Edgar Fabián Frías & Charlie Amáyá Scott on Ancestors
BCNM graduate student Edgar Fabián Frías recently spoke with Charlie Amáyá Scott about connecting to one's ancestors as a part of their Queer, Trans & Gender Variant Ancestors Project. Together, Edgar and Charlie reflect and analyze what it means to connect to one's ancestry and how they do so.
From the conversation:
Edgar: I would love to hear what the word "ancestry" means to you and what your connection might be to ancestors and to the word "ancestors".
Charlie: When I envision my ancestors, or the ancestors as I casually refer to them, are sort of like people who have survived so much in their own lifetimes and are sort of willing to guide the next generation of folks, in particular in my community. So when I think of my ancestors who are Diné, when I think of my ancestors who are queer, when I think of my ancestors who are trans - there's a wide array of them that have all had different lifetimes and different knowledges. In addition to that they are attached to the land and my community in a lot of ways. So although I may not have met many of them, my relatives, I have stories that I have learnt whether its through my mother who talks about her grandmother who then talks about her own grandmother, and I find out these sort of family histories that I have. The same with my father's side of the family. Just being very intimate with folks who have become ancestors in my lifetime like my own grandfather and my cousins and some of my siblings who were not ready to come into this world. So I think of those who have had lifetimes or who didn't have lifetimes, but in so many ways are guiding and protecting me, who are offering me insight, who are sort of encouraging me to the best that I am.
Learn more about Edgar's Queer, Trans & Gender Variant Ancestors Project here!
Watch the video beow on youtube here!