Indigenous Sexual Futures

In Episode 10, Doris invites Dr. Savage Bear, (Nêhiyawiskwew) to the Indigenous Sexual Futures table to unpack for us, the expansiveness of Indigenous eroticism that goes beyond just talking about sex and sexuality. If you have you ever wondered how Indigenous eroticisms connects to the land, #Landback and sovereignty and so much more, then you will have to listen to this episode where Savage unpacks it all for us.  Savage Bear is a citizen of the Montreal Lake Cree Nation. As well as serving as the Director for the McMaster Indigenous Research Institute, she is an Assistant Professor within the Indigenous Studies Department, and the National Director of Walls to Bridges. Bear won the Governor General Gold Medal for her outstanding 2016 PhD dissertation. In 2023 Bear was appointed to the Order of Canada for her exemplary achievement and positive impacts for transformative change in the areas of Indigenous rights, prison education and academic leadership.

Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge the following for their contributions towards Episode 10 of Indigenous Sexual Futures 
  

Special Guest

Dr. Savage Bear - Nêhiyawiskwew

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), Doris Peltier (Community Engagement Coordinator), Freddy Monasterio (Research Coordinator), Sabina Rajkumar (Research Assistant) & Catherine Booker (Finance, part-time)

Podcast Branding Design 

Compassion Creative 

Podcast Web Development 

Will Gooding, Doris Peltier
  
 
 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 territory, and we also acknowledge the lands and territories of all our guests. 

Suggested Reading list coming soon...

In Episode 9, Doris invites Melissa Morris, 2-Spirit/Indigiqueer Community-based researcher, along with Dr. John Schellenberg, Assistant Professor in Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases at UofM to the table to talk about their research on assessing Syphilis rapid-testing diagnostic needs in community. Doris asked them to talk about their research approach in terms of how they combined basic science methods with Indigenous methods in their research. How do you deliver a project titled, Needs assessment for STBBI screening and other diagnostic services in Indigenous and non-Indigenous community settings: Experiences, preferences, and deal-breakers to community for it to be palatable and understood was the starting question, and off they went to tell the story of their research. A key point that John underscored was that quite often in research, Knowledge Translation is often relegated to the end when he believes that it should be at the front of your research, particularly in basic science. This episode also commemorates World AIDS Day 2024 and Indigenous AIDS Awareness week and highlights the tremendous gains in both scientific and Indigenous HIV research. Exciting!!! We hope that you will enjoy this episode. 

We would like to acknowledge the following for their contributions towards Episode 9 of Indigenous Sexual Futures 
 

Special Guest(s) 

John Schellenberg
Melissa Morris - Métis  

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), Doris Peltier (Community Engagement Coordinator), Freddy Monasterio (Research Coordinator), Jordan Carrier (Research Assistant), Justin McDonald (Research Assistant), Sabina Rajkumar (Research Assistant) & Catherine Booker (Finance, part-time)

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 territory, and we also acknowledge the lands and territories of all our guests. 

Suggested Reading list coming soon...

Ep.8: Indigiqueer Futures with Joshua Whitehead

In 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 GUEST

Joshua 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 terr

Suggested Reading list coming soon...

In Episode 7, Doris invites Inuk Elder Naulaq LeDrew to the table in an episode titled Saanginiiniq Qalunaanimiutauluni. In Inuktituut, the title translates to ‘being strong in the urban setting’, which speaks to how she maintains her Inuit way of knowing and being despite having lived away from her homeland for many years. Naulaq is an artist and an avid storyteller and shares about her upbringing and her deep connection to the land and to her Inuit culture. From stories about the importance of food gathering on the land as part of survival to sharing about how throat singing reflects the sounds of the land, animals and water, but more importantly, she tells us that throat singing was for the babies who were carried in the amautis that Inuit women wear to carry their babies. She finishes with the powerful story of Sedna and highlights why these stories were told. 


