Last Canada Day, the flag flew at half mast on Parliament Hill and walks took place across the country to honour and remember those whose remains were found in the 215 unmarked graves at a former Kamloops residential school.
KC Adams says that’s when knew she wanted to do more.
The Winnipeg-based Cree photographer wanted to showcase Indigenous resilience, giving the community a voice, while also honouring the present.
So she took to the streets of Winnipeg to photograph children and teenagers taking part in the local march.
“We see these children as messages of hope, we learn from them by observing them,” said Adams. “They are inquisitive, they’re innocent. They have joy and they teach us how to live in the moment.”
An online exhibition of her 12 photographs of children between the ages of five and 16, entitled GIIYAABI OMAA NINDAYAAMIN (WE ARE STILL HERE), can be seen through the Portrait Gallery of Canada website.
Take back the narrative
Adams says the contrast of children smiling against the backdrop of a walk remembering the students and survivors of the residential school system allowed her to take back the narrative.
“The kid smiling is to also show that we are still here. We have actively resisted and we are resilient, and the kids embody all of that.”
Adams embedded seven layers in each of the photographs to represent seven generations. Some have beadwork, called “ancestors,” while others showcase the even older art form of quill work.
“We consider that kind of work sacred and so it was kind of like the ancestors are with her. So, those knowledge systems are with her and close to her,” she said of beadwork.
Ultimately, she said it’s very important to show traumas, like the residential schools, have happened to generations of Indigenous people who are still dealing with the repercussions of generational trauma. But children are the future.
“We have the responsibility to remember, to learn about residential schools, and how do we move forward in a good way?”
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