Kalila J. Fuller
DEFEND THE SACRED
The conversation regarding murdered and missing Indigenous women is one that has been avoided for decades in North America. It is a subject that delves deep into the heart of a legacy predominated by patriarchal control and a conquered landscape. These missing and murdered Indigenous women represent an economic and social issue affecting all Indigenous communities. From the First Nations people of Canada to the Inuit of the Arctic Circle, and onward to the various Native American communities of the United States. It is our country's dark and open secret. As a cultural ethnic group that has been socially, economically, and politically marginalized, Indigenous women have been frequent targets of hatred and violence. Underlying social factors such as poverty and homelessness contribute to their victimization, as do historically cultural factors such as racism, sexism, and the legacy of colonialism. The intersection of these factors contributes to a dangerous reality for all Indigenous women across North America.
“Defend the Sacred” is a poster series made up of 8 portraits and 4 statements acknowledging and spreading awareness about violence against Indigenous women (MMIW). Fuller's goal is to shed light on a critical, ongoing issue that has been ignored, minimized, and hidden; to tell our story in a way that feels alive and current, not rooted in stereotypes. The number of portrait poster editions is 12 because that is the number of solved Indigenous homicide cases in Canada over the last 10 years. 12 out of 66 total reported murder cares. The posters are for public use and you can find them @ https://www.kalilafullerart.com/defendthesacred
yupik Artist Amber Webb tries to make crisis feel real
Large qaspeq carries faces of missing, murdered Indigenous women
This work is both humbly beautiful and the gravity of spirit is beyond measure.
by: Daniella Zalcman
signs of your identity
For more than a century, the Canadian government operated a network of Indian Residential Schools that were meant to assimilate young indigenous students into western Canadian culture. Indian agents would take children from their homes as young as two or three and send them to church-run boarding schools where they were punished for speaking their native languages or observing any indigenous traditions, routinely sexually and physically assaulted, and in some extreme instances subjected to medical experimentation and sterilization.
The last residential school closed in 1996. The Canadian government issued its first formal apology in 2008.
Generations of Canada's First Nations forgot who they were. Languages died out, sacred ceremonies were criminalized and suppressed. These double exposure portraits explore the trauma of some of the 80,000 living survivors who remain, and through extensive accompanying interviews address the impact of intergenerational trauma, lateral violence, and document the slow path towards healing.