by Gabriel Castilloux Calderón
I’m proud of my people
Of the scrap and stoodis stand your ground attitude
Of the ability to make something out of nothing like leaving your great uncles old broken down rusted pick up in the driveway for decades cuz you never know
Don’t care about cut lawns
We got lungs to smudge and smoke signals to puff
Proud of the warriors whose timely placed throws of bone arrows became pens on thesis papers whose war cries became protest marching chants
Proud of the accented anishnabeemowin lullabies hushed from genderqueer mother’s lips to babies raised on KD and chicken tenders
Proud of the neechies who put themselves into treatment for the 18th time cuz they got grandkids that need em sober
Proud of the hustle working 3 jobs to feed their babies
Birthing in the bush. No birth certificate. All tradish
Proud of the 9-year-old drummers and 2-year-old dancers. Proud of the kokums’ beadwork. And the meshoms who still wake at dawn to smudge themselves
Proud of the earth that beats to my heart and the songs in my blood and the growl in my gut
Proud of the high-school moose-call competitions and the powwow practices instead of dodgeball gym classes
Proud that the mushkiki in the bush speaks to me and the ancestors visit me
Proud that I’m mixed white, living proof of this nation’s colonial history
Proud to be neechie zhaganash
My children will be Mestiza (mixed), too
Proud of southern native meeting northern native like our ancestors used to walk for days to trade with each other before white men built walls built colonial borders but the land knows our DNA knows our union knows bringing forth babies is a tradition as old as time
Proud of the resilience in indigenous language apps and the sweep of contour on nish drag queens’ cheekbones
Proud of those artist NDN’s making cat memes like it’s our Mona Lisa, like generations to come will know us by our solid meme game
Proud of the lip pointing, swag-hipped, sound effect chee-yah conversations
Proud of the Nishglish speakers, that Woah bro! Tebwewin!
Proud that our youth are making Youtube rap videos in their grandmother’s tongues
Proud of the urban NDN healers doing limpias and smudging in their living rooms
Proud of the university pipe ceremonies
Proud that as neechies we took contemporary and made traditional from it, turned our culture, once a crime, into an anthem song
Turned genocide into resilience, turned our subjugation into rebellion, turned starvation into bannock
Proud that we are stronger, and as long as the rivers flow, the sun shines, and the crow flies, we will rise…
Ever deadly eh?
Gabriel Castilloux Calderón (they/them) is nij-manidowag (two spirit) Mi’kmaq, Algonquin, Scottish and French Canadian. They currently thrive in Cree/Blackfoot/Salteaux/Nakota Sioux Treaty 6 territory (Edmonton). Gabriel is actively involved in several different forms of traditional indigenous culture and ceremony, as a drummer, and a grass and buffalo dancer, and proudly celebrates an addiction-free life. Gabriel is a 3rd place short story contest winner in 2018 with “Ishkode” in Prairie Fire. They were also the first place recipient of Historica Canada’s 16-29 category short story contest in 2019. The current reigning Mr. Two Spirit International and 2nd place winner of the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word National Slam Poetry Competition 2019. Gabriel is an author, slam poet, artist and musician. They have a BSW from Carleton University, a diploma in herbology, and a diploma in addictions. They have also been a workshop educator for over ten years.