Indigenous Brilliance

Stories hold the incredible power to heal wounds, connect people, and bridge generations.

We acknowledge we operate on the traditional, ancestral, unceded, and occupied territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and sel̓íl̓witulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.

The Indigenous Brilliance Collective contributes to various collaborations between Room Magazine, Massy Arts and art ecosystem. Our work is centred in celebrating Indigenous women/trans/2S/queer storytellers. Further, we have grown to prioritize active uplifting and space holding for Black, Indigenous and Afro-Indigenous creatives as a practice of embodied cross cultural solidarity building and kinship connection.

“We believe that this is an incredibly important time to be centering Indigenous stories and to be shining the spotlight on the brilliance that exists in our communities”.

We hope that the Indigenous Brilliance series will reflect this belief. The series grew out of the shared desire of Massy Books owner Patricia Massy and Room Magazine editorial board members Jónína Kirton and Jessica Johns to raise the voices of Indigenous women/trans/2S/queer writers. Later, jaye simpson, Emily Dundas Oke, Karmella Benedito De Barros, and Lexi Mellish Mingo joined the ever growing collective. Most recently, Emma Jeffrey (Community Engagement Coordinator) and Tara Preissl (Social Media) joined the collective. Each member offers Indigenous Brilliance an invaluable set of skills, ideas, perspective and energy. We are grateful to share creative and organizational space together, and hope to continue growing into the future as a collective.

This series is the result of different communities coming together with a shared vision of Indigenous resurgence: a resurgence that exists through the act of making space for ourselves and each other, through community building, and through the radical act of living and loving. We want to celebrate Indigenous stories, the different ways we think, share, and perform. We hope this series will allow us to come together to stand behind those voices while we’re standing with each other.

Keep up to date with our events, workshops, podcast episodes and more on this page and on our social media below!

Photo of performances during the Indigenous Brilliance

What are the values our work is grounded in?

1. Feminist Indigenous resurgence

As our founding members wrote, we center “resurgence that exists through the act of making space for ourselves and each other, through community building, and through the radical act of living and loving.”

2. Intergenerational knowledge sharing

We value lineage and knowledge sharing across generations. The IB collective is currently in its “second generation” and we grow from the founding generation, their wisdom and work, in the work we do today.

3. Honouring our history

Read about the IB creation story, and get to know more about our first generation collective members (Patricia Massy, Jónína Kirton, Jessica Johns, jaye simpson, and Emily Dundas Oke). We are grateful to you all for setting us up to do this work, and hope to honour your work and story.

4. Collectivity and collaboration

Our work is rooted in a lineage of collectivity. Throughout our history, IB has been a collective of Indigenous and Black women/trans/2S/queer people who share the value of community care and event organizing in literature and the arts. We recognize that the systems we operate in are antithetical to slow work, collaboration, care, and collectivity, and so we try to resist.

5. Community engagement

Based on the unceded, unsurrendered and stolen territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓ əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱ wú7mesh (Squamish), and sel̓íl̓witulh
(Tsleil-Waututh) First Nations; our work is rooted in celebrating, engaging, and centering women/trans/2S/queer people and communities across turtle island (online and offline).

6. Accessibility

It is our intention to attend and adapt to access needs of the diverse communities and individuals we engage with. We acknowledge that although we stay open to accessibility feedback and requests, and do our best to create accessible and safer spaces, we are not able to meet all needs all the time. We hope to increase accessibility to the arts and literature community in the work that we do.

7. Representation

The IB collective aims to engage, uplift, and prioritize marginalized voices within the Indigenous arts and literature community. This includes, but is not limited to honoring our women, trans, queer, 2S, disabled, mentally ill, and rural communities/kin.

8. Humility

We acknowledge that we will always do our best to represent and support the diverse experiences of Indigeneity, and that we can/will always grow toward doing better. We welcome models of accountability required to keep us on a path of doing good work when we falter.

9. Global Indigeneity

Beyond the celebration of Indigenous women/trans/2S/queer stories, art, and creation from across Turtle Island, our collective celebrates the brilliance of our Black and Brown, POC kin from across the globe. Indigenous Brilliance celebrates the brilliance of POC who share collective ancestral ties to the lands and traditions of the place their ancestors are from, and/or from where they have been displaced. We recognize the specificity of place, and hope our platform(s) allow for complex understandings of how imperialism and colonialism manifests in anti-Indigeneity in various forms, and the resistance shown.

