Matika Lorraine Wilbur is a member of the Swinomish and Tulalip tribes of the State of Washington where she was raised in a family of commercial fishermen.
Before focusing on photography as a tool for social justice, Matika received her teaching certification and worked in primary education at The Tulalip Heritage High School for 5 years.
There, she experienced firsthand the lack of educational resources to teach indigenous intelligence and dismayed that the curriculum being taught did not provide Native youths with positive imagery and understanding.