Honour This.

I’ve been avoiding some work and spending too much time online.

With the whole Harry Potter shitshow and then trying to chill on Instagram and instead, running into highly offensive and problematic  accounts, this has not been my day. This is just a tiny, tiny example of the ignorant, hurtful and stereotypical images that come across my news feeds. It’s non-stop.

So I needed to breathe a little. To step back. To stop engaging with White Privilege and all their Defenders (“But I’m honouring you”) and instead, remind myself where I come from. What I’m trying to achieve. Who I want to actually honour.

I don’t do photography because I like pretty pictures. I do photography because I like looking at images that reflect my own traditions back at me. I like showing the modern interpretations of who we are. I like showing the varying tones our Indigenous skin comes in.

I like being able to show my daughter that our images portray us as we are – diverse, different, complex, alive, happy, complicated, surviving, resilient

Me, I want to honour the strong Indigenous women out there.

I want to honour the families.

I want to honour the child’s laughter.

I want to honour the artists.

I want to honour the entrepreneurs.

I want to honour my communities. Dene and Metis.

I want to honour my family. My daughter. Myself.

And I honour them, myself, my communities, my people, by getting our stories right. By doing research and asking about protocol. By sitting down at the table to listen to the family stories. By remembering my relations and asking if I’m not sure.

It’s about respect.

 – tenille campbell