Congratulations to the Young Indigenous Women’s Utopia (second gen), based in Saskatoon, on today’s hometown launch of Kîyânaw Ocêpihk. This is a gorgeous collection of stories from the smartest and bravest people I know. Here’s my foreword to the Young Indigenous Women’s Utopia collection, Kîyânaw Ocêpihk. Toronto & MTL launch info coming soon! If you're… Continue reading Young Indigenous Women’s Utopia 2.0
The Guardian: Native children didn’t ‘lose’ their lives at residential schools. Their lives were stolen
Originally posted on The Guardian. We’d all heard the stories, long before they started to receive this summer’s 24/7 coverage by every news station in Canada. Long before ground-penetrating radars confirmed the presence of unmarked graves, we knew that our missing family members did not simply “disappear” nor attempt and fail to run away from residential… Continue reading The Guardian: Native children didn’t ‘lose’ their lives at residential schools. Their lives were stolen
Reflections on Quill Christie-Peters’ “spilling out, spilling over”
Reflections on Quill Christie-Peters' spilling out, spilling over (2021)Displayed at the University of Saskatchewan College Art Galleries January 14 - April 22, 2022 Quill Violet Christie-Peters, Desire spilling over body and time, N.D., acrylic on canvas. Courtesy of the artist. At first glance, the style of Quill Christie-Peters' paintings appears steeped in the traditions of… Continue reading Reflections on Quill Christie-Peters’ “spilling out, spilling over”
CBC Music #CanadaListens 2022: Crown Lands n Me
I'm excited to be representing the gorgeous, decolonial rock band Crown Lands for CBC Music's 2022 edition of CBC Music's Canada Listens. I get to chat with four other brilliant panellists about why Crown Lands are truly great and why rock and roll still matters. (In other words, it's my dream job.) A mystical trip… Continue reading CBC Music #CanadaListens 2022: Crown Lands n Me
The Secret of Decolonial Love
Tansi friends! I wrote an essay on an Indigenous power couple, Renee and Joel, & their gorgeous decolonial love story. It was so much fun to interview & write about Renee (Rama) and Joel (Dakota/Ojibwe), who met at a moccasin-making workshop 10 years ago and have been together ever since. As the legend goes, Joel… Continue reading The Secret of Decolonial Love
In memory of Colten Boushie, toward Indigenous liberation in our lifetime
Today - February 9, 2022 - marks four years since the colonial court acquittal of Gerald Stanley for the killing of Colten Boushie. Still, few of my days pass without Colten and his family coming to my mind, and I know the same is true for many of our relatives on the prairies and beyond.… Continue reading In memory of Colten Boushie, toward Indigenous liberation in our lifetime
Red Dress Special: An Indigenous Love Poem for Valentine’s Day and Every Day
Bring me flowers whiles I’m livin’ /Then don’t bring them when I am dead - Peetie Wheatstraw, “Bring Me Flowers While I’m Living” (1941) "They didn't have one, but I wanted a red dress for tonight," Olivia added. "I wanted fire. I wanted blood." "You need a man," Elsie said. "Correct," Olivia said, tilting forward… Continue reading Red Dress Special: An Indigenous Love Poem for Valentine’s Day and Every Day
The Guardian: Native children didn’t ‘lose’ their lives at residential schools. Their lives were stolen | Erica Violet Lee
I wrote an essay for The Guardian on Native resistance, colonialism's theft of childhood joy, and reckoning with the unearthing of graves at canada’s residential schooling institutions. “Some of the stories we are told about residential schooling prisons involve Native children digging graves for other children. Rarely did our ancestors receive proper burials or grave… Continue reading The Guardian: Native children didn’t ‘lose’ their lives at residential schools. Their lives were stolen | Erica Violet Lee
#CancelCanadaDay: Livestream this afternoon with The Red Nation
At 3pm PT / 4pm SK & MT / 6pm ET today, I'll be talking about #CancelCanadaDay and canadian colonialism with Nick Estes and The Red Nation. Join us on YouTube or Facebook. Stay cool out there on the frontlines.
Refinery 29 Feature: What Indigenous Beauty Means to Me
"I'm Plains Cree, or Nêhiyaw, and I started doing research and learning about the traditional face paint that warriors would have worn and the beautification traditions of my people and I thought, this is my war paint."
Erica Violet Lee 