Photojournalism

The fight to heal

David Campion's lens takes us to a rough Vancouver neighborhood where native people endure Apartheid-like conditions while dreaming of better days ahead

Head down the hill from my apartment, take a brisk 20-minute walk, and you arrive at the corner of Main and Hastings in the heart of Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. In 1999, the Native newspaper Windspeaker asked me to take photographs of the social conditions experienced by the aboriginal people living in Canada's poorest urban neighborhood.

For me it was like walking into a low-grade war zone. Those who are most in need of help are in a heightened state of despair and try to numb their pain any way they can. This is exacerbated by poverty, abuse, violence and racism. Memorials are common for people dying before their time.

Though I was born in Britain, I arrived in Canada after living in South Africa for a decade. While the laws of apartheid are not the laws of this country, I was struck by the resemblance between the climate of racism and economic inequality endured by First Nations here and the conditions experienced by black South Africans under white rule. I spent months visiting the Eastside almost daily, trying to make sense of the humanitarian crisis I encountered there and hoping that by documenting the situation, I could help raise awareness.

The hopeful side of this story lies in outreach efforts by members of the Native community, often survivors of the Eastside themselves. The people I know who found health and dignity have done so through traditional practices and increasingly, this is where I have turned my camera. In sweat lodges, healing circles, through smudging and drumming, the most desperate are finding strength.

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