LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Winnipeg, Manitoba is located on ancestral lands in Treaty One Territory. I use the broad term “ancestral lands” because numerous nations have cared for and lived on this land for thousands of years. This is the traditional territory of diverse peoples, such as the Anishinaabeg, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota and Dene Peoples. Winnipeg is also the National Homeland of the Red River Metis Nation.
The water that sustains us all comes from Shoal Lake, in Shoal Lake 40 lands.
I respect and acknowledge the complex histories and traditions of these, and other, Indigenous Peoples and communities. I am committed to the philosophy of proactive decolonization. I respect the Treaties that were made, mourn the broken promises, and commit myself to move forward with Indigenous Peoples in the spirit of reconciliation and collaboration.
Settler colonialism hurts us all. We must come together to fight back against the systems and groups that try to pit us against one another. Only by doing this can all the peoples of this land live in true peace and freedom.
Heather Bradford is a professional photographer in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Heather began her life in California, sandwiched between San Francisco and Silicon Valley. She left California in 2017 for the wooded, windy north. She spent four years in Northern Minnesota, capturing images of the North Shore of Lake Superior. Her work from that period celebrates the forests and lakes of the Canadian Geologic Shield Formation, which Lake Superior sits upon.
In 2021, Heather relocated to her windswept prairie home in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Here, Heather is using photography to tell stories about the people and places that make Winnipeg the vibrant, creative hub that it is.
