Central School art students from teacher Marc Nelson’s class took on a special photography project titled “We Are Still Here.”
Nelson released the photos to coincide with Indigenous Peoples Day on Oct. 14. The holiday has been federally recognized since 2021, and this year marks the fourth year the United States will observe the holiday alongside Columbus Day. Indigenous Peoples Day celebrates the history and contributions of Native Americans.
Nelson said he wants to share his young artists’ work as a reminder on the nationally recognized holiday that the land Central School occupies is the historic home to several Native American Nations including the Meskwaki Nation-The Sac and Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa.
In a social media post, Nelson said he received permission from the Meskwaki Nation before his students undertook the project. The students then set about digitally blending portraits of the Meskwaki people with flora and fauna from Kewanee.
The intent was to honor both the eternal bond between the Meskwaki people and the land that we occupy, Nelson wrote.
Nelson posted dozens of his students’ photos, printed using the cyanotype process, to his social media page.
