok, not as good as the photos with Lauren Daigle when my choir at Stateville performed with her. My favorite NEIU photo is one with my two advisors, Bret Stockdill and Megan Bang, because I felt most cared for and comfortable in their presence. Now that photo elicits joy.
As for Powwow photos – I have many, but my favorite is an outdoor photo of my daughter and grandson dancing. I can email this to you or enclose it…whichever you choose. My daughter, Victoria Stewart, currently has a Bear Clan Creations Etsy store and is working on a mural inside the American Indian Center (AIC). I am a doting Dad to all of my tomato-heads but am connected/communicate more with her and my adult son Spencer. They both live in Albany Park. My youngest, Manny, lives in Park Ridge and is a bit absent, as most 20-year-olds are from their parents. My sons Spencer and Manny are like me because they are stoic and overly logical, but my daughter has more of my emotional side.
As for locations that are meaningful to me, the Field Museum has meaning because of their First Nations display. Currently my step-father, Joseph Tecumseh, is featured there speaking Potawatomi on a digital display. Other than that, the American Indian Center means a lot to me. These locations give me joy. I’ve not seen them in seventeen years. So anything like this contributes to my happiness now.
One thing I’d like to add: most Native Americans have rights (N.A.R.R.) to their eagle feather, medicine bag, and access to sweat lodges while in prison; Illinois, however, fails to honor this. A photo of an eagle feather hanging from my left collar would be awesome.
MS
03/24/22
Hi Marshall,
It was fun to hear about your kids (your “tomato-heads”) in your last letter. Thanks for sharing so much with me. I’m grateful to your mom for sending over photos from the Powwow. I’ve attached them below so you can see what was sent over.
The locations you mention are really interesting. I am planning to go to the Field Museum and the American Indian Center to photograph these locations for you. I apologize that I haven’t gotten to that already! I’ve enclosed a Google search photo of each place, in addition to the Bear River Powwow grounds. At present, my plan is to photograph one physical location for you as the uniting aspect of the larger project. This will serve as the background to any photographs that you would like collaged on top. In your next letter, I would like to describe the place that you would like me to photograph in the greatest detail. What memories or importance does that site carry for you?
Thanks for the sketch of the eagle feather hanging from your left collar. I will absolutely include that in the piece. Since I can’t take this photo for you, which image would you like me to add this to? I think it would work well on any of your NEIU graduation photos. Let me know your preference; this can be added to the background photo that I take for you. Think about how this photo of you could be incorporated into the background image. I can collage any other photographs you want into the scene, or leave it as is. When I go to the location of your choosing, I can bring objects or these family photographs to incorporate into the photograph as another option.
Thanks for your thoughts,
Olivia
Olivia,
My mestizo roots (Latin and Indigenous) have always been a blessing due to being lovingly adopted by my Mexican-American family. As the only Anishinaabe (Chippewa) tribal member at Stateville prison, I internally mourn the communal power of Powwows. Thus, an overhead view of a Powwow (e.g. Bear River) would be spiritually healing for me.
Marshall Stewart
© Dan Dumas Photography
Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, https://www.facebook.com/LDFtribe/
06/01/22
Dear Olivia,
With regard to the beautiful overhead photo depicting the Bear River Powwow, yes – my family attended! Actually, the photos you sent me previously of my daughter and grandson were taken at Bear River. My children attend all Wisconsin and Illinois Powwows because we have a “Bear Clan Creations” Indian jewelry table based on my daughter’s Etsy page.
The LDF (Lac du Flambeau) tribal drum and AIC (American Indian Center) drum were scheduled to perform at the Evanston Northwestern Powwow, but due to Covid-19 we lost some drummers…including my five-year-old grandson who was eager to show off his skills. Nevertheless, my daughter’s “Bear Clan Creations” table was at this Powwow, as was my family.
