Màatakuyma

Photographer and filmmaker Duwawisioma (Victor Masayesva Jr.) has been on a lifelong quest to understand the ideas of “existence” and “being” in terms of Hopi ancestral traditions in the modern world. Màatakuyma, meaning “now it is becoming clearer to me” in the Hopi language, represents this continuing quest. Featuring images created throughout Duwawisioma’s long career, Màatakuyma highlights aspects of Hopi culture, history, language, metaphysics, and agricultural practices through complex, layered compositions and juxtapositions of color.

In Duwawisioma’s world, time is not linear. Ancestral time is a vortex that underpins and mixes with modernity. Cars, casinos, electroniccommunication, photography, and filmmaking can be embraced and opposed but ultimately must harmonize with ancestral time. Hopi traditions, sovereignty, and identity are central to Duwawisioma’s life, and the selected images express the dynamic and challenging relationships humans have with the natural world. These relationships may be with ancestral spirits, specific places, or various elements of nature. All must be considered.

Màatakuyma reminds us that the local is universal and we must respect and revere that which sustains us: corn and other crops, water, winds, the land. The path to harmony is through living in alignment with nature as laid out in ancestral traditions and contemporary practices.

Image: Ninma, © 2025 Duwawisioma (Victor Masayesva Jr.) All rights reserved by copyright holder.