Nora Colie

Portland in the 1980s was a hotbed of racist, skinhead violence, which reached a boiling point in 1988 when three neo-Nazis murdered Ethiopian immigrant Mulugeta Seraw. Was it homegrown hate or did it come from outside?

Our Mr . Matsura is the story of Frank (Sakae) Matsura, the orphaned son of a samurai, who emigrated to Washington State in 1901, eventually settling in remote Okanogan County. There he embedded himself in a community of Native people and newly arrived settlers and immigrants, including miners, ranchers, shopkeepers and cowboys. In short order, he became the region’s leading photo-chronicler and, to many, its most beloved citizen. Through his lens, Frank Matsura offered up remarkable retellings of life in the American West and gave people new ways of thinking about themselves. A century later, the people of the county and the Colville Confederated Tribes still have pride and a sense of connection to the work he created.