My connection to this photo is emotional and spiritual, and being so isolated in a 10’ x 6’ box twenty-three hours daily (mostly twenty-four due to thirty months of CovIDIOCY!), it is cathartic. When I see my Anishinaabe (“Chippewa”) tribe gathering as one body in photos like this, I can smell the Wisconsin woods, the burning sage, the lake water, and the fry-bread. For a moment I hear no BLARING boombox prison radios, I hear no screaming from men not placated with their cable TV or connectnetwork.com tablets…I hear my Native Ojibwe songs. My memory is full of Powwow dances with family at my side, and I miss all of it. My own Great Grandmother (Gwon Ay Be Quay) and Grandmother (Baabiiwaasinokwe Wemitigoizhiikwe) found expression in our Powwows in their Ojibwe language; sadly both the Pipestone Indian Boarding School and the Lac du Flambeau Indian Boarding School attempted to remove it from them as children.
Currently, my daughter (Anaamaabikokwe), grandson Rafael, and mother (Ganoo Shkanzii) dance for me as if I was there in Spirit…one day God (“Gizhemanidoo”) willing.
M. Stewart
06/21/22Dear Olivia,
With regard to the beautiful overhead photo depicting the Bear River Powwow, yes – my family attended! Actually, the photos you sent me previously of my daughter and grandson were taken at Bear River. My children attend all Wisconsin and Illinois Powwows because we have a “Bear Clan Creations” Indian jewelry table based on my daughter’s Etsy page.
The LDF (Lac du Flambeau) tribal drum and AIC (American Indian Center) drum were scheduled to perform at the Evanston Northwestern Powwow, but due to Covid-19 we lost some drummers…including my five-year-old grandson who was eager to show off his skills. Nevertheless, my daughter’s “Bear Clan Creations” table was at this Powwow, as was my family.
My connection to this photo is emotional and spiritual, and being so isolated in a 10’ x 6’ box twenty-three hours daily (mostly twenty-four due to thirty months of CovIDIOCY!), it is cathartic. When I see my Anishinaabe (“Chippewa”) tribe gathering as one body in photos like this, I can smell the Wisconsin woods, the burning sage, the lake water, and the fry-bread. For a moment I hear no BLARING boombox prison radios, I hear no screaming from men not placated with their cable TV or connectnetwork.com tablets…I hear my Native Ojibwe songs. My memory is full of Powwow dances with family at my side, and I miss all of it. My own Great Grandmother (Gwon Ay Be Quay) and Grandmother (Baabiiwaasinokwe Wemitigoizhiikwe) found expression in our Powwows in their Ojibwe language; sadly both the Pipestone Indian Boarding School and the Lac du Flambeau Indian Boarding School attempted to remove it from them as children.
Currently, my daughter (Anaamaabikokwe), grandson Rafael, and mother (Ganoo Shkanzii) dance for me as if I was there in Spirit…one day God (“Gizhemanidoo”) willing.
M. Stewart
Hi Marshall,
Thank you for taking the time to share what the photograph of the Bear River Powwow means to you. Your last letter poignantly described the importance of these memories and how this connection lives on through your daughter, grandson, and mother who dance for you there.
These are the rest of the photographs that your mother Cecilia has sent to me. Your mother has been so kind to send them along. I have thanked her over email, but please pass along my thanks to her as well. Based on what you have written, I am struck by the way you describe them dancing for you as if you were there in Spirit.
As always, thanks for your thoughts!
Warmly,
Olivia
Courtesy Marshall Stewart’s family
08/23/22
Hi Marshall,
I’m excited to send you choices for the final image with this letter today. If you look closely at them, you’ll see they are slightly different. As this is a photograph from the internet, I need to enlarge it a lot for printing. Enlarging an image like this can look low quality, so I have made two options for you. One has a “film grain” and the other has a screenprint “halftone.” To me, the halftone has a painterly quality. When it is printed large on a wall, it will look more like a painting and dreamy blend of colors up close, but like a photograph from farther away. Let me know which one you prefer.
Olivia
Hi Marshall,
I’m excited to send you choices for the final image with this letter today. If you look closely at them, you’ll see they are slightly different. As this is a photograph from the internet, I need to enlarge it a lot for printing. Enlarging an image like this can look low quality, so I have made two options for you. One has a “film grain” and the other has a screenprint “halftone.” To me, the halftone has a painterly quality. When it is printed large on a wall, it will look more like a painting and dreamy blend of colors up close, but like a photograph from farther away. Let me know which one you prefer.
Olivia
