Making the drive from Phoenix, AZ to Southern Utah, it’s hard not to get lost in the gorgeous landscapes along the roadside. If you pay attention to more than the traffic and the magnificent rock, you’ll start to notice the Native American culture glimpse back at you.

The deserted truck stops, empty jewelry stands, and long abandoned broken down roadside trailers. This is a shimmer of a dead dream, or the crumbs of a forgotten life. No matter how you look at Native Americans today, it’s a sad sight to see.

A people who were driven west, lost an all out war, and nearly eradicated to extinction. The meth epidemic, the diabetes, or alcoholism are continuing to diminish the remaining numbers.

Someone out there is fed up, standing up, and making themselves heard, even if it’s from a faint cry of roadside graffiti. A stellar artist is wrapping abandoned houses and speaking from an isolated culture. Showing intimate images of family and friends in everyday settings, giving the passers by a glimpse into what Native American culture is.

They are also pulling no punches against coal companies and uranium miners coming onto native lands and taking from the soil at what I can assume is on the same level of cheapness that it took for America to obtain the Louisiana purchase from the French . . .

At any rate, the images are undeniably powerful. So the next time you’re cruising along with a soda in hand and your cigarette hanging out of your open window in this beautiful landscape, take a closer look. Some people are speaking, if you are willing to listen.