This Native American Life offers an intimate lens into the lives, histories, and traditional regalia of the Wallowa Band Nez Perce, Cayuse, Umatilla, and Karuk tribes of the Columbia Plateau, near what is presently called Pendelton, Oregon.

In 2010, co-authors and sisters Katie, Anna and Mary Harris began re-creating plateau-style, ceremonial buckskin dresses to preserve their tribal heritage. These hand-sewn, intricately beaded dresses, write the sisters, carry “beauty, connection, trauma, and love,” as well as “the souls of the women who lived in them.”

This Native American Life shares, in loving detail, the historical and ceremonial significance of over twenty traditional and contemporary dresses, alongside gorgeous portraits by art and fashion photographer Kyle La Mere, who has documented the sisters’ creative process since 2017.

The book shines a reverent light on tribal life. It explains the significance of ceremonial dances like the jingle, fancy shawl and swan dancing, and provides cultural context for symbols often seen in plateau-style tribal regalia. It subtly illuminates the internal conflict some Native Americans experience when deciding whether to strike out into the world or remain on the reservation to serve the people. The Harris sisters have managed to do both.

This Native American Life serves as both testament and tribute to plateau artistry, the strength of family, and the enduring spirit of Native culture.