We would like to acknowledge the following for their contributions towards Episode 7 of Indigenous Sexual Futures 
 

Special Guest(s) 

Naulaq LeDrew – Inuk (Apex Hill)

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), Doris Peltier (Community Engagement Coordinator), Jordan Carrier (Research Assistant)

 
  Podcast Branding Design 

Compassion Creative 

  Podcast Web Development 

Catherine Booker 

 
 
 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 territory, and we also acknowledge the lands and territories of all our guests. 

Suggested Reading list coming soon...

In this special WORLD AIDS Day episode, Indigenous Sexual Futures puts a spotlight on Ka Ni Kanichihk Inc., a remarkable Indigenous community-based organization in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Doris invited Aunties, Leslie Spillett, Jacqueline Flett and Laverne Gervais to the table to tell the story of Ka Ni Kanichihk Inc. The Aunties tell the story of the community ceremony that put the medicine in motion to build this organization in 2001, highlighting key points in the community building story of Ka Ni Kanichihk by visionary community leaders, Elders and Aunties. Ka Ni Kanichihk is a Cree word that means - those who lead. 

This podcast went LIVE on World AIDS Day to honor and remember all our relatives and to mark this day in remembrance. 

Photo of Leslie Spillet -  Photo credit, Red Works Photography
#AuntiesRock

We would like to acknowledge the following for their contributions towards Episode 6 of Indigenous Sexual Futures 

Special Guest(s) 

Leslie Spillett - Cree Métis

Jacqueline Flett - Métis

Laverne Gervais - Anishinabe/Dakota/French Canadian 

 
 Song featured in this episode:

Drum Song for World AIDS Day – sung by Jacqueline Flett

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), Catherine Booker (Research Coordinator) and Doris Peltier (Community Engagement Coordinator)

 
 Podcast Branding Design 

Compassion Creative 

 Podcast Web Development 

Catherine Booker 

 
 
 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 territory, and we also acknowledge the lands and territories of all our guests. 

Suggested Reading list coming soon...

In Episode 5, Doris invites Feast Centre Elders Wayne Seward (Snuneymuxw) and Catherine Martin (Mi'kmaw) to the table to talk about cultural healing and how each brings their gifts to the people. From speaking about the importance of cedar brushing, to acknowledging the four medicines, to acknowledging 'laughter' as the fifth medicine in our healing, these two Elders use the power of storytelling, mixed with a little bit of humor here and there, to speak about what they bring to community. You will not want to miss this episode! As we always do, this podcast will also feature a song from each Elder, songs that they were given permission to share with the people.


We would like to acknowledge the following for their contributions towards Episode 5 of Indigenous Sexual Futures 

Special Guest(s) 

Wayne Barry Seward - Snuneymuxw Coast Salish 

 Catherine Martin - Mi’kmaw Millbrook First Nations 

 
Songs featured in this episode:

Prayer Song – sung by Wayne Seward

Auntie Maudie’s Song – sung by Wayne Seward

IIGWANAY (Mi’kmaw Chant) – sung by Catherine Martin

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 Producers 

Feast Centre Co-Leads - Randall Jackson & Renée Masching 
 
 

Feast Centre Staff 

Will Gooding (National Director), Catherine Booker (Research Coordinator) and Doris Peltier (Community Engagement Coordinator)

 
 Podcast Branding Design 

Compassion Creative 

 Podcast Web Development 

Catherine Booker 

 Recorded at 

Lyons Media Centre (McMaster University)

 

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 territory, and we also acknowledge the lands and territories of all our guests. 

Suggested Reading list coming soon...

In Episode 4, Doris invites Métis Elder Marjorie Beaucage to be featured as a special guest to talk about her 'hot off the press' published book titled, leave some for the birds - Movements for Justice. In this podcast storytelling episode, we hear in her own words about the movements in her life that culminated in the writing of her poetic memoir that highlights seven decades of living and seeking justice as a Two Spirit Métis woman who still retains her Michif language. Additionally, as part of celebrating Indigenous History Month and PRIDE Month, Marjorie is a beautiful fit for this special episode . Marjorie is an acclaimed filmmaker, art-ivist and educator, land protector and a water protector. Born in Vassar, Manitoba, to a large Métis family, Marjorie’s life’s work has been about creating social change, working to give people the tools for creating possibilities and right relations. She is a beloved Feast Centre Elder and a soul-filling storyteller!

