Words to Give Back: Words that have lifted us up by Dave Gaertner https://padlet.com/davegaertner/cbzyf10lmpsqan3k The #HonouringIndigenousWriters festival was created, in part, to acknowledge the contributions Indigenous authors make to all of us. The diversity and richness of our Indigenous cultures can be found in our stories, how we share them and how we receive them. We are gifted this love and care in Grandmother’s laps, at kitchen tables, on road-trips while fighting with your cuzzin for leg room, in classrooms, next to winter fires, and in our childhood homes. These words came in closer when we needed help dreaming, and when we needed a safe place to hide. Indigenous Authors have given so much through their words, and through their offerings they have remade countless future worlds. We invite you to the word gifts that nurtured you here. On March 14th, with Peter Morin, we making signs out of these words in the CEDaR Space. Afterward, we will walk them across UBC, with a megaphone, offering these words to the sky, the land, and to places on campus that might need healing. Register for the event here: https://hiw.open.ubc.ca/workshops-panels en-us 2022-03-09 17:48:35 UTC 2022-03-14 20:47:12 UTC hello@padlet.com this country has an other story / one that is not mine / or yours / but ours / it is sung / from the mountains / danced in the sky / every star / a story / that teaches / hold your head up / wisdom / descends. davegaertner https://padlet.com/davegaertner/cbzyf10lmpsqan3k/wish/2086631292 Katherena Vermette, River Woman]]> 2022-03-09 18:01:05 UTC https://padlet.com/davegaertner/cbzyf10lmpsqan3k/wish/2086631292 Close your eyes. Concentrate on your breath. Remember that you were not always earthbound. Every living creature, every drop of water and every sombre mountain is the by-blow of some bloated, dying star. Deep down, we remember wriggling through the universe as beams of light. https://padlet.com/davegaertner/cbzyf10lmpsqan3k/wish/2086673804 Eden Robinson, Son of a Trickster]]> 2022-03-09 18:24:11 UTC https://padlet.com/davegaertner/cbzyf10lmpsqan3k/wish/2086673804 I’m not strong / I’m scraped - Chrystos https://padlet.com/davegaertner/cbzyf10lmpsqan3k/wish/2087176254 2022-03-10 00:50:06 UTC https://padlet.com/davegaertner/cbzyf10lmpsqan3k/wish/2087176254 https://padlet.com/davegaertner/cbzyf10lmpsqan3k/wish/2089271108 indigenous academia
makes me ache 
talk with me
I want to hear 
vowels dripping 
from your tongue 
mix in the words 
from your nation
it doesn't matter 
I don't yet understand 
I will learn 
We're coming in waves
passing stories 
where we've been and 
where we're going 
a hidden library nook 
a quiet reading room 
a safe place to let go 
surrounded with people 
who laugh like you 
old travel knowledge 
for new ways 
we're reclaiming space 
singing songs from the land 
low notes echoing 
down hallways
hand drum on your lap 
long lean fingers tapping
the beat you constantly hear 
making me dream 
beyond ivory towers 
WE'RE TAKING IT 
MAKING IT 
VISIBLY 
UNDENIABLY 
IRREVOCABLY 
INDIGENOUS 

Tenille Campbell, Nedi Nezu Good Medicine ]]> 2022-03-10 22:53:08 UTC https://padlet.com/davegaertner/cbzyf10lmpsqan3k/wish/2089271108 https://padlet.com/davegaertner/cbzyf10lmpsqan3k/wish/2091938660 "Nonetheless, to exist as an Indigenous Woman or Two-Spirit person is an inherently political act. Simply resisting erasure is part of the work." - Chelsea Vowel, Indigenous Writes (2016) ]]> 2022-03-12 23:41:52 UTC https://padlet.com/davegaertner/cbzyf10lmpsqan3k/wish/2091938660 "Our books help us define ourselves" https://padlet.com/davegaertner/cbzyf10lmpsqan3k/wish/2091941599 "For Native readers, they help us become aware of our identity and to maintain on more connection with our cultures. These are the words that flow over us to arouse, comfort and give meaning. They provide a connection to belonging and help us to continue the traditions and create new traditions for Native people in the twenty-first century." - Loriene Roy, "Keeping Up: Building Your Indigenous Collection" (2017). ]]> 2022-03-12 23:52:12 UTC https://padlet.com/davegaertner/cbzyf10lmpsqan3k/wish/2091941599 https://padlet.com/davegaertner/cbzyf10lmpsqan3k/wish/2094308469 “All that we are is story. From the moment we are born to the time we continue on our spirit journey, we are involved in the creation of the story of our time here. It is what we arrive with. It is all we leave behind. We are not the things we accumulate. We are not the things we deem important. We are story. All of us. What comes to matter then is the creation of the best possible story we can while we’re here; you, me, us, together. When we can do that and we take the time to share those stories with each other, we get bigger inside, we see each other, we recognize our kinship – we change the world, one story at a time…”
― Richard Wagamese]]> 2022-03-14 17:09:55 UTC https://padlet.com/davegaertner/cbzyf10lmpsqan3k/wish/2094308469 ‘Wait a minute,’ said Ishmael. ‘Wait a minute. Before we begin, did anyone offer an apology?’‘Wasn’t Coyote going to do that?’ said Robinson Crusoe.‘Apologize for what?’ Says Coyote.‘In case we hurt anyone’s feelings,’ said Hawkeye.‘Oh, okay,’ says Coyote. ‘I’m sorry.’‘That didn’t sound very sorry, Coyote,’ said the Lone Ranger. ‘Remember what happened the last time you rushed through a story and didn’t apologize?’‘Yes,’ said Ishmael. ‘Remember how far you had to run?’‘Ooops!’ says Coyote. ‘I am very sorry.’‘That’s better,’ said Hawkeye.‘I am really very, very sorry,’ says Coyote.“That’s fine,’ said the Lone Ranger. ‘It sounds very sincere.’‘Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,” says Coyote.‘Okay,’ said the Lone Ranger. ‘We believe you.’‘Hee-hee,’ says Coyote. ‘Hee-hee.’ davegaertner https://padlet.com/davegaertner/cbzyf10lmpsqan3k/wish/2094471695 -Thomas King, Green Grass, Running Water]]> 2022-03-14 18:37:03 UTC https://padlet.com/davegaertner/cbzyf10lmpsqan3k/wish/2094471695