ERICA McNABB

I live, work and play on earth that is now and has always been Anishnaabe, Ininiw (Cree) and Metis land. I live in the homelands and birth place of the Metis Nation, and took swimming lessons right about where Rooster Town once stood. I live in a region that is also Anish-Iniw   (Oji-Cree), Dakota, and Dene land, and through which people of many Nations have made home.

The place where I live is now called Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. In the system of numbered treaties, I live in Treaty 1 Territory. 

The water I drink is from Shoal Lake 40 First Nation. Anishinaabeg people who live there have been under a boil water advisory for over 20 years.

As a sex educator I value and celebrate all Indigenous youth who are reclaiming their teachings about earth, rites of passage, bodies and sexuality. I am so grateful for the work of Native Youth Sexual Health Network, who are constantly lighting up Turtle Island and the world with their brilliance.

I celebrate Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer people, without whom our Queer communities could not exist. Thank you to Two-Spirit People of Manitoba, Sunshine House and Elder Albert McLeod for all that you have built here.

I acknowledge the ways that the ongoing history of white supremacy and colonialism cause harm, and the ways that I as a white person benefit from and contribute to that harm.

As a white person, I am continually learning that my responsibilities are to work in an anti-racist way and reduce the harms of colonization in the work I do as a Sex Educator, as a Queer Parent of white children, and as a community member. I have been taught to work in heart-led ways, and work from a place of relationship building and reciprocity.

I am grateful for these and other teachings I receive from Indigenous women and feminisms, Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer people, and BIPOC people- particularly QTBIPOC.

I am grateful for opportunities to learn to do better when I make mistakes, thanks to the gifts and generosity of Black, Brown and Indigenous Women and Femmes.