A Poetry Mixtape Edited by Justene Dion-Glowa
Justene's Liner Notes
When we learn about Indigenous peoples across Turtle Island, we often hear about mistreatment, abuse, forced assimilation, and worse. While intergenerational trauma is very real, and this history should never be forgotten, the goal of this mixtape is to show another side of Indigeneity, and to show that love, too, can be intergenerational. We feel it between ourselves and our grandparents, parents, siblings, friends, cousins, aunties, and uncles. We can also feel it between ourselves and our ancestors, our elders, and the youth of our nations.
Intergenerational love is not exclusive to Indigenous peoples. If we can all live our lives in ways that are mindful of this idea – that we can pass down hurts and kindnesses long since passed to future generations – we are likely to end up in a much more empathetic and compassionate world. While there will always be situations in life that are painful, creating a community of support and benevolence is one way to remind ourselves that the human experience is shared and universal. While we may not relate to the specific circumstances that others live through, we have had the same emotions overcome us at some time or another.
This mixtape contains a selection of poems that express both subtle and pointed examples of intergenerational love. In making this mixtape, the hope is that folks who hear it can come to see our shared humanity, recognizing the beauty in the experiences we have in common, and our mutual understanding of what it means to live and thrive. It also includes a list of further recommended readings to expand on the recorded series. The aim was to be intersectional so that a plethora of Indigenous identities and experiences are represented.
The Poems
Recommended reading
Garry Gottfriedson, Ugly, Bent Back Tongue
Tyler Pennock, pg 83, Blood
Emily Riddle, It Flows Here, But, The Big Melt
Jaye Simpson, Raven, it was never going to be okay
Chris Bose, The Stars:, A Moon Made of Copper
Joshua Jordan G.H., My Eagle, Shopping Cart Boy: Poems of My Life