My initial visit in 1981 to the American West was an attempt to see and feel the land that was an integral part of the nomadic horse cultures of the Great Plains. The land and culture that was defended so unconditionally by Native American leaders such as Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull, Red Cloud, Dull Knife, Little Wolf, Chief Joseph, Geronimo, Quanah Parker and many others. It has taken ten trips over the last two decades since my first visit and over two years of field work, with 150,000 miles travelled along the way to begin to understand the Plains.

The Great Plains is a special place, a place that defies simple definition. The land does not exist in isolation but is part of a unique relationship between indigenous Americans and all aspects of nature that are synonymous with the North American continent. It is a place where the distinctions between past, present and the future are subtley blurred.

Recorded images of Native Americans living today on the Great Plains are few, it is as if the world just simply forgot the existence of these people. During this time however, Native Americans have drawn strength from their past and this is evident in the re-emergence of traditional art forms and the wealth of Native American artists and writers. Photographic images of everyday Native America are rare treats, cameras of outsiders are not readily invited.

The opportunity to photograph Native America is but a brief glimpse into a rich and often turbulent cultural history. The confidence, pride and joy of the people in the photographic collections featured on this site is a tribute to men and women such as Frank Fools Crow, Sallie Black Eyes, Jack Little, Bill Tallbull, Mary Cummins Bear-Cloud, Emerson Chase and many others who have contributed to restoring the Sacred Hoop, and will ensure Native America continues to survive, grow and contribute to our increasingly troubled world.

The photographic collections featured on this site are Native Lands: The West of the American Indian and Powwow: Native American Celebration. Both collections are drawn from my time spent on the Great Plains and the Southwest of the United States of America throughout the last two decades but more importantly from time spent with friends, acquaintances and chance meetings with the people of Native America.

Powwow: Native American Celebration is currently on a three year national tour of the United States of America. It is being toured by the Missouri based not for profit organisation Exhibits USA. The tour opened at the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee in October 2000.