kinauvit? | Aeden Corey
December 5, 2024
image: Aeden Corey
kinauvit?
The children in town ask,
What’s your name?
as if I haven’t lived here
longer than they’ve existed.
A name is a connection
to a community,
to a family.
A name is a promise
of skills passed down
by those who share it.
What’s your name?
is asking me,
Who do you chose to be?
intergenerational
We know with certainty
that pain is carried
on the backs of those before us;
shared, as if trauma
was a birthright.
Tell me then,
that if I were to heal myself
of the weight of my sadness
I could share that as well.
throat singing
As children we would sing
with the vibrations in our throats,
stepping in a circle,
small hands grasping each other’s arms.
The question was only
who would laugh first.
There are more questions now;
When did the singing stop?
The pulse of vocal cords
mimicked the sounds of life around us.
Now my throat is raw
at the thought
and the world is quiet
without our voices.
Anaanatsiaq's hands
My anaanatsiaq hated her arthritic hands,
calling them ugly,
not realizing
that these were the hands
that bathed me
as a child.
These hands prepared me
warm drinks
and food,
so I would not go hungry
before bed.
Anaanatsiaq’s hands
sewed me
the warmest qulittaujaq
to wrap myself in
come winter.
They taught me
how to cut skins
with uluit,
to write my name
in Inuktitut.
Anaanatsiaq’s hands
held mine
when I told her that I loved her
so very much,
as I said my goodbyes.
Tools of love –
what I would do
to have back
my anaanatsiaq’s hands.
These poems appear in Aeden Corey’s poetry collection Kinauvunga? (Publication Studio, 2024), curated by Taqralik Partridge as part of the Indigenous Otherwise program at Musagetes, facilitated by Elwood Jimmy.
Aeden Corey is a writer, visual artist, and Inuit tattooist from Iqaluktuuttiaq, Nunavut. Author and illustrator of the poetry collection Kunauvunga? (Publication Studios, 2024), the chapbook Inuujunga (Coven Editions, 2021), and the short story “Unikkaannguaq” (Nipiit magazine, 2020), they began creating art at a young age. Aeden’s work is heavily inspired by their lived experiences as a queer Inuk. Their goal is always to inspire and advocate for those within their communities through their artistic practices, letting others know that they are not alone. Aeden currently resides in Ottawa on the unceded territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation with their partner and their two pets, Akla and Waffles.
ᐊᐃᑕᓐ ᑯᐊᕆ ᑎᑎᕋᖅᑎᐅᔪᖅ, ᑕᑯᒥᓇᖅᑐᓕᐅᖅᑎᐅᓪᓗᓂ, ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᓄᓐᓂᑦ ᑐᓐᓂᓕᐅᖅᑎᐅᓪᓗᓂ ᐱᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᐃᖃᓗᑦᑑᑦᑎᐊᖅ, ᓄᓇᕗᒻᒥ. ᑎᑎᕋᖅᑎᐅᓯᒪᓪᓗᓂ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᑎᐅᓯᒪᓪᓗᓂᓗ ᐅᖃᓕᒫᒐᕐᒥᒃ ᐃᓅᔪᖓ (ᑲᕙᓐ ᐊᑎᓴᓐᔅ/Coven Editions, 2021) ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᓇᐃᑦᑑᑎᐅᓪᓗᑎᑦ ᐅᓂᒃᑳᖅᑐᐊᑦ ᐅᓂᒃᑳᙳᐊᖅ (ᓂᐲᑦ ᒪᑉᐱᑐᒐᐃᑦ, 2020), ᓴᓇᐅᒐᓕᕆᖃᑦᑕᓯᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᐅᑭᐅᑭᑦᑑᓪᓗᓂ. ᐊᐃᑕᓐ ᓴᓇᓯᒪᔭᖏᑦ ᐃᔾᔭᓯᔪᑦ ᐊᑐᖃᑦᑕᖅᓯᒪᔭᕐᒥᓂ ᐃᓅᓪᓗᓂ ᑎᒥᒥᒍᑦ ᐊᐃᑉᐸᒥᒍᓪᓗ ᐃᓱᒪᖅᓲᑎᖃᕐᓂᒃᑯᑦ. ᐃᔾᔭᒐᑦᓴᓯᐊᖑᓂᕐᒥ ᑐᕌᒐᖃᖅᓱᓂ ᓂᐱᖃᖅᑎᐅᒋᐊᖃᑦᑕᖅᓱᓂᓪᓗ ᓄᓇᖅᑲᑎᒥᓄᑦ ᓴᓇᙳᐊᖃᑦᑕᓂᒃᑯᑦ, ᖃᐅᔨᒪᑎᑦᓯᒋᐊᖃᑦᑕᖅᑐᖅ ᐊᓯᒥᓂᑦ ᐃᓄᑑᙱᒋᐊᖏᑦ. ᐊᐃᑕᓐ ᒫᓐᓇ ᓄᓇᖃᖅᑐᖅ ᐋᑐᕚᒥ ᐊᖅᓵᖅᑕᐅᒍᑎᒋᓯᒪᙱᑦᑕᖓᓂ ᐊᓂᔅᓈᐱ ᐃᐅᓪᒍᐊᓐᑯᕋ ᓄᓇᖃᖅᑳᖅᓯᒪᔪᖏᑦᑕ ᐊᐃᑉᐸᖓᓗ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐆᒪᔪᖁᑎᖏᒃ, ᐊᒃᓚ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐅᐋᐳᓪᔅ.
