#kokum

Tansi!!

I was invited by a dear friend of mine to travel up to Edmonton to attend a 2Spirit Métis Drag Show together, and one thing lead to another and we ended up picking my cousin up on the way !!

While I was at the Blackfoot Language Conference last week, I saw a vendor selling Kokum scarves. I had seen Indigenous women and girls wearing them before, and have always thought they were so so beautiful. So I purchased 2 from the vendor, one for my cousin (Cree Métis) and one for me (Ukrainian English). I figured if it was inappropriate for me to wear a Kokum scarf, I could gift it to an Indigenous friend.

I asked the vendor for some information, and did some research on my own.

The vendor told me there doesn’t need to be special reason to wear them, and it isn’t necessary for the colour of the scarf to symbolize anything, but some groups do use them that way. I picked out one light pink, and one fuchsia.

In my research, I found an article from the University of Calgary in partnership with Blackfoot Elder Wanda First Rider. The article explained that the history of the Kokum scarf started with Cree groups and their friendship and relationship with early Ukrainian settlers.

Lately I’ve been feeling very called to reconnect with my Ukrainian roots, and learn Ukrainian mythology. I feel very disconnected, since that’s my ancestral homeland, yet they are under attack by Russia so I can’t physically reconnect with Ukraine in a safe way. I’ve been trying to research and learn how I can.

It felt very serendipitous that I purchased the Kokum scarves for me and my cousin- Ukrainian and Cree respectively- to find out they symbolize friendship between Cree people and Ukrainian people.

Kokum (sometimes kookum) means grandmother.

My (maternal) cousin(s) and I have always shared a very deep connection with our maternal grandmother and our maternal great grandmother. We lost our great gram in 2022, and it was really tough on all of us. But spending summers at Gram’s farm was frequent, and I have so many special memories with my cousins that happened at one grandma’s or another’s.

The Kokum scarves felt so special, and it was so special to gift one to my cousin. She has been reconnecting with her Cree heritage, and being able to share memories of our Gram over the scarves was very meaningful and connective.

It also happened that the friend who invited me planned to wear a Kokum scarf to the event! So we each had one (styled with our disco-desert themed attire) and it was wonderful.

Feeling grateful for family, friends, women and their children, drag queens, and Indigenous knowledge and wisdoms that bring us all together.

Günaydın kalbimin güneşi...

Neyse ki boş yatağımda düşüncelerimin sıcaklığı ve kokusu var.

Mahmur gözler, dağınık saçlar, sivri burnun altında yarım gamzeli tebessüm, aşk dolu bakışın ardından sakallarım arasına sokulup koynuma giren sen.

Gece boyu hapsolmuş kokun yok mu, bağımlısı olduğum ve eksikliğini hissettiğim tek şey adeta.

... avutuyorum işte,

her sabah olduğu gibi...

What really caught my attention are the backgrounds. They’re masterpieces of art.

I ship Kokum with Pocahontas!

Pocahontas, her father, her grandmother and Kokum are my favorite characters along with the animals. 

सोल कढ़ी भारत के कोंकण तट का एक प्रसिद्ध पेय है, विशेष रूप से महाराष्ट्र और गोवा में लोकप्रिय है, जहां इसे अक्सर भोजन के साथ परोसा जाता है। सोल कढ़ी नारियल के दूध और कोकम का उपयोग करके बनाई जाती है, जो एक गहरे बैंगनी रंग का फल है जो अपने तीखे स्वाद के लिए जाना जाता है। कोकम का व्यापक रूप से तटीय खाना पकाने में उपयोग किया जाता है और इसकी ठंडी प्रकृति के लिए इसे महत्व दिया जाता है। पेय इन दो…