Jackson was born on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in North Dakota on January 16, 1957.
[3] Jackson completed his primary education at St. Joseph's Indian School near Chamberlain, South Dakota, and completed his secondary education at Intermountain Indian School in Brigham City, Utah.
[3][4] Many of his works feature an ironic or humorous perspective on contemporary Native American issues.
[6] "Entering Zig's Indian Reservation", which Artsy describes as "perhaps his best-known series",[7] features Jackson in various urban environments wearing a traditional headdress, staking claim to them with an official-looking reservation sign.
"[9] In 2005, Jackson became the first Native American photographer to be represented in the collections of the Library of Congress.