For more information about Indigenous Sexual Futures, and to see the BIOs of our featured guests, please visit the Feast Centre for Indigenous STBBI Research podcast website @ https://feastcentre.mcmaster.ca/podcasts

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We would like to acknowledge the following for their contributions towards Episode 4 of Indigenous Sexual Futures 

Special Guest 

Auntie Marjorie Beaucage 

Host Storyteller/Producer 

Doris Peltier


In Grandmother's Hands - Poem

Read by Marjorie Beaucage

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 Producers 

Feast Centre Co-Leads - Randall Jackson & Renée Masching 

Feast Centre Staff 

Will Gooding (National Director), Catherine Booker (Research Coordinator) and Doris Peltier (Community Engagement Coordinator) and Feast Centre Research Assistants Bridget Marsdin and Esther Kim

Podcast Branding Design 

Compassion Creative
 

 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 territory, and we also acknowledge the lands and territories of all our guests. 

Suggested Reading list coming soon...

In Episode Three, Doris invites Gayle Pruden for a very special storytelling session. Gayle is known and loved by many Indigenous people across Turtle Island, the diversity of the communities that love Gayle is vast, from the Two-Spirit community across Turtle Island to the Jingle Dress dancer community to the Grandmother (Kokum) community in her circles. Her storytelling focuses on her traditional upbringing by her great-grandfather and her grandparents who raised her. She says they imparted love to her in her upbringing and it is love that continues to carry her into her present life, Gayle embodies how she was raised. She says her great-grandfather and grandparents did not experience residential school and spoke their Anishinaabe language fluently and according to Gayle, their traditional knowledges were strong.  Notably, in listening to her story about her great-grandfather and grandparents, what they passed on to Gayle was embodied culture and tradition, we do not see too much of this anymore in today's contemporary Indigenous world. Interspersed with Anishinaabemowin, Gayle tells her story with poignancy, wonder, beauty and of course with her unique and infectious Anishinaabe humor. She is a woman of indomitable spirit for the future and a gifted storyteller.

For more information about Indigenous Sexual Futures, and to see the BIOs of our featured guests, please visit the Feast Centre for Indigenous STBBI Research podcast website @ https://feastcentre.mcmaster.ca/podcasts

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We would like to acknowledge the following for their contributions towards Episode 3 of Indigenous Sexual Futures 

Special Guest 

 Auntie Gayle Pruden (Dancing Bear)

Host Storyteller/Producer 

Doris Peltier


E-inigoowa'ikawaag oowi aki, abi-izhinoowa'amawishin (Rattle song)

Sung by Gayle Pruden 

(Special thanks to Jordy Ironstar for the remote recording of this sacred song.)

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 Producers 

Feast Centre Co-Leads - Randall Jackson & Renée Masching 

Feast Centre Staff 

Will Gooding (National Director), Catherine Booker (Research Coordinator) and Doris Peltier (Community Engagement Coordinator) and Feast Centre Research Assistants Bridget Marsdin, James O'Grady and Esther Kim

Podcast Branding Design 

Compassion Creative
 

 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 territory, and we also acknowledge the lands and territories of all our guests. 

Suggested Reading list coming soon...

Indigenous Sexual Futures, Episode Two: "Sexual Health is Part of My Medicine Bundle" features guests, Martin Morberg and Lane Bonertz 

In Episode Two, Doris speaks with Martin Morberg and Lane Bonertz, two phenomenal leaders who work with the Two-Spirit Program at the Community Based Research Centre (CBRC). They share the creation and developmental story of the Medicine Bundle, an innovative, culturally informed and culturally grounded HIV prevention tool geared towards Two-Spirit, Queer, and Trans Indigenous community members. When the HIV self-testing kit became widely available in Canada, the Two-Spirit leadership at the CBRC saw an opportunity to harness culture and tradition for HIV self-testing for the two-spirit community in BC. Martin and Lane also acknowledged the commitment of the CBRC who worked with local Two-Spirit leaders to establish the Two-Spirit Program within their organization. The CBRC recognized that "true reconciliation requires more than an endorsement and have made a series of commitments" to community, utilizing the Calls to Action from the TRC (https://www.cbrc.net/2spirit-program). Listen to our Podcast, this podcast went LIVE on April 12, 2023!

