National Day for Truth and Reconciliation | A Year in Photographs

More Than Photographs

Photography has always been about more than creating a good image. The perfect settings, the best lenses and the fastest camera. It starts at the root of why you even bring a camera.

When I photograph an Elder speaking, a young person dancing in regalia, a family celebrating a graduation, or a community gathering together, I am documenting something that belongs to a much larger story.

Many of these photographs represent culture being carried forward, shared, and displayed as history passed down.

They represent young people learning where they come from, who they are and what their community values have distilled into themselves.

They represent Elders sharing knowledge that has survived generations, and are taught, pushing aside the shame placed in their hearts years prior.

They represent families celebrating achievements that previous generations were often denied the opportunity to experience.

And they represent communities continuing to gather, celebrate, teach, laugh, dance, and create together!

Today, September 30th, is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. It is a day to honour the children who never returned home from the residential schools, the Survivors who did, their families, and the generations who continue to carry the impacts of that history.

For me, this day has significance as my own grandmother on my mother's side attended St. Mary's before closing before running away. This day is also an opportunity to reflect on not only my own family history but also on the people and communities I have had the privilege of photographing over the past year.

Through Golden Productions, I have spent a lot of time documenting Indigenous events, celebrations, graduations, pow wows, cultural gatherings, youth programs, Elders, families, and moments that may seem small in the moment but carry a much larger story behind them.

For this post, I wanted to share some of my favourite photographs or screen grabs from video projects from the past year.

Looking Back on the Past Year

Looking through these photographs reminds me how fortunate I have been to be invited into these spaces.

Some of these moments were large community celebrations. Others were quiet moments that happened between the main events.

A laugh.

A conversation.

Receiving my first piece of regalia.

Seeing new friends at new places.

And a soon-to-be graduate celebrating years of work. (Myself)

These are often the photographs I end up appreciating the most.

To everyone who has trusted me to photograph your families, organizations, ceremonies, events and communities over the past year, I just want to give a big heartfelt thank you.

On this National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, I encourage everyone to take the time to learn, listen, remember, and support the Indigenous people and communities around them.

Every Child Matters!

Celebrating Indigenous Youth

Some of my favourite moments from this past year have involved Indigenous youth.

I have photographed graduations, youth programs, cultural events, retreats, pow wows, and projects centred around young people discovering more about themselves and their communities.

There is something powerful about watching young people become more confident in who they are. As someone who taught and trained kids in martial arts, I saw kids grow into confident young adults because of their growing abilities.

Whereas working with youth who are learning about themselves through their history and community, I have watched a different type of confidence arise.

Sometimes that happens through ceremony. Sometimes through dance. Sometimes through conversations with Elders. Sometimes it is simply being surrounded by people who understand where you come from.

Those are the moments I always try to look for with my camera.

Honouring the People Who Carry the Knowledge

I have also been fortunate to photograph many Elders, Knowledge Keepers, artists, leaders, and community members over the past year.

Their presence often completely changes the meaning of an event. They are the history keepers, the ones who watch over the community and know who everyone is and where they come from and from my experience, if they don't know, they will come up and ask you.

A photograph might capture only a fraction of a second, but behind that image can be decades of knowledge, experience, resilience, humour, language, family, and history.

That responsibility is something I try not to take lightly, and I am very honoured to be a part of all these events.

Truth, Reconciliation and Moving Forward

Truth and reconciliation cannot be limited to one day each year.

September 30 gives Canadians an opportunity to stop and reflect, but the work continues through education, listening, supporting Indigenous communities, preserving culture and language, and creating space for Indigenous voices to tell their own stories.

There is also an important balance between remembering what was taken and recognizing what remains.

Indigenous communities are not defined only by tragedy.

They are filled with artists, dancers, athletes, entrepreneurs, filmmakers, students, graduates, parents, Elders, teachers, leaders, and young people building their futures.

That is something I hope these photographs and future projects communicate!