Congratulations to Adam Sings in the Timber who was recently featured this summer in the New York Times “lens blog” section for his photography.
Familial Bonds Among the Crow
By ADAM STOLTMAN
It often seems as if America has only two frames through which to view its native culture: ceremony and pageantry or poverty and addiction.
“They are both opposite ends,” Adam Sings in the Timber said. “There is so much more in the middle.”
Mr. Sings in the Timber has had ample opportunity to reflect on how Indian culture is portrayed. He is a freelance multimedia and video producer for Reznet, a Native American news, information and entertainment Web site that trains and mentors college students who are preparing for journalism careers. He has also been documenting the everyday life of the Crow Tribe in southeastern Montana. Rather than focusing on extremes, his documentary project — “Apsáalooke Nation: Living in Two Worlds” — offers a window into ordinary experience and the struggle to maintain traditional culture in the contemporary world.
Mr. Sings in the Timber comes from the Mountain branch of the Crow and, as his name makes clear, he has embraced tribal traditions. That has helped spur the project.
“I want my son to have a better understanding of his people,” he said. “This is for him, my grandchildren and my people.”
The Crow (Apsáalooke, children of the large-beaked bird), lived historically as farmers in the Yellowstone River valley. Today, about 75 percent of the Crow population occupies one of the largest reservations in the United States, 2.3 million acres south of Billings, Mont. Many still speak their native language. Crow mythology and religion are observed, as is Christianity.
Every August, the Crow Fair — often called the largest family reunion in the country — brings the six Crow Reservation districts together with other tribes to celebrate and showcase art and culture. “The rhythm of life on the reservation isn’t that much different from the rest of the country, just on a smaller scale,” Mr. Sings in the Timber said. “We have those who live in poverty and those who are upper middle class. The real difference is that we also have our identities as Crows. Those identities stem from our tribe’s culture, language and history.”
Mr. Sings in the Timber began playing guitar and Native American flute at age 12. After his mother bought him a camera, music took a back seat to making pictures. He began shooting and editing video about 10 years ago. In 2009, he graduated from the photojournalism program at the University of Montana.
His work attracted the attention of the photojournalist Maggie Steber. They met after he participated in the Eddie Adams Photographic Workshop in 2007. She became his mentor and they became friends.
Ms. Steber, who has also documented indigenous peoples, was struck by the honesty of Mr. Sings in the Timber’s photographs. She believes more outlets are needed to help elucidate the rhythms and realities of everyday life for American Indians — and not just the struggle that is presented in most news photographs. “It’s a pity,” she said, “that that is what people want to see: the problems, not the common bonds of normalcy.”
Jodi Rave