View To The U: Office Of The V.p., Research (utm)

On this episode of VIEW to the U, Professor Kristen Bos from UTM’s Department of Historical Studies talks about her research on Indigenous feminisms, with among other things, considers the past, present, and future of seed beads. These little beads that have been used by Indigenous communities for thousands of years, vary in size but usually measure no more than 5 mm – or for a sense of scale, a bit smaller than a sesame seed – they tell stories, govern lands, and they have even been used as currencies, and on this edition of the podcast, Kristen covers all of this in fine detail, including how seed bead creations can be likened to a virus, how they help frame history, and how seed beads are “a visual reference to colonization,” but also to Indigenous futures. A full transcript of this interview is available at https://uoft.me/7fb. Resources - For more on Professor Bos's work visit her website https://www.utm.utoronto.ca/historical-studies/people/kristen-bos. - Kristen mentioned Indigenous artist Ruth Cut