10. Sovereignty and liberation in art and literature

We aim to uplift all those across the globe who share in the resistance of the colonization of their people, who embody the resurgence of their traditional cultures, and who create to strengthen their sovereignty and liberation.

Latest Events and Projects

Origin Story

Indigenous Brilliance (IB) is rooted in and takes place on the unceded and ancestral territories of the xwməθkwəy̓ əm (Musqueam), səlilwəta’Ɂɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), and Sḵwx̱ wú7mesh (Squamish) First Nations peoples colonially known as Vancouver, BC.

As a collective, we believe that this is an incredibly important time to be centering Indigenous and Black stories, and to be shining the spotlight on the brilliance that exists in our communities. In the past, IB has hosted a number of in-person and online events, readings, and workshops focused on our collective values. Throughout the years, IB has grown and adapted to reflect what Indigeneity means to us on Turtle Island, by exploring what our work looks like in conversation with global Indigeneity and the global entanglement of colonialism and imperialism. We celebrate our own Indigeneity, while also creating opportunities for solidarity building across 2SQTBIPOC experiences.

The Indigenous Brilliance Collective grew out of the shared desire of Massy Books owner Patricia Massy and Room Magazine editorial board members Jónína Kirton and Jessica Johns to raise the voices of Indigenous women, Two Spirit, and queer writers. Later, jaye simpson, Emily Dundas Oke, Karmella Benedito De Barros, Lexi Mellish Mingo, Madeson Singh, Meghan Eaker, Tara Preissl and Emma Jeffery joined the ever growing collective. Each member offers IB an invaluable set of skills, ideas, perspective, and energy.

IB is currently transitioning from a quarterly reading series and podcast, to a monthly book club with occasional reading events, workshops, and community collaborations. Earthseed Book Club is an Indigenous and Black youth-led literary project that explores community building and liberation through Black & Indigenous speculative fiction and political theory. Based on the unceded territories of the xwməθkwəy̓ əm (Musqueam), səlilwəta’Ɂɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), and Sḵwx̱ wú7mesh (Squamish) Nations “Vancouver, Canada”, Earthseed Book Club is a collective space for community organizers and facilitators to strategize and create resources around the issues that impact our communities as urban QTBIPOC. A collaboration between Indigenous Brilliance, Room Magazine, and Art Ecosystem; Earthseed Book Club is founded on the principles of Emergent Strategy, coined by adrienne maree brown, and the Parables series by Octavia Butler, from which the book club takes its name.

Keep up to date with our events, workshops, podcast episodes, and more on this page and on our social media below! And take a listen to Season 1, Episode 1 of the Indigenous Brilliance Podcast to learn more about our creation story.

Huy Chexw, hay ce:p q̓ ə,kinanaskomitin, hiy hiy, hoy chexw, and thank you for celebrating with us.

Indigenous Brilliance <3

We are grateful to share creative and organizational space together, and hope to continue growing into the future as a collective. In honor of the IB lineage, we’d like to celebrate the legacy that has made IB what it is today:

Jónína Kirton

Many thanks to Jónína Kirton for co-hosting the first two events, and for first collaborating with Patricia Massy to make this series and collective a reality. This series wouldn’t exist today without her love, dedication, and work. Check out her most recent publication Standing in a River of Time.

Patricia Massy

A great thank you to co-founder and co-curator of the IB collective, Patricia Massy, owner of Massy Books and Massy Art Society. Patricia has offered such generosity and leadership to this collective and continues to support this work through her position with Massy Arts.

Jessica Johns

Big shout out to Jessica Johns co-curator and IB aunty and author of Bad Cree! Jessica has brought the gift of drive, structure, and grounding to the collective in true capricorn fashion. She has left the collective with a strong foundation and vision to carry forward in collaboration with Room Magazine.

jaye simpson

A special thank you to jaye simpson for co-creating a beautiful and sacred space for our collective to work and exist within. The Indigenous Brilliance Collective has grown so much because of jaye’s leadership, guidance, and inclusivity. They have carved out space for Emily and Karmella to join the collective, and have brought us so much laughter and good medicine during their time with us. Check out their publication; it was never going to be ok and purchase a copy.

Emily Dundas Oke

Gratitude to Emily Dundas Oke, for her organization, mentorship, and behind the scenes magic. Emily has offered longevity, transition, and great care to the work she has brought to our circle. She holds an integral space within the collective and has shaped who we are today.

