No More Chins

I am a First Nation 2Spirit who is an advocate for social change and diversity. I am writer, microblogger and media persona. My message includes creating bridges and acknowledging challenges.

[theosyrette]

2SLGBTQ+ Resource List (Updated in 2024)

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1jn_me_Hv6LzZvVOq21iQXJCX15wy7O0c/edit?usp=sharing&rtpof=true&sd=true

[theosyrette]

Moan-A-Lisa

Moan-a Lisa Smile Watching people view a portrait of me  painted by Kent Monkman at the Royal  Ontario Museum is both voyeuristic and  creepy.  And. I. Don’t. Care. People took photos of me while I watched.  Passerbys wondering what the exhibit of portraits means. To them. To the community. To art.  I asked an older couple to take my photo standing beside the portrait.  “It’s not…

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[theosyrette]

Art: Circle Paintings - A reflection

Art: Circle Paintings – A reflection

I’ve been processing the discovery of all the unmarked graves of Indigenous children buried at different Residential Schools across Canada: Painting. I volunteered at the Shingwauk Residential School Survivor Gathering in high school. I’ve always done my best to volunteer, present/speak at or simply attend these gatherings. They would also be a place of affirmation, when it came to being 2Spirit…

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[theosyrette]

Different Directions

Thinking about what this piece means to me. It means so many things. But what does it say? A friend said, “they are the residential school survivors.” And I think now I know what the answer is. They are residential school students, but not survivors. The little head on the shoulder. They’ve made it home to spirit world. Some seem like they are looking in different directions. Maybe…

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[theosyrette]

Art Auction for the Children of Shingwauk Alumni Association. https://www.facebook.com/groups/2878560205728854

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[theosyrette]

She Didn't Make it Home: The Story of my Aunty Laura Fox.

She Didn’t Make it Home: The Story of my Aunty Laura Fox.

On May 27th, I heard about the 215 children’s bodies found buried in Kamloops British Columbia, near the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation, I felt like I was 16 years old, volunteering at the Shingwauk Residential School Survivors and Family gathering. There I learned more about myself as an Indigenous person, the impacts of colonial trauma, and intergenerational hurt/healing. When I was 24…

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[theosyrette]

33rd 2Spirit International Gathering 2020

33rd 2Spirit International Gathering 2020

Before covid-19 I was arranging to attend different events around Turtle Island. 2Spirit gatherings and Indigi-queer hangouts in Montreal, Saskatoon, British Columbia and Alberta. On March 14, all of that went away. The ceremonies. The conferences. Our ability to be one with each other was now altered.

One of these gatherings that was postponed was the 33rd International 2Spirit gathering. It was…

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[theosyrette]

Walking in Balance: A Reflection

This poem is a reflection of words spoken at the Association of Iroquois and Allied Indians 2020 Walking in Balance conference in London, ON March 8, 2020. These words were spoken by various speakers, facilitators, keynotes and by delegates at the conference. May this poem be used as for those helpers who are meeting people where they are at and in that ‘good way’ that we hear about and practice. 

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[theosyrette]

That Thermos Look

I used to have this boyfriend and a

thermos cup. And one day the

boyfriend said “Don’t look at me while

you’re drinking your coffee.”

Bewildered and hurt I said, “Why?”

He responded with, “Because it’s

the same look you give when you’re

sucking a dick.” I threw away the

thermos. And him a few months

later.

End Scene.

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[theosyrette]

YOU You laugh without understanding the context of what is being said to you. You pay full price for tickets in solidarity that guarantees you a spot in spaces that others cant access.

[theosyrette]

A Funny Native

I was asked to go be the master/mistress of ceremonies for a community event in Bkejwanong. I’m kind of new to the whole self-booking and making all the travel and lodging arrangements myself? Thanks to the big move on reconciliation and a new flock of Grey Owls, I usually just let whichever colonial agent do my own bookings themselves. Let them work their system while I go have a smoke outside…

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[theosyrette]

The Griefy Train

The Griefy Train

  All aboard the Griefy Train! Pardon? You didn’t know you were invited? Well a lot of the passengers on board the griefy train didn’t know they had tickets either. We just find ourselves on a long ride full of crowded carriages, dark spaces, parties with the living, tearful reunions, sad reflections, and side eyeful conversations about folks who have never been on the Griefy…

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[theosyrette]

Dad Conversations

If you are thinking this piece is going going to be lighthearted and funny and also very sad and painful, then you got yourself a bingo my friend.

My dad was my biggest fan. He really should of have been my agent. The first time I visited him at the nursing home, he asked if he should round up the nurses. Thinking there was something wrong, I inquired why? He looked at me and said, “You know, so…

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[theosyrette]

Oh Cantada I wrote this piece a day after the Tina Fontaine verdict was delivered. I wasn't going to post it but I need to share how I was feeling emotions can be so raw.

[theosyrette]

200 Words or Less

200 Words or Less

Teddy Syrette (Ozhawa Anaung Kwe/Yellow Star Woman) is a 2-Spirit Anishnabek person from Rankin Reserve of Batchewana First Nation. They write poetry, short stories, and works of non-fiction. The non-fiction pieces of work include Facebook Statuses, tweets and their income taxes of 2014 and 2008, respectively. They are currently published in a couple of anthologies, but because of their disdain…

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[theosyrette]

PLACES

Do you ever find yourself surrounded by strangers and think, “what if, in a moment from now, is the beginning of the end of the world; and this is who you’re stuck with: STRANGERS.”

  You don’t know who they are, what they are planning or if they are plotting against you. I’m Native, so I don’t trust anyone. Even more so now, since it’s the end of the world and what not.

  The pretty people stay…

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[theosyrette]

The Sound it Made

The Sound it Made

I remember someone told me a story.

A story about the St. Mary’s rapids.

The rushing water that I grew up with in Sault Ste. Marie.

A border town that is divided by canals and the rapids.

They swirl and run over rocks and through my dreams.

The storyteller spoke of these rapids being a meeting place for many nations.

And that the land and the waterways looked differently; especially the rapids.

T…

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