Photographs by aboriginal youth from around the province, including junior chiefs, graduate students and youth representatives from the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) and Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak (MKO) were on display at Brandon University (BU) July 21-24 as part of Success through Our Eyes: A Photovoice Exhibit.
Part of a project to tell the story of First Nations, Métis and Inuit young people in Manitoba, the photovoice project – which provides participants with cameras to document community issues they feel strongly about – enables youth to provide their own ideas about how communities can help youth achieve educational success and demonstrate leadership.
“The photos in this display are important messages from aboriginal youth who are graduate students and youth leaders from across Manitoba,” said Dr. Karen Rempel, director of BU’s Centre for Aboriginal and Rural Education Studies and principal investigator of the Vital Outcome Indicators for Community Engagement (VOICE) research project. “We are using them to start conversations and put forward concrete ideas about how to achieve educational success and develop future leaders.”
The display is part of the youth program at the National Association of Friendship Centres 44th Annual General Assembly in Brandon July 21-24 and the images it includes will be used by Rempel and fellow BU researcher Dr. Chris Brown and exhibit curator Kathy Moscou to prepare a policy paper on youth leadership with a team of aboriginal graduate students and youth leaders.
“The photovoice project is an inspiring way to give ‘visual voice’ to young aboriginal leaders as they reflect on what leadership and success means to them,” said Dr. Heather Duncan, BU’s acting academic vice-president and provost, and Dean of Education. “Communication in this way, which involves biography, art and storytelling, is a powerful tool to communicate their knowledge and concerns to not only the broader community but also to government and policy makers as they plan for the future.”
