This is who we are
HAMILTON PHOTOGRAPHER CONVEYS STORIES OF LOCAL FIRST NATIONS FAMILIES IN PORTRAITS
WHEN SOMEBODY KNOCKS on your door, you say, “tesatawiyat.” That’s Mohawk for “come in.” Nineteen urban First Nations families welcomed Mina Ao, a Hamilton photographer, into their homes as part of a community art project she developed with Bryce Kanbara, owner of you me gallery.
Her photographs will be on show, along with statements by the participants, in Tesatawiyat, an illuminating exhibition opening Friday, Aug. 12 at the gallery.
“There is the stereotype of what a native person is and this project is about the participants sharing their stories and presenting themselves as who they are,” Ao tells me.
Kanbara says the project began in 2013 when he and Ao met with various organizations and individuals in Hamilton.
“We understand the sensitive nature of what we want to do as non-Aboriginals, but we have received a positive response from everyone we have met,” he says.
“We have been told that many urban Aboriginals see themselves as isolated, and do not identify themselves as part of the Hamilton community, a condition that reflects the gaps that generally exist among us as individuals and communities.”
Most of the families live in Hamilton, and a few in Brantford, Grimsby and St. Catharines. Participants identify themselves as Aboriginal, Native, First Nations, North American Indian and Indigenous.
“I met some of the participants through events organized by the native community, some through other participants, some through people that I know, and some approached us after hearing about the project,” Ao says.
All the photographs were taken indoors. Participants sit on sofas in their living or family rooms, or around a dining room table. People look at the camera and smile.
“Home is a place that has special meanings to everyone, it usually is the place that is close to our hearts, a place where we feel comfortable and can be ourselves,” Ao says.
“Everything in the home is the result of a thought that reflects the background and experience of the people who live in it. Apart from sharing their stories with us through their words, the participants are also opening this space that is so dear to them, inviting people to listen and see their stories.”
The images recall the kind of informal photos taken by friends and family members. But the person taking the photo is basically a stranger and the image is destined for an art gallery.
And instead of an artist’s statement accompanying each work, we get the participants’ voices.
Ao photographs Tom Reape with his wife Diane Denny-Reape and their pets.
“I was born to a Scottish father and a Native Indian mother,” his statement begins. “I am a half-breed. The Native side didn’t accept me being Indian and the White side didn’t accept me being White. It seemed that most people called me a Dirty Indian.”
Wilamina McGrimmond, Richard Claus and dog sit on a big sofa.
“We refer to ourselves as either First Nations or native people,” her statement begins.
“Growing up as a small child, my cousins always called us white because we did not live on the Rez so had to point out to them that we looked just like them, so after that they never had to call us something again. As for Richard, he lived in Hamilton and was not allowed to learn his native heritage.”