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Erasing Indigenous Heritage (12 photos)

For nearly a century, the Canadian government took indigenous Canadians from their families and placed them in church-run boarding schools, forcibly assimilating them to Western culture. Children as young as 2 or 3 years old were taken from their homes, their language extinguished, their culture destroyed. Photographer Daniella Zalcman has been documenting the lingering effects of this trauma for her book, Signs of Your Identity, this year’s winner for the FotoEvidence Book Award.

“Students were punished for speaking their native languages or observing indigenous traditions, physically and sexually assaulted, and in extreme instances subjected to medical experimentation and sterilization,” Zalcman said. “At least 6,000 children died while in the system—so many that it was common for residential schools to have their own cemeteries.” Zalcman’s double exposures combine portraits of the former students with places or items relating to their experience, giving the photos an ethereal look that underscores the damage the system caused. The last Indian Residential School closed in 1996. The government issued its first apology in 2008.

Mike Pinay, who attended the Qu’Appelle Indian Residential School from 1953 to 1963: “It was the worst 10 years of my life. I was away from my family from the age of 6 to 16. How do you learn about family? I didn’t know what love was. We weren’t even known by names back then. I was a number.” “Do you remember your number?” “73.” (Daniella Zalcman)
http://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2016/10/signs-of-your-identity/505643/