Resiliency and Creativity: The Voices of Indigenous Youth
In the last month, I had the good fortune of being introduced to the Thunderbird Sisters Collective, an organization in Ottawa that fosters creative spirit while centering Indigenous art and teaching. Founder, Patsea Griffin explains that the Thunderbird Sisters Collective began in 2017 “as a way to showcase Indigenous art. The rest is history really. Dreams realized. Now and going forward with our team which includes Carmel Whittle (Program Coordinator) and Atlas Ruth (Lead Youth Mentor), and a generous grant from Youth Opportunities Fund we are creating a safe space for Indigenous youth and allies to come together to share their creativity.” The group has open and ongoing conversations on Facebook, often sharing the art and intricate beadwork they have been working on lately. Within a day or two of joining the group, I saw the promotions for their webinar titled “Resilience & Creativity” and quickly got my ticket from the eventbrite link.
My own excitement brewed as I counted down the hours to the launch of the webinar. Finally, my screen lit up with the faces and collective screens of several keen participants. I saw the joy and excitement stirring behind the smiles of everyone as the event began.
The webinar opened with some brief introductions from the organizers: Patsea, Carmel, and Atlas. Then Louise Garrow, an Anishinaabemowin teacher and translator, set intentions into motion by sharing the story of the Seven Grandfathers’ teaching which highlights the gifts of wisdom, good life, respect, love, honesty, courage, and humility that, according to Garrow’s spiritual beliefs, come together as truth within each of us.
After the opening words from Louise, Atlas took on her role as host and gleefully discussed her journey to connect with her Indigeneity. She explained that she found support and encouragement for her creative endeavours through the group Beading with Patsea! and began beading regularly. One of the slides she shared in the webinar held a picture of her first completed piece, a golden-yellow flower. She beamed at her success with this piece and the joy was contagious in the virtual crowd. Beading was just one facet of the creativity Atlas shared with us; she noted that her resilience and drive to keep going was fueled by her creative journey. She has been writing fiction for years, chuckling at the list of 40 ongoing books she is writing at once, some with check marks beside them to indicate a stage of completion. “I keep going because, if I don’t, my stories will never be finished, they will never be told,” she explains. Recently, Atlas’ writing has expanded to include non-fiction, specifically focusing on mental health. As an activist for mental health resources, Atlas launched her blog, which talks about resiliency in the face of mental health struggles. Her clever title, The World On Her Shoulders, plays off her name, but her brilliance does not stop there; she announced in the webinar that she is working toward publishing a book that is a collection of written responses from individuals who experience mental health challenges. She highlights that we need to listen to the experiences of those who are struggling, to hear what the misconceptions are instead of just following the outdated criteria made by psychologists who may not know the whole story.
The next artist, Billie the Kid was born in Yellowknife on Treaty Eleven territory and is a Dene, Metis, and Irish settler. She describes herself as a poet, and opens with a beautiful poem describing what her home is like. Her creative practice is poetry primarily, as she says that “[a]rt brings me joy, and in all my life I practice resilience with joy.” She explains that it was escape and curiosity which kept her going on her own journey with resiliency, and this is clearly reflected in her poetry. She began with spoken word poetry in high school in Ottawa and found her passion there, feeling a loss for it during the pandemic as access to these events disappeared and lockdowns became more common.
In the webinar, she shares a trilogy of heavy and heartfelt poems that she has written over the course of the last two years. She notes that she had wanted to write about things that were difficult. She confesses that she tends to process her feelings through her art form. As she recites her first poem, tears well up in my eyes. Afterwards, she invites us to take a breath with her and release some complex feelings. Her poetry features conversations surrounding residential schools and the discovery of many lost Indigenous children whose bodies had been found in the land surrounding those institutions. Her second poem brings more light as she depicts her journey with chosen family through her close friendships, and detailing how those friendships evolve and offer support on one’s journey.
“We don’t know a life without second-hand-smoke.” This phrase from her third poem holds my attention and cuts deep, bringing up ideas of intergenerational trauma. She admits to using her poetry to manifest, imagining scenarios that turn out for the best, showing us another way she unconventionally practises resiliency. She finishes her performance off with a sweet final poem that brings some Indigenous joy and humour featuring bannock; delicious fry bread.
The following speaker was the youngest of the group. Max Paradis, an 18-year-old transgender man and Cree artist from Treaty Six briefly touched on his visual art, but spent the majority of his portion of the webinar discussing the wonder that is the creative side of food.
