(Vancouver, BC) On December 6, 2016, Joyful Threads Productions, a program of EMMA talks, launched a new podcast initiative. This inaugural podcast featured a reading of “Decolonizing the Roots of Rape Culture,” a paper by Dr. Sarah Hunt (Kwakwaka’wakw Nation), Assistant Professor, First Nations & Indigenous Studies/Geography at the University of British Columbia and a #Two-Spirit scholar.
“In talking about sexual violence on university and college campuses, it is important to me as a Two-Spirit person to integrate a discussion of the role gender and sexuality have in Indigenous identity and culture, as well as in processes of colonization,” Dr. Hunt said to the TwoSpiritJournal. “To me, you can’t talk about sexual violence without talking about the imposition of colonial norms around gender and sexuality, including the attempted erasure of Two-Spirit people. In this talk, I aim to centre Indigenous self-determination, talking about consent over our bodies and lands as interrelated with our ability to express, name and reclaim our roles as Indigenous people.”
According EMMA talks’ website, “The core purpose of EMMA talks is to bring important stories by women identified* writers, activists, thinkers, storytellers, makers and doers, from the periphery to the public. Together their stories will build a powerful and engaging collection of talks, celebrating and building on the conversations, imaginings, and hard work of so many individuals, communities and movements, which will lead to a creative cross-pollination of ideas.”
The above statement on EMMA talks website’s main page contains the following footnote: “*including two spirited, trans* and gender non-conforming folks.”