Keith (2010)
Photograph by Sean Scheidt, text by E. Keith Colston (Lumbee/Tuscarora), archival inkjet print, 41-1/4 x 29-1/8 in, 1000 USD
I found it to be an honor to be part of this project—to be able to represent who I am as an individual, but also as part of a collective. It was an opportunity to be seen by not just a few, but whoever visits this exhibition, however far it may travel. There is a duality that some people miss out on. Sometimes people say that “the clothes make the man,” but that’s not always the case. What I’m wearing is an extension of who I am, but it doesn’t make me Native or not. I don’t want anybody to think that wearing a regalia is what makes me who I am. It’s just an extension of who I am. It’s not all that makes me who I am.