He explains, “art (including cooking) keeps me grounded, especially when I’m struggling.” He has a strong desire to help people unlock their creative side and emphasizes the value of having outlets that aren’t meant to be commodified. “People need to focus on finding their happiness, even if it isn’t something that is going to make you money.” Cooking is a way he finds creativity within his day-to-day life. Cooking is about community, and for Max, it is important to share this creative gift with others. “Food and hospitality is a big part of Indigenous community,” he emphasizes, noting that many cultural groups are known for their cuisine, but traditional Indigenous meals have never been shared and appreciated so universally. “Food is sacred medicine, sage, sweetgrass, and cedar; not including tobacco for obvious reasons,” he says, getting a small chuckle from the group. In the future he dreams of removing borders and sharing the wonders of Indigenous foods - outside of the more commonly known: bannock. In his conversation he calls attention to the pricing disparities that are seen in Nunavut and the lack of clean drinking water on reserves. He is determined to raise awareness on the lack of accessibility to fresh foods for Indigenous peoples and also wants to educate people on how to incorporate traditional food into their cooking in an accessible way. Luckily, his dreams are becoming a reality as he is beginning his own journey with a cooking show in a similar webinar style. This cooking show, launching February 26th, 2022 will provide a guide on how to cook hearty Indigenous meals at home. You can access future events with Max for free here.
The next artist introduced was Tawahum Bige, a Plains Cree, poet, and musician. They explain in the introduction of their presentation that mother was part of the 60’s scoop which affected the family, and in turn, the poetry and art that Tawahum would later create. He explained his history of loss and trauma briefly and noted that he went into IT and programming, but was broken down by the loss of his brother during his years at school. This brought them to writing what they deemed as “cringe” poetry at first in a class. They began writing about their brother and the unraveling of those emotions brought them to the psych ward, but his writing, he notes, also brought him out of that place. Tawahum’s healing journey began with poetry and the community around them. The first poem the crowd has the pleasure of hearing from them is called Inner city owl and it brings some laughs that are still visible in big expressions past the page of muted screens. He explains his struggle with the court systems after his arrest for Indigenous activism and came to write a poem - and some songs - about his experience, which he shared parts of with us. Many of Tawahum’s works come from their personal experience that they have turned into poetic storytelling. “It is a bit tricky to contain trauma, but poetry kind of gives me that container.” They close off their part of the webinar with a nod to the late Lee Maracle And invite us to read their work further in their published book available online.
To wrap up the evening, artist Shana Southwind shared her story and artwork. Shana is an Ojibwe woman from Obishigokaang in Treaty Three Territory and is steadily working toward her degree in social work, specializing in Indigenous trauma. She is also an active member of an Indigenous youth conference named SevenGen. . She shared pictures of her family and spoke about how she began to build resilience through creativity from a young age. Her father encouraged her to play and make joyful noise with pots and pans and spatulas as a child, a fact that delighted attendees. She notes that her father’s support has been a powerful influence in her life. “Photography brought me closer to nature, spirit, and all our relations,” she explains, telling us that her practice of photography helped her to build an observant eye and have appreciation for the healing that nature provides. Music is another passion of hers, specifically singing and songwriting, but she is also learning to play guitar. It was through this art form that she found the courage to share her voice and parts of her stories. Lastly, she notes that writing helped her to process her own trauma and build resiliency. She shared a poem she wrote when she was fourteen, taking a moment to acknowledge the pain her fourteen-year-old self had experienced. This specific poem was published in an Indigenous youth magazine called Seven, and pictures of her and her work were featured as a centrefold. A while after its publication, she had words of inspired resiliency shared with her from others who found strength in her writing when they were struggling. Today, she finds healing through beadwork as it encourages her to practice patience and is an invitation to slow down, to be in spirit, and to show gratitude. She shows the gorgeous artwork she has made, lovely colours and shapes of beaded earrings decorate the screen in front of me. Her love for music also continues today as she finds that drumming and singing have allowed her to build community and connect with others. And as an extension of that music, she explains her growing love for jingle dress dancing, noting that it incorporates exercise which is “an incredibly impactful form of healing.” She notes her immense respect for dancers who are part of regular practises.
As the webinar comes to a close and I see a full screen of smiling, thankful faces I have a wonderful sense of community in my heart and a desire to immerse myself even more into Indigenous learning.