Ada’itsx

Ada’itsx is the Indigenous name of the Fairy Creek (FC) watershed, located on the unseeded traditional territory of the Pacheedaht and Ditidaht peoples. It is about an hour's drive inland down logging roads from Port Ruport on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. It is difficult, if not impossible, to say when the movement began. What I do know is that it was at its height in 2021.

I first heard about the blockade in June of that year. From some friends of a friend who had been there, they told me I had to go check it out. And as much as I wanted to, I had recently succeeded in obtaining a paid internship at a prestigious private art gallery in Vancouver. So, regrettably, I moved to Vancouver, and the summer dragged on. I melted away, desperately trying to fit into the high art world at the gallery, wondering if I had made the right decision, as record-high heat waves rolled through the lower mainland and FC became more and more part of our local consciousness. I followed the blockade news closely that summer. When I saw on the FC Instagram account that HQ had fallen and read that they were asking for people to come to camp, I knew I had to go. 

Ada'itx is a visual diary of the friends I made and the places I called home while living at the Fairy Creek blockade. I spent around six months there on and off from 2021 - 2023. Hand-written letters by land defenders accompany my photographs. Through this collaborative archive, I aim to persevere our stories of this critical historical moment. (The images I share with you here are of my personal experiences as a white AFAB person. I do means think they represent this movement as a whole.)