QUEER INDIGENOUS GIRL ISSUE 3 Curated/Edited & Cover Art by Se'mana Thompson
CONTACT IG: @misssemee Twitter: @semanathompson Submit: mysterygirl-moongirl.tumblr.com/submit Shop: queerindigenousgirl.etsy.com Published by queer indigenous girl press, O'Otham Jeved, Arizona, United States. Copyright 2016 Se'mana Thompson. All Rights Reserved.
From Queer Indigenous Girl by Se'mana Thompson
Yá'át'ééh. Shi éí Se'mana Thompson yinishyé. Kin łichii'nii nishłį dóó bilagáana bashíshchiin. Kiis’áanii dashicheii dóó Naakétł'áhí dashinalí. Ákót'éego diné asdzáán nishłį. Gila River Indian Community dęę' naashá. Hello. I am called Se'mana Thompson. I am of the Red House People (my mother's clan) and I am born for the White People (my father's clan). My maternal grandfather's clan is the Hopi People and my parental grandfather's clan is the Flat Foot People (Pima aka Akimel O'Otham). In this way I am a Navajo woman. I am from the Gila River Indian Community. Añi añ ap che:gig Se'mana. Amjed Gila River. Shamai chuig? Sha chup has wua? My name is Se'mana. I am of Gila River. How are you all? What are you working on? I've introduced myself to you in two of three of my culture's languages - Diné bizaad and O'Otham ñeok. I am the creator & editor of queer indigenous girl, a zine for black, indigenous, people of color (BIPoC) particularly BIPoC who are queer, trans, 2-spirit, non-binary, disabled, chronically ill and neurodivergent. I identify as a queer femme, disabled, chronically ill, neurodivergent, urban indigenous person. I am a single mother to two black Akimel O'Otham/Hopi/Diné children who also have a zine - Black Indigenous Boy.
From Queer Indigenous Girl by Se'mana Thompson
In this issue we have amazing submissions from writers and artists: LGBTQ disabled Ojibwe Nakawē artist & writer Mari Kurisato; black queer femme digital archivist Ashanti Marshall; Afro-Indigenous poet Sharnya Tileiya; chronically ill Tejanx illustrator & poet Kat Johnston; queer Afro-Mexicana, Choctaw, Mikmaq artist Maria Carmier of Super Sisters zine; queer, neurodivergent, chronically ill Cree & Blackfoot artist K'itsukka Lean Elk (known publicly as Ezra Sälander); queer Xicanx artist Veronica Saucedo; disabled & chronically ill Afro-Latina artist Sandra; disabled Chicana artist Nancy Cardenas; and queer femme Xicanx artist Jessica Hidalgo. I am so pleased to present to you the third issue of QIG which wouldn't have been possible without the help of the navoj (friend) Jon Rios. Sape, Jon. I am so thankful for the friendships I have made through queer indigenous girl and within the zine community. I am thankful for my family who always encourages and supports me. I am thankful for the people in my IRL & URL communities, you all are truly beautiful and the light in the darkness. queer indigenous girl is hopefully a space for you to heal & to gather strength. "Our People, Our Strength" is for my spoonies, my fellow PoC and queers. Much love & respect, Se'mana aka queer indigenous girl
Table of Contents Issue 3 - Our People, Our Strength
Mari Kurisato Ashanti Marshall Sharnya Tileiya Kathryn Johnston Maria Teresa Carmier Se'mana Thompson Ezra Sälander Veronica Saucedo Sandra Nancy Cardenas Jessica Hidalgo
Without End The Story of Daylight No Place for Chahta Lusa Our Survival is the Opposite of Lazy Untitled to be soft is political Worst of Conditions Five Generations Gilded Ladies Sleeplessly Embracing Lemons Monster Water Protector Untitled
Without End by Mari Kurisato/@CyborgN8VMari
Like ice or roaring wind or snarling flame or seething earth we are not a “culture” but elemental. We are mitochondria of Mother Earth we are heartbeats, we are prayers we are whispers of distant stars. We rise like sea foam or wheat stalks or redwoods granite hills. Give up your fears and greed that lust for things you “need” If you don’t, we will resist you…
The Story of Daylight by Ashanti Marshall/blackampersand.co
I took my bones out of the closet, strung them up by heart sinew You ran across my mind, Like you wanted to be anywhere else but here So, many? Too many. Dressed them with a hanger They smell of the conversations the walls had I set the decorated skeleton by the window Gleaming and proud, a recovered genesis. Redemption, forgiveness came and said "Hi." Glory, glory, HALLELUJAH. Those old bones finally danced, after being wallflower for so long. And the wind chimed, moving heart and mind and bones forward, nearer to the truth.
