People of the Watershed

People of the Watershed: Photographs by John Macfie features more than 100 photographs taken by John Macfie as he worked as a trapline manager in Northern Ontario for the Department of Lands and Forests in the 1950s and 1960s. A settler, Macfie developed deep and lasting relationships with Anishinaabe, Cree and Oji-Cree communities in the region including Attawapiskat, Sandy Lake, and Mattagami as he travelled the vast expanse of the Hudson Bay watershed. Macfie's photographs bear witness to the adaptability and survivance of Indigenous people in a period of dramatic change, and the pleasures of ways of life firmly rooted in the land. Curated by nîpisîhkopâwiyiniw (Willow Cree) curator, writer, journalist, cultural advocate, and commentator Paul Seesequasis, the book centers the lives and resiliency of the Indigenous people represented, many of whom have been identified by Macfie and Seesequasis. The accompanying exhibition is part of the Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival.