In the spring of 1993, photographer Linda MacCannell began to travel the Indian rodeo circuit, using a large-format view camera to photograph participants and their families. She also photographed the action in the arena and the incredible western landscape that surrounded the rodeo venues. Her photographs provide a striking record of an activity that remains a colorful and significant part of life for Native Americans from Alberta to Arizona.
In his engaging and informative accompanying text, Peter Iverson provides historic background on Indian rodeo and explains how rodeo has helped to reinforce the importance of place, of competition and achievement, and of family. "Rodeo, " he writes, "is one of the activities in western North American life that provides time and opportunity for memory, for storytelling, for lessons. The innumerable hours spent in pickup trucks or at the arena are not spent alone. A competitor may be accompanied by a spouse, parents, relatives, friends, children. But there are always more stories to be told and to be heard, to be remembered, to be repeated."
