All My Loving Relations

05/17/21 • 76 min

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Love is something we all need, cherish, and desire in our lives. As Indigenous people we have always known that being in good relation with people, creatures, and the land is integral to wellbeing. Western science is just catching up to discover what we have known for time immemorial. Indeed, love and relationships are arguably the most important things in life. As settler colonial trauma and violence such as boarding schools have damaged our ability to love we know it is important to discuss how we can heal. We all have different forms of ceremony to find love within ourselves and there are so many ways to love. Thus, in this episode we ask how do we heal from historical trauma to love again?

We are so grateful to welcome an incredible First Nations scholar for this conversation.

Geraldine King (Anishinaabe) is a member of Kiashke Zaaging Anishinaabek located in the Robinson Superior Treaty area, northwestern Ontario.

Her research interests include: Anishinaabe erotics, ethics of intimacy, kinship studies, theories of Anishinaabe phenomenologies, eco-erotics and Indigenous pedagogical transformation.
Also joining us is Aunty Jillene Joseph (Gros Ventre) the Executive Director of the Native Wellness Institute. She has traveled to hundreds of Native communities and interacted with and learned from thousands of people. Whether she is providing youth leadership training, assisting women heal from childhood trauma or helping to bring wellness to the workplace, Jillene shares her passion for being positive, productive and proactive.

Through reflection, stories, laughter, and personal perspective this episode delves into a great deal of what love looks like in Indigenous context. We should not have to talk about love in its proximity to whiteness, rather we hope to get a place where we can talk about love without violence. In spite of it all we are still here, still singing, still dancing. Call love into the world so you can feel and experience in it, that is ancestral love. You are not alone cause the earth is holding you, find love in all its forms. Good relationships founded in love keep us happier and healthier... period. So, let’s talk about how we get there.

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Creative direction, sound engineering, and editing: Teo Shantz

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Follow us on Instagam @amrpodcast, or support our work on Patreon. Show notes are published on our website, Allmyrelationspodcast.com. Matika's book Project 562: Changing the Way We See Native America is available now! T'igwicid and Hyshqe for being on this journey with us.

We are so grateful to welcome an incredible First Nations scholar for this conversation.

Geraldine King (Anishinaabe) is a member of Kiashke Zaaging Anishinaabek located in the Robinson Superior Treaty area, northwestern Ontario.

All My Relations is Listener Supported

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Previous Episode

Protect Indigenous Women

Since the onset of colonization Indigenous women have experienced violence with reckless abandon, today it is a public health emergency. Traditionally, many of our Native societies are matrilineal but settler colonialism has disrupted our traditional value systems. These shifts have tragically contributed to the epidemic of violence we see committed against our women and Two Spirit relations. The issue is systemic and this episode discusses how we must hold systems and people accountable.

Mary Kathryn Nagle (Cherokee) is a playwright and lawyer with Pipestem Law, a firm dedicated to legal advocacy for the safety of Native women and tribal sovereignty. She represents families of victims and has testified before Congress for the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). Her perspective on the legal issues regarding MMIW expounds how tribal sovereignty and jurisdiction is so important in combatting the crisis. She also explains how political participation and allyship is necessary to fight subversive systems which propagate violence.

Abigail Echohawk (Pawnee) is Director of the Urban Indian Health Institute and a leader in the movement to bring visibility to MMIW through political advocacy work, data, and research. Her organization conducted a seminal report on the crisis to better understand the prevalence of the crisis which has harmed our relations for 500 years.

This episode is raw, real, and heart wrenching. The crisis must be addressed and we need allies to join us in making it visible so we can all take action. We need to hold non-Natives upholding these systems accountable. Further, we need Natives to step into roles of political power to demand change.

Every statistic represents a Native woman. We must honor and protect our sisters. No more stolen sisters.

Links and Resources
Fill out our form Letter in support of VAWA

Urban Indian Health Institute

Pipestem Law

Public Law 280

National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center

Mary Kathryn Nagle New Yorker Article

Montana Community Foundation

Sovereign Bodies Institute

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Music
Special thanks to Antone and The West Shore Canoe Family & Joanne Shannendoah
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Next Episode

Sexy Sacred

Join us for an episode all about snaggin’! For part two of All My Loving Relations, we continue our conversation with the phenomenal Geraldine King, and bring in comedian Deanna Diaz (aka Dianna M.A.D.). Join us as we embark on a teepee creepin’ journey of all things S-E-X. Some things to look forward to: stories from our own aunties, the sacred power of self-pleasure, and some “dang cackle-able” jokes.

Because of Christianity, and other colonizing forces, we don’t really know how to talk about sex, even in 2021. But why do some of our aunties, uncles, and even grandparents never seem to quit it with their sexual jokes? Often, our relatives use humor as a way to access topics which have long been stigmatized. Also, our kin should be more open to dialogue about sex given traditions of sexual agency within Native communities. However, Native people are also affected by the same shameful misconceptions which plague the rest of the euro-christian dominated world. But we should not be ashamed of sex! It is such a vital component of our most intimate relationships.

Importantly, we acknowledge that as two cis-hetero women, this is a narrow conversation. It excludes a whole diverse, beautiful world of sex among our LGBTQ+, and Two Spirit relations. But we have plans for that conversation later in the season, so stay tuned for Sexy Sacred Round 2!

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Geraldine King (Anishinaabe) is a member of Kiashke Zaaging Anishinaabek located in the Robinson Superior Treaty area, northwestern Ontario. Her research interests include: Anishinaabe erotics, ethics of intimacy, kinship studies, theories of Anishinaabe phenomenologies, eco-erotics and Indigenous pedagogical transformation.

Deanna Diaz, aka Deanna M.A.D. (Tonowanda Seneca), is from the Tonawanda Seneca Nation, raised in Southern California. She is a hilarious, and powerful standup comedian and part of The Ladies of Native Comedy. Deanna isn’t afraid to have the embarrassing, funny, and taboo real talk about sex. She helps us to have healthier conversations about sex in Indian Country.

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Desi on Instagram and Twitter

Geraldine on Instagram and Twitter

Deanna on Instagram and Twitter

AMR Team

Creative direction, sound engineering, and editing: Teo Shantz

Film Editing: Jon Ayon

Sound production: Max

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