Smokii Sumac is a

Ktunaxa The Kutenai ( ), also known as the Ktunaxa ( ; ), Ksanka ( ), Kootenay (in Canada) and Kootenai (in the United States), are an indigenous people of Canada and the United States. Kutenai bands live in southeastern British Columbia, norther ...

and

transmasculine A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes persons whose gender ...

poet whose first book of poetry, ''you are enough: love poems for the end of the world'' was published in 2018 by

Kegedonce Press Kegedonce Press is an Indigenous publishing house in Neyaashiinigmiing Reserve No. 27 ( Cape Croker), Ontario, Canada, owned by Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm. Started in 1993, it is one of only a handful of dedicated Indigenous publishers in Canada. Thei ...

. The unpublished draft manuscript of the book, then titled "#haikuaday", won the inaugural Indigenous Voices Award for Unpublished English Poetry, while the book itself was awarded the 2019 Indigenous Voices Award for English Poetry.

Early life and education

Sumac grew up in Invermere, British Columbia. He attended the David Thompson Secondary School. He has talked openly about his recovery from alcoholism and addiction. He credits the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word in 2017 with inspiring him to begin writing poetry. Formerly, he was a PhD Candidate in

Indigenous Studies There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...

Trent University Trent University is a public liberal arts university in Peterborough, Ontario, with a satellite campus in Oshawa, which serves the Regional Municipality of Durham. Founded in 1964, the university is known for its Oxbridge college system, sma ...

, where he researched "coming home" stories from a Ktunaxa adoptee and two-spirit perspective.

Literary career

His work has been published in ''Write Magazine'', ''Electric City Magazine'' and ''

Canadian Literature Canadian literature is written in several languages including Canadian English, English, Canadian French, French, and various Indigenous Canadian languages. It is often divided into French- and English-language literatures, which are rooted in th ...

.'' ''you are enough'' has been favorably reviewed in publications including ''Muskrat Magazine'' and ''Transmotion.'' He has performed at various events and venues including the

Queer Arts Festival The Queer Arts Festival is a multi-disciplinary arts festival produced annually in Vancouver, British Columbia.Dayne Ogilvie Prize The Dayne Ogilvie Prize for LGBTQ Emerging Writers is a Canadian literary award, presented annually by the Writers' Trust of Canada to an emerging Canadian writer who is part of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer community. Origina ...

for emerging LGBTQ writers. Sumac's poetry is noted for its frankness about matters of sex and grief. Literary critic James Mackay discusses Sumac's work as a product of

social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...

, comparing it to

Instapoetry Instapoetry is a style of written poetry that emerged after the advent of social media, especially on Instagram. The term has been used to describe poems written specifically for being shared online, most commonly on Instagram, but also other platfo ...

, arguing that "the hashtags in Sumac's work serve to restructure the poems away from being singular units and into becoming fluid and interlinked units of a larger discussion."

Personal life

In addition to writing, Sumac dedicates much of his work to Indigenous and

LGBTQ LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, Gay men, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning (sexuality and gender), questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, Asexuality, asexual, ...

communities. He currently serves as Interim Senior Manager for Education and Employment with the Ktunaxa Nation. Sumac identifies as

two-spirit ''Two-spirit'' (also known as ''two spirit'' or occasionally ''twospirited'', or abbreviated as ''2S'' or ''2E'', especially in Canada) is a umbrella term used by some Indigenous North Americans to describe Native people who fulfill a trad ...

, trans masculine, "as an uncle and an auntie". He currently lives in both

Peterborough Peterborough ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in the City of Peterborough district in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. The city is north of London, on the River Nene. A ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

and

Ithaca Ithaca most commonly refers to: *Homer's Ithaca, an island featured in Homer's ''Odyssey'' *Ithaca (island), an island in Greece, possibly Homer's Ithaca *Ithaca, New York, a city, and home of Cornell University and Ithaca College Ithaca, Ithaka ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

with his family and their dog.

Publications

Poetry collections

* ''you are enough: love poems for the end of the world.'' Kegedonce, 2018.

Poems and essays

*"there are hierarchies of grief". 2016 ''Canadian Literature''. *"All My Relations": ''Aunties, Cousins, and Indigenous Methods of Recognition''. 2017 ''Write Magazine''. *"No Pipelines on Stolen Native Land". 2017 ''Electric City Magazine''. *"Two Spirit and Queer Indigenous Resurgence through Sci-Fi Futurisms, Doubleweaving, and Historical Re-Imaginings: A Review Essay". published on July 31, 2018, for Kent University. *"Just Make Me Look Like Aquaman". ''Tea and Bannock'', 2020.

References

External links

smokiisumac.com
- personal website "Just Make Me Look Like Aquaman: An Essay on Seeing Myself" ''Tea & Bannock''. 2020

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sumac, Smokii Living people 21st-century Canadian poets Poets from British Columbia LGBTQ First Nations people Canadian LGBTQ poets First Nations poets Ktunaxa people Two-spirit people Canadian transgender writers Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century First Nations writers Transgender poets 21st-century Canadian LGBTQ people