NÎMIHITOWIN: Bryan Helm

Mens Traditional Dancer #1, Calgary, AB, 2023. Siver Gelatin Print. Image © Bryan Helm
Mens Traditional Dancer #1, Calgary, AB, 2023. Siver Gelatin Print. Image © Bryan Helm
Bryan Helm has been documenting Indigenous culture and dancers since 2017. Respectfully talking to both the Elders and dancers to gain an understanding that translates to each photograph. 
Strength and motion captured through a lens that allows the minute details of the regalia to show through while also capturing the energy of the moment.  

Though the images hold a certain level of abstract what also comes through is the power and history of the people and the traditions.  

A majestic glimpse into the beauty of Indigenous dancers in all their regalia. A tradition re-imagined through the eyes and lens of Bryan Helm. 

 

We acknowledge the land we are meeting on is the traditional territory of many nations including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples and is now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. We also acknowledge that Toronto is covered by Treaty 13 with the Mississaugas of the Credit.

 

Beneath the winding course of Davenport Road lies hidden an ancient trail created by Indigenous peoples. The trail linked their settlements with hunting and fishing grounds, and with trade routes that tied this region to the upper Great lakes, the Atlantic coast, and the Midwest.

Between the Humber and the Don Rivers, the ancient footpath avoided difficult terrain by weaving along the foot of the escarpment that is one of Toronto’s most distinctive geological features - the shoreline of 13,500-year-old glacial Lake Iroquois, forerunner of much smaller Lake Ontario. This meandering route, at odds with the city’s rectangular street grid, now connects us to the distant past.

 

A portion of the proceeds from this exhibition will be donated to:

CIER: Centre for Indigenous Environmental Resources

 

CIER is a non-profit organization that supports Indigenous people and communities to be leaders of positive environmental change, using the best of Western and Indigenous knowledge to create a world that is in balance and supports the well-being of all living things.

www.yourcier.org

  • We acknowledge the land we are meeting on is the traditional territory of many nations including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples and is now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. We also acknowledge that Toronto is covered by Treaty 13 with the Mississaugas of the Credit.
     
    Beneath the winding course of Davenport Road lies hidden an ancient trail created by Indigenous peoples. The trail linked their settlements with hunting and fishing grounds, and with trade routes that tied this region to the upper Great lakes, the Atlantic coast, and the Midwest.
    Between the Humber and the Don Rivers, the ancient footpath avoided difficult terrain by weaving along the foot of the escarpment that is one of Toronto’s most distinctive geological features - the shoreline of 13,500-year-old glacial Lake Iroquois, forerunner of much smaller Lake Ontario. This meandering route, at odds with the city’s rectangular street grid, now connects us to the distant past.