And lastly!

Hands up to current collective members Karmella Benedito De Barros and Lexi Mellish-Mingo (IB Community Engagement Mentors), Tara Preissl (IB Collective Member and Social Media Lead) and Emma Jeffrey (IB Community Engagement Lead). To reach more about us, check out our webpage and/or social media!

Indigenous Brilliance Reading Series

The Indigenous Brilliance reading series will be held at Massy Arts located at 23 E Pender St, by owner Patricia Massy. It is with great respect and gratitude that we hold this reading series on the tradition, ancestral, and unceded territory of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh people.

Follow Massy on Instagram and Twitter to stay up to date on future reading events.

 

We are always looking for storytelling of all kinds: written, spoken-word, performance, singing, dancing, comedy, etc. We are also looking for Indigenous visual artists to showcase at events as well, so please get a hold of us if you would like a space to showcase your work! We hope to host more events in the near future and also will consider your application to be featured on our podcast.

Collaborations and Partnerships

Massy Arts Society

Massy Arts Society

Massy Arts Society is a community hub dedicated to supporting the practices of Indigenous and underrepresented artists. programming is extensive in its multiple forms. We situate our work in a sense of community developed through exhibitions, workshops, book launches, readings and more.

Massy Arts seeks to galvanize community spirit by providing a space where readers, writers, and artists can come together.

We acknowledge we operate on the traditional, ancestral, unceded, and occupied territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and sel̓íl̓witulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.

44.3 Indigenous Brilliance cover

Issue 44.3 Indigenous Brilliance

Edited by the Indigenous Brilliance Collective, Room Magazine Issue 44.3 features work celebrating Black and Indigenous brilliance in multi mediums. As the first full colour Room Magazine print, issue 44.3 features beautiful artwork from various artists including Ocean Hyland, Whess Harmann and many more.

The poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction in these pages will grip and still your heart, transport you somewhere new, and conjure whole other worlds to lose yourself in.

We are honoured that this issue leaves us with a brilliant BackRoom interview with Senaqwila Wyss, who shares visions of the territories from which our work is carried out. We are thrilled to share a glimpse into her expansive practice, and look forward to continue to learn from her.

Get your own copy of Issue 44.3 Indigenous Brilliance.

Read the Letter From The Editors, featuring interviews with all the Indigenous Brilliance team regarding this special issue.

Black History Month

For the month of February, the Indigenous Brilliance collective and Room Magazine shared weekly content on the @indigenousbrilliance Instagram page, as well as over here on the Room website. During this month, collective member Karmella led the exploration of various topics regarding Black, and Afro-Indigenous histories, realities and futurisms.

Read the Room Magazine Black History Month 2021 content

Through interviews, curated media recommendations and explorative blog posts related to the topic of Black/Afro-Indigeneity on Turtle Island, this series is one to check out anytime during the year.

The Indigenous Brilliance Podcast

The Indigenous Brilliance Podcast features innovative and exciting episodes, highlighting the multi-disciplinary voices of Indigenous women, Two-Spirit, and Indigiqueer artists and creatives as we discuss cultural resurgence in Indigenous arts.

Hosted by Vancouver local creatives jaye simpson and Karmella Benedito De Barros, the Indigenous Brilliance Podcast carves out space for the celebration and witnessing of this beautifully visionary community.

Keep up to date with our new and archived episodes on the Room Magazine website. If you are, or know someone who might be interested in featuring on the podcast, send an email to karmella@roommagazine.com. We will continue to schedule episodes through 2022 and are welcoming submissions and recommendations for future interviews.

Listen to Indigenous Brilliance Podcast Season 1 episodes on Soundcloud and stay tuned for Season 2 coming soon in 2022!

'The Spirit Within' mask

The Spirit Within

Amanda Hugon
Alder, horse hair, Abalone, Acrylic, copper wire.
11” L x 9” W x 6 ¼”D

Strength is portrayed in this two-spirited mask. She is a warrior. Her spirit is represented on the forehead, and serves as a reminder of the journey she has taken to get where she is today. She has some scars and natural defects, but her beauty and strength shine through. The abalone inlay represents pride and a high ranking woman in society. Her earrings, a symbol of wealth and identity.

Photo credit: Jessie Lane Kirton

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