No Place for Chahta Lusa by Sharnya Tileiya/@Tileiya
I don't want to be here anymore, This is no place for Chahta Lusa Everything I've had and held dear is no more My elders are mostly gone, sent to their Creator I'm stranded The bones of my ancestors, I can not feel As I've been scattered across the globe Ties to my tribes are largely forgotten My clans? decimated and displaced Yet, I'm expected to carry their blood with dignity and grace? How can I? As I really have no place and no say I'm re-learning my language, I'm re-connecting with what I once hated Despised, neglected and mistreated
No Place for Chahta Lusa by Sharnya Tileiya/@Tileiya
I never wanted to be Chahta Lusa I never wanted to be Afro-Indigenous I never asked for these complex histories Indian Schools, One Drop Rules, Pencil Test, Slavery and Assimilation It's like, I can't escape one family owning the other I'm nor here or there, never "enough" for anyone I stand in the crossroads not choosing one culture over the other, I hide in the background hoping you don't stare, at this sad Chahta girl whimpering in despair.
Our Survival is the Opposite of Lazy by Kathryn Johnston/@kittenhumyn
knives are stuck in every joint in my body—even the joints i didn't know were there until one morning i woke up and felt a metallic fire burning the inside of my body. My cervical spine hasn’t belonged to me in over a decade. I like to think i carry all the pain of my ancestors, a beautiful manifestation of our stubborn will to survive in a world that considers us less than human. what they don't realize is i am a cyborg, una reina, a saint —everlasting and eternal.
Our Survival is the Opposite of Lazy by Kathryn Johnston/@kittenhumyn
Untitled by Maria Teresa Carmier
to be soft is political by Maria Teresa Carmier
Worst of Conditions by Se'mana Thompson
Five Generations by Se'mana Thompson
Gilded Ladies by Ezra Sälander/ezrasalander.com
Sleeplessly Embracing by Ezra Sälander/ezrasalander.com
Lemons by Veronica Saucedo/veronica-saucedo.tumblr.com
Monster by Sandra/@sicklefrijoles
Water Protector by Nancy Cardenas
Untitled by Jessica Hidalgo
Contributors
MARI KURISATO Mari is an Ojibwe Nakawē Native whose native-name is too long to print. She’s a disabled LGBTQIA mother, artist, & writer. Her stories appear in ABSOLUTE POWER: TALES OF QUEER VILLAINY, LOVE BEYOND BODY, SPACE AND TIME, and with M-Brane Press, including one published in the THINGS WE ARE NOT anthology.
ASHANTI MARSHALL Ashanti is a black queer femme digital archivist based in Chicago. Ashanti is the creator of Black Ampersand, a community-driven initiative expressing unapologetic narratives of black queer women.
SHARNYA TILEIYA Sharnya is an Afro-Indigenous woman of multiple cultures and is currently residing in South Carolina. She often speaks of her experiences as a Black WoC with a multi-ethnic background and is brutally honest about her upbringing/life as this.
KATHRYN JOHNSTON Kat is a Tejanx illustrator, poet, and information science student, living with rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, and chronic migraines.
MARIA TERESA CARMIER Maria is a queer Afro-Mexicana, Choctaw, Mikmaq manic depressive radical mama of two from South LA. She and her brood are currently in undergrad at MSMU LA studying Fine Art. She was recently awarded a Keck Research Appointment examining Feminist Zine Culture in LA. Her scholarly goals aim to examine the intersections of art, queer radical parenting, mixed race & sexual identity.
Contributors
EZRA SÄLANDER K'itsukka Lean Elk, known publicly as Ezra Sälander, is a Cree and Blackfoot woman residing in remote New England woodlands. In art and literature, she expresses and advocates for other queer neurodivergent women of color living with chronic illness. She lives with Lupus and Lyme disease.
VERONICA SAUCEDO Veronica is a queer Xicana from Tacoma and is waiting for the clouds to stop blocking the sun.
SANDRA Sandra is a disabled, deaf & autistic afrolatina artist who lives with sickle-cell anaemia, a blood disorder since birth. Sandra uses art to raise awareness of sickle-cell.
NANCY CARDENAS Nancy, born in Guadalajara, moved at a young age to San Diego with her family. She was born with Spina Bifida and has used a wheelchair for most of her life. She has an Art degree from SDSU and is currently working on her Masters in Chicanx Studies. She hopes to inspire & empower disabled brown women through art & activism.
JESSICA HIDALGO Jessica is a queer femme, first gen xicanx, mermaid slut, troublemaker currently residing in occupied Dine and Hopi land aka Flagstaff, studying history & gender studies. They hope to create space for healing & resistance through writing & cultural work.