From Embers

Tsastilqualus is an elder of the House Umbas from Ma'amtagila (Kwakwaka'wakw) territory. In this final episode of the Victoria Anarchist Bookfair's week of podcasts, Tsastilqualus speaks about her life and views on how Indigenous resistance can be combined with cultural renewal to realize ecological sustainability and Indigenous sovereignty. For years she has been involved in fighting fish farms and clear cuts in her traditional unceded territories to ensure the survivability of wild salmon. Currently, Tsastilqualus is in the process of rematriating the lands she calls home. She is the founder of the Matriarch Camp, located on unceded Ma'amtagila territory where she recently installed a tiny 'Big' house. Please support the Matriarch Camp by sending e-transfers to: matriarchcamp at gmail.com.

As in other places, unhoused people in Victoria face severe challenges in their daily lives ranging from a lack of food, sanitation and medical services to harassment by police and security. One particularly disturbing development are growing resentments and assaults by community members who are unwilling to share green spaces with those who need them for survival. In this episode we hear from a grass-roots front-line supporter and member of the Lived Experience of Homelessness Network (LEOHN) about the increased challenges due to the Covid-19 pandemic as well as the importance of mutual aid and a caring community.

To support and donate visit or contact:

https://www.facebook.com/Indigenous-Harm-Reduction-Team-2268634883463900/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/MutualAidVictoria

[email protected]

https://solidvictoria.org/

https://www.safersexwork.ca/

http://avi.org/

For more information follow:

https://povertykills2020.ca/

https://twitter.com/BeaconHillFolks

https://www.facebook.com/LkwungenWSANEC

Ozlem Goner is a steering committee member of the Emergency Committee for Rojava, New York, and associate professor at the City University of New York. Her research interests focus on political sociology, ethnographies of the state and nationalism, comparative and historical sociology, race and ethnicity, social movements, qualitative methods, and classical, poststructural, postcolonial and feminist theory.

For updates concerning the situation in Rojava and to donate to the struggle, visit: https://www.defendrojava.org/rojava

Ruth Kinna is a world-renowned political theorist and historian of ideas who has authored numerous books on anarchism, nineteenth- and early twentieth-century socialist thought, utopianism and contemporary radicalism. She is a professor of political philosophy at Loughborough University and editor of the UK-based journal, Anarchist Studies.

Ann Hansen is former member of the anarchist organization Direct Action and served over 7 years in prison for her involvement with that collective. She is now living on a self-sufficient farm and works on prison-related issues as a member of the Prison for Women (P4W) Memorial Collective. Naphtali is a white non-binary trans Jew who is into prison abolition, anti-zionism, indigenous and black liberation, night-bouquets, and community care.

Queen Sacheen is co-founder of Ancestral Pride, with whom she has produced many zines. She has spent a great deal of time advising Settler-anarchists on how to be in solidarity with Indigenous resistance movements. She is a warrior who has taken part in many actions, including Standing Rock. Finally, Sacheen is a proud mother, Matriarch, doula and medicine woman.

Find Queen Sacheen (Nuu-chah-nulth & Coast Salish) on Facebook by searching for Sacheen Kinish, or Ancestral Pride and/or Xhopakelxhits Apothocary. Please support via e-transfer and PayPal to: mamazonscreatrions at gmail.com.

John Zerzan is author of numerous publications exploring the pre-modern dimensions of our being. His weekly radio program, AnarchyRadio can be found here: https://www.johnzerzan.net/radio/.

Kathy Ferguson is an US-American author, political philosopher, feminist, historian, anarchist, and professor of political science and women's studies at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. She has authored one of the best critical biographies of renowned anarchist Emma Goldman: Emma Goldman: Political Thinking in the Streets.

Visit http://www2.hawaii.edu/~kferguso/ to learn about the 1000 women who helped build the anarchist movement during Emma Goldman's life time.

Molly Wickham (Sleydo) is a member of the Gidimt'en Clan of the Wet'suwet'en Nation. She has been tirelessly active in the Wet'suwet'en' Nation's assertion of sovereignty over their unceded territories. This interview discusses the current state of affairs regarding the Coastal GasLink pipeline's pending extension under a pristine river and the RCMP's continued harassment of Indigenous and non-Indigenous land defenders.

Visit yintahaccess.com to apply to join the fall work camp on Gidimt'en territory, or connect with them by email at [email protected]. You can also find them on Facebook and Instagram.

From Embers will be collaborating with the Victoria Anarchist Bookfair over the next week to bring you some really great audio content that they're releasing in lieu of an in-person event. Their real-life bookfair is, like so many events, cancelled, but they've made the best of the situation and put together an impressive week of online events, many of which you'll find right here on the From Embers feed. To get us all ready and excited for the week, we put together this interview with three members of their collective. We talk about anarchism, bookfairs, COVID, how to make our events and actions meaningfully anticolonial, and much more. Stay tuned throughout this week as we host the virtual bookfair.