Marlon Krieger

Photographer

Hearts on the Ground

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Cristine looking over Red Lake... the street with a new family.

1 of 34 © 2024 Marlon Krieger

Cristine looking over Red Lake after an emotional two hours visiting the house she grew up in and where she was raped from the age of 14 to 21 by her stepfather, who now lives across the street with a new family.

Hearts on the Ground from Marlon Krieger on Vimeo.

On our way to Red Lake Reserva...tion over reservation Indians.

2 of 34 © 2024 Marlon Krieger

On our way to Red Lake Reservation, Cristine driving and explaining to us the complexities of Public Law 280 that gaveÂ affected states received criminal jurisdiction over reservation Indians.

A road through Duluth, MN

3 of 34 © 2024 Marlon Krieger

A road through Duluth, MN

Cristine approaching the house...n and the memories flood back.

4 of 34 © 2024 Marlon Krieger

Cristine approaching the house were she lived with her stepfather and family. Although derelict her old home has remained standing. This is her first time visiting the house she grew-up in and the memories flood back.

Looking through the window of ... all the memories were badâ€.

5 of 34 © 2024 Marlon Krieger

Looking through the window of the house she grew up in, Cristine see's one of the old nets she used to fish with. Wondering if it still carries a smell she puts it to her nose to it and begins to cry. "This is the house that made me", she says, remembering how her stepfather taught her how to hunt and fish. â€œNot all the memories were badâ€.

St. Mary's Mission, a boa...iolence in Native communities.

6 of 34 © 2024 Marlon Krieger

St. Mary's Mission, a boarding School on the Red Lake Reservation. Boarding schools where notorious for violence and sexual abuses with many documented cases. Her step-father went to a boarding school as a child and we discuss the cycle of violence in Native communities.

A portrait of Nikki after tell...he has since changed her mind.

7 of 34 © 2024 Marlon Krieger

A portrait of Nikki after telling me her story for the first time. She has survived childhood sexual abuse and suffers from sever PTSD. At the time of this photograph she was not ready yet to show her face. She has since changed her mind.

Nikki talking about the challe...e and the PTSD she lives with.

8 of 34 © 2024 Marlon Krieger

Nikki talking about the challenges of protecting Native women, the fears she has for her own niece and the PTSD she lives with.

Nikki talking about the challe...e and the PTSD she lives with.

9 of 34 © 2024 Marlon Krieger

Nikki talking about the challenges of protecting Native women, the fears she has for her own niece and the PTSD she lives with.

Nikki, Sarah and the other wom...e women's only safe-home.

10 of 34 © 2024 Marlon Krieger

Nikki, Sarah and the other women taking a much needed break from our discussion outside the women's only safe-home.

Patti is the housing co-ordina...oad of protection and healing.

11 of 34 © 2024 Marlon Krieger

Patti is the housing co-ordinator for the "American Indian Community Housing Organization", a shelter for battered Native women operating in Duluth, MN. The need for Native specific institution and interventions are a big part of the topic as understanding cultural nuances are key to the road of protection and healing.

At a monthly meeting at the AI...cently kept drugs in the home.

12 of 34 © 2024 Marlon Krieger

At a monthly meeting at the AICHO safe house Patti reviews rules and conduct. She is concerned one of the residents may have recently kept drugs in the home.

Patti in her office at AICHOÂ ...ng drug use and getting clean.

13 of 34 © 2024 Marlon Krieger

Patti in her office at AICHOÂ with one of her adopted daughters discussing drug use and getting clean.

Patti helping Shannon with her...aging to cut ties permanentlyÂ

14 of 34 © 2024 Marlon Krieger

Patti helping Shannon with her daughter at the AICHO safe house at an undisclosed location. Shannon left behind almost all of her belongings incuding her I.D. the night she left her abusive partner. Patti hopes for th ebest ofr Shannon, but knows that the vast majority of women go back to their abusive relationships multiple times before managing to cut ties permanentlyÂ

Taylor works part-time at one ...g part of Native American life

15 of 34 © 2024 Marlon Krieger

Taylor works part-time at one of the AICHO safe-houses while attending college for a degree in Social Services. She was raised by her grandmother and recently fled an abusive relationship. Her upbringing was also tough, but she forgives her grandmother because she "own's" her responsibility saying, "You can't give, what you didn't get" Her grandmother was raised at a Boarding School and we discuss the cycle of violence that seems to be such a big part of Native American life

Taylor works part-time at one ...g part of Native American life

16 of 34 © 2024 Marlon Krieger

Taylor works part-time at one of the AICHO safe-houses while attending college for a degree in Social Services. She was raised by her grandmother and recently fled an abusive relationship. Her upbringing was also tough, but she forgives her grandmother because she "own's" her responsibility saying, "You can't give, what you didn't get" Her grandmother was raised at a Boarding School and we discuss the cycle of violence that seems to be such a big part of Native American life

Shanon and Patti leaving the courthouse to head back to AICHO.

17 of 34 © 2024 Marlon Krieger

Shanon and Patti leaving the courthouse to head back to AICHO.

Officer Northrup on a drive-al... minutes to respond to a call.

18 of 34 © 2024 Marlon Krieger

Officer Northrup on a drive-along showing me Fond du Lac Reservation. Understaffed and underfunded it can take up to 45 minutes to respond to a call.

A traditional drum song is pla... the staff and their families.

19 of 34 © 2024 Marlon Krieger

A traditional drum song is played during a weekly group dinner available to all the women at the shelter, the staff and their families.

Culture and identity are a big...menâ€™s drum group practicing.

