Ep.8: Indigiqueer Futures with Joshua Whitehead

Ep.8: Indigiqueer Futures with Joshua WhiteheadIn Episode 8, Doris invites Joshua Whitehead, Oji-Cree/nehiyaw, Two-Spirit/Indigiqueer member of Peguis First Nation (Treaty 1) to the table to share what underpins his writings and their connections to Indigenous Futurisms. While studying at the University of Winnipeg as a youth and beginning to contemplate writing, he recalls how very little representation there was of two-spirit characters in books and wanted youth to see themselves depicted, “I wanted Indigenous readers, specifically Indigenous youth to see themselves represented”, and says that they were not being fully represented in that contemporary/urban way. He pays homage to what he calls the first wave of Indigenous authors and positions himself as part of a second wave of Indigenous authors. He says he was drawn into the romance of language but wanted to write about the grit rather than write about romanticizing the land which he inadvertently did do with his book, a memoir titled, Making Love with the Land. What he really wanted to write about was “the healthy, powerful and sometimes hurtful beautiful queer Indigenous relationships.” He also unpacks the usage of the term Indigiqueer and acknowledges the youth legacy that underpins what we are currently seeing with Indigiqueer/Two-Spirit Indigenous youth who are blazing a trail forward to the future. Joshua Whitehead is Assistant Professor at the University of Calgary and is housed in the departments of English and International Indigenous Studies.Navigate to the Feast Centre Podcast Webpage to see Guest BIOs:http://bit.ly/feast_podcast OUR FEATURED GUESTJoshua Whitehead is an Oji-Cree, Two-Spirit member of Peguis First Nation (Treaty 1). He is the author of full-metal indigiqueer, Jonny Appleseed, Making Love with the Land, and Indigiqueerness: a Conversation on Storytelling as well as the editor of Love after the End: an Anthology of Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer Speculative Fiction. Currently, Whitehead is an Assistant Professor at the University of Calgary (Treaty 7) where he is housed in the departments of English and International Indigenous Studies.   We would like to acknowledge the following for their contributions towards Episode 8 of Indigenous Sexual Futures    Special Guest(s)  Joshua Whitehead - Oji/Cree   Host Storyteller/Producer  Doris Peltier    Technical Producer Paula Burrows - Jupiter Productions    ISF Theme Music and Creative Sound Cozmic Cat, Classic Roots, Elder Gayle Pruden    Indigenous Knowledge Advisory  Feast Centre Council of Elders and Gathering Lodge Committee       Executive Producer  Feast Centre - Randall Jackson        Feast Centre Staff  Will Gooding (National Director), Justin Macdonald (Research Assistant), Jordan Carrier (Research Assistant), Sabina Rajkumar (Research Assistant) and Doris Peltier (Community Engagement Coordinator)   Podcast Branding Design  Compassion Creative    Podcast Web Development  Jordan Carrier      We acknowledge our funders:  Canadian Institutes of Health Research     Indigenous Sexual Futures is produced on the ancestral lands of the Mississauga and Haudenosaunee nations within the lands protected by the “Dish with One Spoon” wampum. We acknowledge the ancestors of this terrSuggested Reading list coming soon...