Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

This research project traces the connections between the theoretical concepts of Indigenous sovereignty, gender, and sexuality by asking: within the colonial borders of Canada, in what ways do Indigenous peoples - especially, Indigenous women, Two Spirit and queer people - disengage from colonial policies, practices, and structures of heteropatriarchy in favour of the promotion of Indigenous sovereignty? I argue that the literary works of Indigenous writers can be read (and listened to) as decolonial acts that promote the revitalization and resurgence of our communities and distinct expressions of Indigenous sovereignty. Utilizing my own interpretation of Indigenous feminisms and an intersectional analytical lens to guide the theoretical approach, this project engages critical discourse analysis to find the connections between queering, governance and resurgence exemplified in case studies of poetry and podcasts of Indigenous women, Two Spirit and queer people. This research has two distinct purposes; one, to prioritize Indigenous ways of knowing, examining artistic and scholarly works of Indigenous gender and sexuality through individual and community expressions of sovereignty that place Indigenous peoples firmly in the present to (re)imagine Indigenous futurities. Secondly, this research interrogates settler colonial structures of and the foundational role that heteropatriarchy and heteronormativity play in perpetuating such colonial power formations. Overall, this research work seeks to engage in a healing process for Indigenous peoples and communities that prioritizes a queering of resurgence as a promising avenue towards Indigenous wellbeing.