Debwewin: Threads of Truth, June 2023

For those who have been following my photography journey on Instagram or are an “OG” newsletter subscriber, you will probably know a little bit about Debwewin: Threads of Truth. 

The project has been a bit cryptic to many even though it’s been in the works since 2016. We are working on how to bring it into a digital space with careful consideration, which is something we’re doing with an amazing advisor over the next couple of months.

But after I spent another week travelling all over Northeastern Ontario and meeting with high school students from Cochrane, Kapuskasing, South Porcupine and Kirkland Lake, Ontario to prepare for our second gallery showing of the photographs, it really hit me that this project finally has some momentum behind it. 

This time around it was different and I wanted to take some time to process and share it here. 

It all starts with an idea

We started with a small idea in 2016 to provide youth with an opportunity to share their knowledge as well as their emotional and spiritual growth by actively creating images and telling stories through photography. 

Debwewin: Threads of Truth is a storytelling and photography project that allows students to document truths about our shared colonial history and its impact.

As students processed the curriculum—the reality of our shared colonial history and some of the contemporary issues facing Indigenous communities—it became critical to give them an outlet to work through their feelings while allowing them to contribute to creating a new narrative for their peers and community.

Whether these students identify as Indigenous or non-Indigenous, they all had to work through complex, difficult and painful truths about our shared colonial history. They were then tasked with harnessing those emotions to create a photograph that tells a story.

Students wrote an annotated bibliography, planned and prepared all of the logistics to create a photograph and then wrote a moving and powerful description for the photo.

The process these students go through, from ideation to execution to seeing the image framed in a gallery setting, is truly transformational. 

Initial resistance

There is resistance at first. Then they slowly start to become intrigued at the opportunity to tell a story outside of the normal high school English class essay. 
Here, they tell their stories not in writing, but as a visual and creative expression. 

During the creation of the photo, they experience the process of creative directing and making decisions about how the image is telling the story. Is it hitting the mark, are we telling a different story or leading the viewing in a different direction? Will it be too triggering for some viewers, is it triggering enough?

Many of the students will be in the photos themselves. Some are depicting racist or derogatory actions to tell the story in the photo and some are on the receiving end of that. These are complex feelings the students go through as they create the images, with the intent that the viewer FEEL something.

As a photographer, I can tell you that I intuitively know when I’ve “got the shot”.

There have been many times during this project over the past 7 years that not only have I known we “got the shot”, but the students knew it at the moment as well.

One such time was when we laid a red dress in garbage bags in a marshy lake to tell the story of Tina Fontaine and a loon called as we were all shedding tears for the power we knew the image would have. 

Or when the orange-painted train car with “Every Child Matters” painted on it just serendipitously travelled through the background on the image behind an Indigenous student drumming.

Many emotions have surfaced throughout this project. When the students realize the power a photograph has to amplify the stories they are telling and their truth from their understanding and perspective, it can be overwhelming.  

The impact of a gallery show

Once the students have selected their final image, they don’t necessarily see it until it’s framed and hanging on the wall.

But as they walk into the gallery room and see the image and write-up they created hanging on the wall with all the other images, another wave of pride and accomplishment comes over them.

I have witnessed the transformation—from the moment we work on the image to the moment they see their photo in the frame. 

I’ve witnessed a change in students viewing the image they helped create and from those looking at their classmates in a new light. 

It truly is transformational.

It was an honour to stand back and observe 7 years of work unfold in front of my eyes. The students and teachers really jumped on board to take the reins and it was beautiful.

I humbly received praise for all the images I helped to create and made sure all the viewers knew that without the effort and work of the students, none of the images would exist. 

Nor would it exist without the relentless dedication of my best friend and co-creator of this project, Erin Buchmann, DSB1 Indigenous Coach. She has spent years working with students to decolonize the approach to storytelling, building relationships with local Indigenous communities and recruiting teachers and students to participate in this project. 

Seeing their work through the eyes of others

Something else I observed that is worth noting is how surprised many of the adults were in the room. Not with the topics, but with how amazing and moving the collection of images is. 

I think generally, we as adults underestimate youth. We underestimate their capacity for understanding, and for growth both spiritually and emotionally, and we underestimate the power they can wield if they can come together.

I look at the difficult and complex conversations these teenagers are having during their time working on Debwewin: Threads of Truth and it gives me hope. 

Because when I was in high school, our history textbooks had one paragraph referencing Residential Schools. We didn’t talk about the reality of our shared colonial history and some of the Contemporary Issues facing Indigenous communities.

But today these kids are.

These kids understand there is more than one truth.

That there are many truths.

Debwewin means to speak the truth from your understanding and position. 

These students embodied that and I am grateful to have played a part in helping them with that. 

---