I arrived at 10:45 am for the ceremony that was to begin at 1:00 pm. Getting there early would give me time to capture behind-the-scenes candid moments and start looking for details I wanted to include. Also, if everyone arrived after me and saw me already there with a camera, I’d face less skepticism. I also had nothing else to do.

When I walked into the sanctuary that doubled as the graduation venue, I met Gary Spears, a physical education teacher at the school, who told me all about the school and the two predominant tribes that lived in East Phillips: the Ojibwe and the Dakota. After we spoke for 30 minutes, I helped set up some of the chairs for the ceremony and walked around to take some photos of the preparation.

I overheard Gary talking to his brother about what they needed for the ceremony. He offered to go get his drum from the classroom a couple of blocks away. A chance to take photos in a car and get shots of a drum? Even though I had just met Gary, it was clear that he was a big enough fan of the project. I asked if I could go with him.

“I totally understand if not, but I’d love to come with you to get a few shots if that’s okay with you,” I asked.

He was a little confused but said okay. We then got into his red Honda truck and drove up the street to the school.