Shining light on the Native Indian/Inuit Photographers’ Association, 1985-1992
An unfiltered view of Indigenous life
There was a time when many Indigenous artists had ambivalent feelings toward the camera. It had been used far too often to portray the clichéd stereotypes favoured by the mainstream media — the noble savage in feathers, beads and buckskin; the radical protester brandishing arms at Wounded Knee; or the impoverished victim, dishevelled, cold and in the street.
So the most striking thing about the 48 photographs featured in a new exhibit at the McMaster Museum of Art is how domestic they look. They depict hardworking people with strong family ties, the joy of childhood and the wisdom of the elderly.
Back in 1985, it was that ‘normalcy’ that made these photos revolutionary when a group of Indigenous artists came together in Hamilton to establish the National Indian/Inuit Photographers’ Association (NIIPA) in a basement office on James Street South, near the railway tracks.
The exhibition, which runs until March 24, is titled “#unfiltered: Shining light on the Native Indian/Inuit Photographers’ Association, 19851992.”
“This show provides an unfiltered view of what Indigenous life is like,” says exhibition curator Rhéanne Chartrand, explaining the title.
The formation of the NIIPA is a key, but largely unheralded, moment in contemporary Canadian Indigenous culture. In its founding documents, NIIPA proclaimed its goals boldly. Brenda Mitten and Yvonne Maracle were there at the start. They can still remember the words, almost 33 years later. They recite them together: “To promote a positive, realistic and contemporary image of native people through the medium of photography.”
Mitten and Maracle are sitting on a bench at the museum taking in all the NIIPA photos surrounding them. They’re talking old times with fellow artist Greg Staats, who has brought along a poster from an early NIIPA conference and exhibition.
“I designed that,” Maracle, 53, exclaims, holding up the 32-year-old poster. It’s a bit like a family reunion, with the photos on the walls re-
presenting absent relations — uncles, sisters, grandparents and cousins, some no longer with us. Staats, a nationally known Six Nations artist now living in Toronto, and Maracle and Mitten, both still living in the Hamilton area, know the photos well.
Most were originally assembled for NIIPA’s first two exhibitions — “Visions” in 1985 and “Silver Drum” in 1986, both of which toured the country. They represent the work of Indigenous photographers from across Canada. Many — including Jeff Thomas, Murray McKenzie, Jolene Rickard, and Simon Bracoupe — have risen to national and international stature.
The idea of forming NIIPA germinated in the old Hamilton Photographers’ Union when a handful of young Indigenous artists were encouraged by then-executive director Lynne Sharman to put on their own exhibition. Maracle, then an 18-year-old Sir John A. Macdonald co-op student working with the union, put together a Canada Council grant proposal and managed to obtain $15,000 in funding.
That initial show, featuring the work of more than 15 artists mostly from Six Nations, led to more ambitious plans to expand the group’s horizons across the country.
Mitten, in her early 30s at the time, was given the task of reaching out and finding more like-minded Indigenous artists who might be working in isolation in other parts of Canada.
“I called museums, art galleries, every kind of educational institute, First Nations band councils and friendship centres,” Mitten said. “I just kept on the phone, calling and calling.”
Within three months, NIIPA had become incorporated with representatives on its board from every province. A national conference and exhibition was organized for Hamilton, moving to Thunder Bay and Lethbridge, Alta., in subsequent years before returning here.
NIIPA, which folded in 2006, provided an important national networking tool for Indigenous artists, as well as providing them with materials, training and encouragement.
“NIIPA brought us all together from our disparate little places,” says Staats, 54. “It was a place where you could share. For me, it really was a boost to my self-esteem. It was huge.”
Curator Chartrand, 32, said she was unaware of the existence of NIIPA until hearing established artists like Shelley Niro mention it. Chartrand did some digging and unearthed the “#unfiltered” photos in the Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) archives in Gatineau. She hopes to eventually tour the exhibition, which is on loan from INAC returning it to places like Lethbridge, Thunder Bay and Gatineau.
“A lot of younger people don’t know about the importance of NIIPA to Indigenous art history,” Chartrand says. “And it all happened right here in Hamilton.”