Nobody Listened

Portraits of resilience: I traveled across Saskatchewan to document Indigenous women whose loved ones have disappeared or died. Over 50 percent of missing and murdered women and girls are Indigenous in Saskatchewan, one of the highest rates in Canada.

On Sept. 25th, 2013 in Regina, Saskatchewan, Kelly Goforth’s body was found in a red garbage bin wrapped in a hockey back in an industrial area of town. Goforth’s killer, a white male, is known to have killed Richele Bear, another Indigenous woman, and the family suspects he has killed others. Goforth’s death is not an isolated incident in Saskatchewan, one of many areas in Canada struggling with a shameful history of abuse, neglect and indifference towards its First Nations women and people.

Human rights groups estimate that at least 4000 Indigenous women have been murdered or disappeared across Canada. Over the past few months, families have watched the national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, which aims to address the root causes of violence against Indigenous women, dissipate amidst controversy, delays, and bureaucracy.

I returned home after 15 years and spent a month traveling across Saskatchewan photographing Indigenous women and community elders. Attempting to cut through the numbers and the desensitized nature in which victims' families are portrayed, the incredible resilience, sisterhood, and strong tradition among communities was revealed.

Through authentic and natural portraiture and evidential landscapes, my aim is to bring the stories of these women to viewers in a humane and intimate way. Exploring the emotional space between loss and healing, women were photographed in locations where they felt closest to their loved ones, hoping to give them a sense of agency.