It’s been a hard month.

I’m not gonna lie.

I was the guest host of the twitter account @indigenousXca for a week. It’s a space where each week, a different Indigenous host will take over and basically send out awesome ish into the twitter sphere.

My theme was #IndigenousLove.

I was hosting the account right after the Colten Boushie and Tina Fontaine injustice’s – and I needed to be able to grin and laugh for a few days. I needed to heal. So I focused on love and joy and all aspects of that, and well, I made a lot of new friends. I creeped on all my favourites, and I just shared what I was celebrating.

It felt so good.

I remembered that I come from people who are storytellers. Artists. Lovers. Foolish friends and mischievous family. We are drenched in the survival and reclamation of generations past, and by our very act of breathing, laughing, loving – we are claiming our rightful space for our descendants. We are here. We will always be here. We will celebrate and we will laugh and yes, we will mourn, but we will also love.

This is just gonna be link fest – a Sunday Ceremony, if you will – of some of the artists I featured. Artists who inspire me, who challenge me. Who make me think. All dealing with the different faces and aspects of what it means to be Indigenous and to Love.

Enjoy. 

listen in…  

You & Me – by Brittany Catherine, a Métis singer/songwriter and student from Alberta. I must admit, I listen to this on the regular. She makes me believe in true love, and all that.

Full original song can be found at http://bit.ly/2BKeazI 

 

’03 Til Infinity by T-Rhyme

“if we do this tonight, would it be so wrong

wait til tomorrow, would it be too long

love you all day, love you all night

I could be your life, make me your wife”

listen at… http://bit.ly/2sTCFrI 

 

Make Me by @janetma66012549

“he makes me naked

and takes me under his skin…”

listen at… http://bit.ly/2GOKNLY

“I seek multiple tongues. Desires cross time zones. Body stretches like wings over white-light nets taut between peaks and a black, deep sea—life giver.”

– @CriticalPoly via http://bit.ly/2HTIQiB 

Listen to “Critical Polyamorist 100s” at http://bit.ly/2F1dsgh 

 

“I really want to challenge the ways in which our bodies have been consumed in a way that doesn’t feel consensual and that doesn’t feel like it’s authentic or that it’s our own.” – @DaynaDanger – watch Dayna in action at: http://bit.ly/2ERrcOV

appreciate some art…

I had to feature some amazing artwork as well. This allowed me space to highlight some of my classic favourites as well as some new work that makes me heart happy.

1. #KissingIndigenous – by @Aura  // 2. “Teeming (with tattoos and self love)” by @chiefladybird // 3. “Yellow Eyes” at http://etsy.me/2F75VfV  // 4. “he kissed my ass and pissed my money away.” By @RihkeeStrap // 5. “Kwe becomes the moon, touches herself so she can feel full again” by Quill Christi 

the poets, the storytellers…

Killa Ch’aska Atencio : http://bit.ly/2BV68US 

 

Before I was born,
My ancestor named me
After a guiding constellation,
a morning star.
A light in the dark.
I imagine that
if you took my spirit
& turned me
inside out.
Constellations of the heavens
would reflect
On every surface
Supernovas like beauty marks,
Freckles of light.
Prisms of galaxies.
a constellation
Trying her best
to be light
for those
who could use some.

– Maka via: http://bit.ly/2t6BFjL 

 

“we decided
we had nothing left to lose
nothing to gain,
nothing we desired anymore
except to make our lives heard
to be beautiful
once more;”

Excerpt from
“Can You Be My Fulltime Daddy: White&Gold[Questionmark]”
by @JWhitehead204 // via http://bit.ly/2t4gZJr 

 

 

my body grows by night in secret,
wet with yearling dew.

breasts and hips spread
like bushfires in a dry season,

skin pale as moonlight at dawn,
soft as a muskrat’s pelt skinned in March.

Excerpt from Holy Wild by @GwenBenaway

read in full at: http://bit.ly/2EZShiN

final thoughts…

This past month, I have grieved. I have cried. I have hurt. And now, I heal. I grin. I hold my child close and I tell her stories. I sit with my friends in coffee shops and nail salons, our laughter echoing and taking up space. I people-watch on a campus, surrounded by beautiful brown faces and cheekbones for days.

And I remember.

We’re still here.

 – tenille k campbell