Young Native Americans celebrating their culture

Some faces of these efforts are captured in “Red Road,” an ongoing photo series by Italian photographer Carlotta Cardana and writer Danielle SeeWalker, a member of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation.

The name “Red Road” comes from the Lakota concept of “the good path” that should be followed in life, the project’s website says: “The people we’ve met and photographed all follow this ‘Red Road’ in some way, rising above to be role models to their people and their way of life.”

“Red Road” consists of portraits taken in a setting of the subject’s choosing and a short biography, showing how each person bridges the gap between modern America and Indian Country.

“There’s a richness of cultural differences among the tribes. We tend to generalize and think of them as just a few tribes, but there’s so much more.”

Carlotta Cardana is an Italian portrait and documentary photographer based in London. You can follow her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr.

CNN