Catholics in Recovery with leZlie lee kam and Lila Pine

In this episode, Brigitte speaks with facilitator and storyteller, leZlie lee kam, and academic and artist, Lila Pine, two elders and dear friends who came to know each other through a performance in the Youth Elders Project at Buddies in Bad Times in Toronto. Describing their shared experiences of being schooled in Catholic institutions and the violent colonialism enacted upon both of their communities, leZlie and Lila reflect on their dual processes of reclaiming spirituality and rejecting the shame of institutionalized Catholicism. 

In leZlie's words: "I am a world majority, brown, trini, Carib, Indo, Chinese, callaloo, differently-abled, queer DYKE elder/senior..67 years young.. I live my life from an anti-oppression, anti-racism, anti-colonial, intersectional and inter-generational perspective..I advocate for 2 Spirit, Indigenous, black and brown queer and transgender people AND Queer Seniors.. I enjoy doubles, dancing, dim sum, a cold beverage and a hot “lime “ anytime.. My EXISTENCE is my RESISTANCE!" 

Lila Pine is a New Media artist and Indigenous thinker. She is the Director of Saagajiwe, FCAD’s Indigenous Communication and Design network, whose mission is to facilitate the creation and dissemination of Indigenous thought and ways of knowing and doing at Ryerson University and in the larger Indigenous community in Toronto.

Lila is the Principle Investigator of Imag(in)ing Indigeneity in Language, a SSHRC funded program of research creation. Through the visualization of sound, Imag(in)ing Indigeneity in Language seeks to develop a way of  “seeing” language in order to identify distinct qualities in the speaking of different languages. It employs digital art creation as a scholarly research tool and it engages Indigenous research methods to shift perceptions around the relationship of language to worldviews and ecological concerns. 

Lila is also collaborating with Buffy Sainte-Marie on a project called Creative Native: Youth Mentorship in the Arts Initiative. The Creative Native Project will bring touring multi-arts festivals to First Nations communities across Canada. Beginning in Ontario the festival will showcase local and professional Indigenous entertainers and artists of all kinds, while building a corps of local Indigenous youth who will take leadership positions in doable jobs and then mentor their peers at subsequent community events. 

Lila teaches Indigenous Media and New Media courses. She received her MFA from York University in Toronto and PhD from the European Graduate School. In 2011, she defended her dissertation, entitled Memory Matters: Touching the Untouchable, which theorizes oral, literate and “electrate” cultures, as well as the divergence and convergence of Indigenous and Eurocentric ways of knowing. Dr. Pine graduated Magna Cum Laude.