Indigenous Peoples have lived for time immemorial, in the area upon which Hamilton was established. Indigenous-led organizations have a rich history in this city, both in supporting urban Indigenous communities and in dealing with different levels of governments with respect to Indigenous rights. 

In this episode of Vital Signs, Rudi Wallace is joined by Yvonne Maracle for a lively conversation about Indigenous-led organizations in Hamilton and how they have shaped local history. From Native Indian/Inuit Photographers’ Association to Coalition of Hamilton Indigenous Leadership (CHIL), Yvonne guides Rudi through a lifetime of community engagement, cultural preservation and resilience.

Key quotes 

“I always said to people, nobody’s going to write our history, okay. They saw us as a vanishing race. They never expected us to come to the cities. They thought we’d stay on reserves. And so as time went on, and every time, you know, as I grew, I started to realize the importance of documentation…We have to document ourselves so that we can show what we have accomplished. We never went away.” 

“We brought photographers together in [NIIPA]and we realized a lot of our photographers were working in isolation. They thought they were the only ones. And they’re really hard working, trying to document things…the premise at that time was we were tired of those romanticized images of Indians, the stone faced or the romanticized,  we wanted to produce real life. This, these are us. These are who we are. These are our families, our aunts, uncles, grandmas, grandpas, whatever. And so we start documenting ourselves and the importance was really was to produce a contemporary image of Native People as they lived today.” 

“As an agency [Hamilton Regional Indian Centre] was vital because, in the beginning, as Native people start to leave the reserves and come to the city, there was nothing for them. So the Indian Centre was the lifeline in the sense that we gravitated we gravitated towards it and you connected. In the beginning was just a house we gathered in and just connected to our people. And you don’t realize, until when you don’t see other people, other people like yourself. Growing up, I did not know where to go for positive things. So the Indian Centre was that lifeline for many of us Indigenous People that that were around, because at least you went there and you could learn about your culture. You felt good about who you were.” 

“it took a little bit of time, went in and we start receiving funding and, and stuff like that, but we work together well. And the idea was okay with the urban strategy was to communicate to the larger community to make sure we work together. You know, we are working together.”