Tonya (2010)
Photograph by Sean Scheidt, text by Tonya Gail Oxendine (Lumbee), archival inkjet print, 41-1/4 x 29-1/8 in, 1000 USD
I’m one strong, independent Native woman. I accomplish so much, been through so much, and [I’m] still here… For everyone knows that I don’t give up and that they will remember me for the loving, caring, strong, loud, funny, outgoing person that I am. A mother, a sister, a daughter, a friend, a Native, a female, a go getter, clean, drug free, always stayed drug free, that never fell or lost focus of where I came from, or who I am. Being Native to me means a lot of things, both good and bad. It means being part of something and someone with history. Being Native to me means being the 1st ones who discovered America, but the bad side sometimes I feel that I don’t mean nothing because we don’t be recognized for being Native.