For more information about Indigenous Sexual Futures, and to see the BIOs of our featured guests, please visit the Feast Centre for Indigenous STBBI Research podcast website @ https://feastcentre.mcmaster.ca/podcasts 

Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge the following for their contributions towards Episode 2 of Indigenous Sexual Futures  

Guests  

Martin Morberg (Tutchone/Tlingit - Yukon)
Two-Spirit Program Coordinator - CBRC

Lane Bonertz (Blackfoot – Piikanni Nation)
Two Spirit Program Lead - CBRC 

HIV and AIDS Drum Song  

sung by Elder Marjorie Beaucage  

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 Producers  

Feast Centre Co-Leads - Randall Jackson & Renée Masching  
 

Feast Centre Staff  

Will Gooding (National Director), Catherine Booker (Research Coordinator), Doris Peltier (Community Engagement Coordinator), Bridget Marsdin (Research Assistant), Esther Kim (Research Assistant), and James O’Grady (Research Assistant) 

 
Podcast Branding Design  

Compassion Creative  

 
Podcast Web Development  

Catherine Booker  

 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 territory, and we also acknowledge the lands and territories of all our guests.  

Suggested Reading list coming soon...

In Episode One, Doris speaks with Randy Jackson and Grace Dillion about how Indigenous Futurisms is integral to Indigenous sexual futures. Indigenous Sexual Futures is a term coined by the Feast Centre that delineates a vision for tomorrow’s grandchildren that is sexually expansive, healthy, and safe. We consider Indigenous futurisms as foundational to the work we do at the Feast Centre for Indigenous STBBI Research moving forward. In the last decade, the Indigenous research community has embedded strengths-based approaches and are already leading the way into the future by prioritizing Indigenous ways of knowing and being in how we conduct research. The Anishinaabe word ‘biskaabiiyang’ is an Anishinaabe concept of ‘returning to ourselves’ and is now widely used as a replacement word for decolonizing the tremendously important work of Indigenous Futurisms. As a fluent Anishinaabe speaker, this word has a deep resonance for Doris, and she hopes it resonates for all of you listeners too. Kwa’Nu’Te, sung by Elder Catherine Martin. Intro/Extro spoken Anishinaabe word by Elder Gayle Pruden.

Navigate to the Feast Centre Podcast Webpage to see Guest BIOs:
http://bit.ly/feast_podcast
 
OUR FEATURED GUESTS

Randy Jackson (Anishinaabe) is Associate Professor at McMaster University in the School of Social Work with a cross-appointment in the Department of Health, Aging and Society. Randy is a key figure in Community-based research and is considered an expert in HIV in Indigenous communities in Canada.

Grace L. Dillon (Anishinaabe)  is a Professor in the Indigenous Nations Studies Department at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon, Grace is a key figure in contemporary conversations about Indigenous Futurisms.
 

We would like to acknowledge the following for their contributions towards Episode 1 of Indigenous Sexual Futures 

Guests 

Dr. Grace Dillon  & Dr. Randy Jackson 

Kwa’Nu’Te - Ceremonial Song 

sung by Elder Catherine Martin 

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 Producers 

Feast Centre Co-Leads - Randall Jackson & Renée Masching 

Feast Centre Staff 

Will Gooding (National Director), Catherine Booker (Research Coordinator), Miranda Black (Research Coordinator), Doris Peltier (Community Engagement Coordinator) and Bridget Marsdin (Research Assistant)

 
Podcast Branding Design 

Compassion Creative 

Podcast Web Development 

Catherine Booker 

 
Marketing & Promotion 

Miranda Black 

Feast Centre Research Assistants  

For reading and summarizing articles on Indigenous Futurisms 

 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 territory, and we also acknowledge the lands and territories of all our guests. 

Suggested Reading list coming soon...