We are Indigenous womxn of Turtle Island. We have a deep and abiding tie to the land through what we call “blood memory.” It’s what ties all womxn to our Mother Earth and gives us the instinct to care for our families and communities, just as our Mother Earth cares for and provides for us and all living beings.
Part of this blood memory is the relationships, the sisterhood, that we’ve always had with one another as Indigenous womxn. I think of when our ancestors were living off the land, and how we came together as a community to care for one another, raise our babies together, support and love one another but one of the strategies of weakening our cultures and our relationships were to divide and conquer. Slowly, we have been reclaiming that sisterhood and those relationships. I feel it every time I spend time with a fellow Indigenous sister. I feel their love, their warmth, their spirit, and right away I feel safe and protected.
My love for my people has always been embedded in my thoughts, actions, words and prayers. And over the years I have yearned to connect with all my native sisters – whether we’re Anishinaabe, Cree, Inuit, Dakota, Metis, Dene, etc.. we’re all Indigenous sisters connected through survival of great resistance.
In this colonial and patriarchal society, Indigenous womxn are often invisible or treated less than. We are continuously silenced, threatened, and even murdered. It’s up to us to care for one another and to show future generations of young, Indigenous womxn that they too, deserve a seat at the table. I have this rule, that I try to abide by, if I keep complaining about something, I either do something about it or let it go, and I ain’t about to let this go.
For years, Indigenous womxn have been portrayed by media as dirty, uneducated, lazy, worthless and over-sexualized and when I look at the dozens and dozens of Indigenous womxn in my life, none of these characteristics describe them. The Indigenous womxn that I know are intelligent, compassionate, hard-working, incredible, gorgeous, funny and full of teachings. I wanted to help rewrite mainstream narrative around Indigenous womxn and amplify their stories of resilience, strength, love and courage through the art of photography, makeup and storytelling. So that’s what I did.
What inspired me was Indigenous artist, KC Adams, photo series entitled ‘Perception’. KC was tired of reading negative and disparaging remarks of Indigenous people in the media so she created the photo series which was an attempt to combat the stereotypes some of the public have of First Nation, Inuit and Metis people to illustrate, you can’t judge a book by its cover. So I took KC’s brilliance and adapted it to include a before and after photo of each womxn and allow them the opportunity to share their own story. Over the next 10 days you will see an array of beauty. You will see strong, proud Indigenous womxn who will share a bit about themselves, where they come from, what inspires them. You will see a black and white before photo and an after photo in color that represents the reclamation of their bodies, their voices, their power and their spirit.
Miigwetch to the womxn who took part of this very special project. I am honored to have shared space with you and learned from you. You are the aunties that our communities will continue to admire and learn from. We are a sisterhood. We are sacred. We are special. We are valued. We are loved.
HUGE shout-out to my friend and colleague, Chelsea aka: Chunky Photography for teaming up with me and bringing my vision to life.
Until next time. All my love.