Happy National Indigenous Peoples day (and summer solstice and fathers day)!

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I spoke with nine amazing Indigenous folks from across Ontario to find out what Indigenous Peoples Day means to them:

"To be born Indigenous is a political act in itself. Each Indigenous individual comes from a lineage of resilience in the face of assimilative tactics that still continue to this day. Any Indigenous person can tell you the systematic discrimination and racism they have experienced — it’s maddening. On the other hand, every day is Indigenous Peoples Day when we continue to learn and use our language when we continue to grow our gardens and medicines, when we continue to heal from the trauma that we have suffered for generations, and when we continue to pass on our traditions to the next generation to ensure the resurgence of Indigenous culture and language.” - Victoria E. Ransom

Read the full article on TVO

Hear me chatting about my work on the One Dish, One Mic Indigenous radio show

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On April 19, 2020, I had the opportunity to chat with the wonderful Sean Vanderklis and Karl Dockstader for two segments on their radio show - One Dish, One Mic:

In one segment, we chat about Indigenous communities and COVID-19

In the second segment, we get into chatting about more of my journalism, documentary work, learning Indigenous languages, amongst other things

Follow and check out One Dish, One Mic!

A way to grieve

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It has been one year since my dear friend ended his life. In the months following his passing, I did the only thing I know how to do - I made art.

This video and audio were entirely captured on my iphone, replacing my perfectionism with emotion, if only momentarily. I made this video as a way to sort through some of my feelings in the months following his passing.

Please take a look, if you'd like.

Feel free to ask me questions. We all seem to want to turn away when someone says the word suicide but that isn't helpful for any of us. I am open to sharing my personal experience, in any way that I can.

It is immensely important that we remember those who pass from suicide, no differently than it is important that we remember any others we have lost. The hardest part of my grieving journey was that people were afraid to talk about him. I found comfort in those who didn't turn away. I wanted to share his story. Sometimes the sad bits but also how amazing, funny, intelligent, warm and bright this individual is.

Yesterday would have been his 34th birthday, which hit me hard because my partner is the same age. I looked at him and thought about all of the life we have left to live together - to travel, to buy our first home, to watch his kids and my nieces and nephews grow up, to make art, to be with our friends... and I realized how unfair it is that he will not get to do this alongside us. It is unfair but yet it all makes sense. It doesn't get easier, missing someone, but we do learn to carry the weight of it, hopefully with more grace and love, as the years continue to pass by.

hold each other tight.

In January 2019, a dear friend took his life. I spent the subsequent months dredging through the unique complex feelings of grief that occur when you lose someone…

Rematriate: Passing the Seeds

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In the spring of 2019, Ratinenhayén:thos, a group of seed savers and farmers Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory, rematriated a collection of heirloom seeds from the Sisters of Providence of St. Vincent de Paul, in Kingston, Ontario. In the time leading up to the rematriation*, the two groups shared knowledge of the collection, agricultural practices and solidified their commitment to one another and, most importantly, to the seeds.

“What’s special about this collection to our people is the fact that the whole collection originated out of Napanee and because we were a strong agricultural community, there’s a good chance that some of those seeds, or maybe even all of them, came from here. Since the ‘70s, these 300 varieties were grown together like a family, and that could possibly end next year, but it likely won’t because of the interest that people have shown in receiving a replication of the collection,” says Ratinenhayén:thos member, Janice Brant.

The seed sanctuary in Kingston has been cared for by the Sisters of Providence of St. Vincent de Paul since 1999. 2018 was their last growing season of this collection of seeds, which has close to 300 varieties corn, bean, squash, tomatoes, flowers and herbs. Most of these seeds have been grown and saved from Foxfire Farm in Napanee, Ont. since 1974.

To symbolize this transition, the two groups spent several months creating the passing the seeds wampum belt**. The Passing the Seeds wampum belt is a record of the agreement, relationship and story of the rematriation of a collection of heirloom seeds from the Sisters of Providence in Kingston to Ratinenhayén:thos, a group of seed savers and knowledge holders, from Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory. 

The underlying connection that bonds the two groups of women is their spiritual and feminine intrinsic respect and grounding in nature that exists above boundaries of race and religion. The communities are working together to respect two overlapping histories for the common goal of the continuation of our seeds, food and traditions for the next generations. 

“There’s a whole art, science, and spirituality to our food ways that are inclusive of the foods, the medicines, and the seeds,” says Brant.

*The term “rematriation” is a reinterpretation of “repatriation”, which is often used to describe the act of giving something back to Indigenous people. By changing the word to rematriation, Ratinenhayén:thos are invoking the importance that clan mothers and women had in caring for these seeds.

**Wampum belts, Quahog shell beads bound on strings, in intricate patterns, are used as a guide to narrate Haudenosaunee history, traditions, laws, and treaties or agreements between groups. 

To learn more about Ratinenhayén:thos and the Kenhté:ke Seed Sanctuary:

Bay of Quinte Tourism - Meet the Growers: Kenhté:ke Seed Sanctuary & Learning Centre
https://bayofquinte.ca/tourism/kenhteke-seed-sanctuary/

For information about getting involved with the Kenhté:ke Seed Sanctuary, please visit their website: www.kenhtekeseedsanctuary.com

Rematriate: Passing the seeds - a film by Shelby Lisk
coming soon

Shelby Lisk shortlisted for Room Magazine's 2019 Poetry Contest

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The 2019 poetry shortlist is here. Congrats to the nine poets whose submissions were selected by our esteemed judge, Pamela Mordecai!

Room's 2019 Poetry Contest: The Shortlist

“Courage” by Katie Hoogendam
“Dead spider frozen in ice are you dead.” by Kari Teicher
“The Giraffe-bone Knife Set” by Kate Rogers
“Knowing” by Shelby Lisk
“Narvaez Bay at Dusk” by Jan Fraser-Hevlin
“Progress” by Sara de Waal
“Saweyimikowisiwin / Cree ; the act of being favoured by the spirits” by Ashleigh Giffen
“the tea set” by Josephine LoRe
“Weaponry of Wives” by Callista Markotich

If you are curious to know which shortlisted poems are ultimately selected by our judge as the top three submissions, stay in touch; announcement will be made next week. While you're here, check out our 2019 Short Forms Contest which is closing later this month.

https://roommagazine.com/blog/poetry-contest-2019-shortlist