20 of 34 © 2024 Marlon Krieger

Culture and identity are a big portion of the healing process for survivors. Music plays an integral role in this. Here the Oshkii Giizhik womenâ€™s drum group practicing.

Tobacco ceremony being preform... the spirits before rehearsal.

21 of 34 © 2024 Marlon Krieger

Tobacco ceremony being preformed to bless and protect the women and the spirits before rehearsal.

$A women at the Veteran's ...eal their fractured community.$

22 of 34 © 2024 Marlon Krieger

A women at the Veteran's Powwow in Minnesota giving staring down my camera while dancing in the procession.Â

Dance and music are big portion of many Native American cultures. Reinvesting in their traditional ways is one way indigenous people can strengthen their identity, build pride and help heal their fractured community.

$A women dancing at the Veteran...eal their fractured community.$

23 of 34 © 2024 Marlon Krieger

A women dancing at the Veteran's powwow in Minnesota.

Dance and music are big portion of many Native American cultures. Reinvesting in their traditional ways is one way indigenous people can strengthen their identity, build pride and help heal their fractured community.

$A man at the Veteran's po...eal their fractured community.$

24 of 34 © 2024 Marlon Krieger

A man at the Veteran's powwow in Minnesota.

Dance and music are big portion of many Native American cultures. Reinvesting in their traditional ways is one way indigenous people can strengthen their identity, build pride and help heal their fractured community.

$A man at the Veteran's po...eal their fractured community.$

25 of 34 © 2024 Marlon Krieger

A man at the Veteran's powwow in Minnesota.

Dance and music are big portion of many Native American cultures. Reinvesting in their traditional ways is one way indigenous people can strengthen their identity, build pride and help heal their fractured community.

$A man dancing at the Veteran&#...eal their fractured community.$

26 of 34 © 2024 Marlon Krieger

A man dancing at the Veteran's powwow in Minnesota.

Dance and music are big portion of many Native American cultures. Reinvesting in their traditional ways is one way indigenous people can strengthen their identity, build pride and help heal their fractured community.

Tony and another traditional d...ly of a fallen Native soldier.

27 of 34 © 2024 Marlon Krieger

Tony and another traditional dancer fold the American flag during a ceremony at the 22nd Annual Veteranâ€™s Powwow. The flag was given to the family of a fallen Native soldier.

Cristine at the Veteran's...e warrior. Brave like no other

28 of 34 © 2024 Marlon Krieger

Cristine at the Veteran's powwow joining the dance procession.Â We had spent hours talking and discussing her personal story of survivalÂ and the importance of culture for her people as a form of healing and survival. It made me happy to see her proud and smiling while partaking a powow. I think she is a true role model for women, Native and non-Native alike. She inspires. Her smile shines strong and her heart sees no boundaries. Sheâ€™s a fierce warrior. Brave like no other

Cristine at the Veteran's...e warrior. Brave like no other

29 of 34 © 2024 Marlon Krieger

Cristine at the Veteran's powwow joining the dance procession.Â We had spent hours talking and discussing her personal story of survivalÂ and the importance of culture for her people as a form of healing and survival. It made me happy to see her proud and smiling while partaking a powow. I think she is a true role model for women, Native and non-Native alike. She inspires. Her smile shines strong and her heart sees no boundaries. Sheâ€™s a fierce warrior. Brave like no other

Nikki at the Veteran's Po...women at one of the campsites.

30 of 34 © 2024 Marlon Krieger

Nikki at the Veteran's Powwow joining a drum circle of women at one of the campsites.

Tina Olson is co-founder of Me... now Executive Director of MSH

31 of 34 © 2024 Marlon Krieger

Tina Olson is co-founder of Mending the Sacred Hoop and has been an advocate and activist since the 1970's. She works tirelessly on promoting Native American rights and protecting women. She is now Executive Director of MSH

A short based on footage captu...ot;Hearts on the Ground".

32 of 34 © 2024 Marlon Krieger

A short based on footage captured for "Hearts on the Ground".

The frozen landscape of Lake Su...came dependent on subsistence.

33 of 34 © 2024 Marlon Krieger

The frozen landscape of Lake Superior. Native tribes have made their home in this area for hundreds of years. With Relocation and the Dawe's act they were moved to land that couldn't sustain them, un-arable and unable to hunt tribes quickly became dependent on subsistence.

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Private Project

Hearts on the Ground

Copyright Marlon Krieger 2024

Date of Work Feb 2012 - Ongoing

Updated Apr 2017

Topics Abuse, Activism, Black and White, Civil Rights, Community, Discrimination, Documentary, Domestic Violence, Drug Abuse, Editorial, Emotion, Epidemics, Film Stills, Freedom, Gender, Historical, Human Rights, indi, indigenous, Landscape, Minority, Native American, Oppression, Photography, Photojournalism, Portraiture, Racism, Rape, Spirituality, Womens Rights

Freedom from violence is one of the most basic human rights afforded by International law, but here in the United States, native women experience sexual violence in epidemic proportions. ‘Hearts on the Ground’ is not about showing a victimized people looking for help, but rather about showing empowered survivors making a difference. When I started this project I did not how too interpret statistics like "1 in 3 native women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime." I didn't realize that native women disappear in the hundred from reservations, or what to make of it. It wasn't until I worked with these communities and sent years studying the history that I began to see a correlation between US government policy and historical events to today's climate and socio-economic reality for indigenous people in this country.

I'm humbled by the trust and access I was given by Native survivor, and continually amazed by their strength and resilience.

You can see a short at: https://vimeo.com/160190462
www.heartsontheground.com
This project is on-going and consists of video + still assets.

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