This is where we should stay
For generations, Indigenous people in Canada have lived under the laws and values of European settlers through forced assimilation. The introduction of residential schools, formed by the federal government and instituted by the Catholic and Anglican Church, pulled Indigenous children away from their lands, families, languages, and identities. This project focuses on how Indigenous people in my region are moving towards meaningful self-determination by resetting the past. The act of reclaiming identity is ongoing, and my friends here are resilient in a place where symbols and systems of colonization loom large. In Catholicism, we are Children of God, but in the Dene worldview, we are One with the Land. There is a tragic and complex tension between the way of the church and the way of the ancestors. While it may be impossible to break free of the colonizers, the subtle, defiant, and beautiful acts of resistance give strength to say “We are still here; here is where we shall stay”.
This project was created for the World Press Photo 2020 Joop Swart Masterclass.
Pat Kane
Pat is a photographer based in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, on the traditional land of the Yellowknives Dene First Nation. He takes a documentary approach to stories about life in Northern Canada, with a special focus on issues important to Indigenous people, including the relationship between land and identity. Pat is a National Geographic Explorer, and a former mentee of the World Press Photo Joop Swart Masterclass. His work has been published by National Geographic, The New York Times, World Press Photo, The Atlantic, The Globe and Mail, and other media worldwide. Pat is of Irish-Canadian and Algonquin Anishinaabe ancestry and is a member of the Timiskaming First Nation. He’s part of the photo collectives Indigenous Photograph and Boreal Collective.
Exhibition presented free of charge in the 1912 Building of La Pulperie.
Exhibition presented within the framework of the Zoom Photo Festival Saguenay.
For more information on the Zoom Photo Festival Saguenay, consult the zoomphotofestival.ca
