Youth artist Tyler Blackface / Photo courtesy of Deloria Many Grey Horses

Uncovering Colonial Legacies: Voices of Indigenous Youth in Child Welfare (dis)Placements opened at Calgary’s artBOX on April 17th as part of the This Is My City arts festival. Facilitated in partnership with the Urban Society for Aboriginal Youth (USAY), with support from several Calgary service agencies, the exhibit showcased the stories and artwork of 20 aboriginal youth with past experience in the Child Welfare system.

With three times the number of Indigenous youth in care than the number apprehended at the height of residential schools, this exhibition explores how ongoing colonialism shapes the lives of these youth. Daniela Navia, a master of socio-cultural anthropology student at the University of Calgary and coordinator for the project, says: “There’s this idea that if youth are removed from their community things will be better. And it’s a mistake that we keep making over and over again.”

Sarah Scout / Photo courtesy of Deloria Many Grey Horses

Sarah Scout, a writer and ‘artivist,’ was one of the youth who participated in the exhibition. She contributed framed pages from her self-published life writing zine and spoke at the exhibition’s opening reception. In a poignant speech, she describes growing up in the Child Welfare system and it’s effect on her as she developed into a young woman. She offers insight into what needs to change and emphasizes the importance of stories like hers being heard.

She says: “… When it was explained to me that the intent of this exhibit was not inspired to promote child welfare but to ‘Uncover [its] Colonial Legacies,’ in my heart I knew there might be room not only for me, but a safe space for my art and voice to join with others who have survived and are surviving child welfare (dis)Placement.” You can read Sarah’s speech in it’s entirety on her blog, Assimilated Ego.

Artwork by Sarah Scout / Photo courtesy of Arnell Tailfeathers

Uncovering Colonial Legacies is the result of more than nine months of community building and critical conversation about Child Welfare that began in Treaty 7 Territory in July 2014. The artwork the youth created has been shown at conferences, lectures, exhibits and community events to a collective audience of more than 1500 people. Most recently, their artwork was showcased at the Critical Ethnic Studies Association conference at York University in Toronto, and there is a documentary in the works with FNCARES (First Nations Children’s Action Research and Education Service), to be released in the fall.

If you’d like more information about Uncovering Colonial Legacies or are interested in a future collaboration, please contact Daniela Navia at dnlnavia@gmail.com. You can watch Daniela’s video about the project here.

Thanks to: Levi First Charger (USAY), Rita Henderson, Daniela Navia, Sarah Scout, and all the youth who shared their artwork.

– Cora-Rae Silk, Indigenous Community Arts Coordinator

Posted with permission from Daniela Navia & Sarah Scout
Photos courtesy of Deloria Many Grey Horses & Arnell Tailfeathers
Read Urban Society for Aboriginal Youth (USAY)’s profile on our Community-Engaged Arts Directory and Map

Youth artist Tia Ledesma / Photo courtesy of Deloria Many Grey Horses

Artwork by Sarah Scout / Photo courtesy of Arnell Tailfeathers

Photo courtesy of Deloria Many Grey Horses