December 2, 2025 • 11 mins
Today we're talking about Indigenous activist and artist Siku Allooloo.
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hey, this is Anny and Samantha. I'm good to stuff.
I never told your production of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
And welcome for today's activist around the world, we decided
to extend our coverage on indigenous activists with an Inuit, Haitian,
Taino artist, activist and so much more. Ciccu a Lulu,
which is a really fun name. Mm hmmm, I just
(00:39):
want to put that out there. It's very like melodious.
It is it is right, which is fitting because she
is a very amazing artist and it just fits her.
But she is currently in Canada, but Alulu graduated from
the University of Victoria with degrees in anthropology and Indigenous studies,
which is a fitting educational background for the amazing works
(01:02):
that she has done and continues to do. Not only
has she work to uplift Indigenous stories and voices and
preserve the cultural depth of her community, but she has
done it through her beautiful storytelling. Y'all, There's a lot
and there's so much to her. Even though we're focusing
on her specific artwork, we'll mention briefly about her activism,
(01:23):
but there's a lot there, so you should know, of course.
So let's get started. So from her site cicku Alulu
dot com. Cicku A Lulu Enuaitian Tao is an award
winning interdisciplinary artist, writer, and filmmaker from yellow Knife and
Tea by the way of Miti, Metalic or in You
and Haiti. Her poetics and sorial work weaves the intimate
(01:45):
and intangible with archives and cultural materials to represence and
cistrial trajectories. And that disciplinary includes film, poetry, art, and
so much more. Everyone should go and look at her
side as well. Her work is incredible. She does have
an Instagram but it is private, so not sure why,
but you know private, so maybe you can request to
(02:06):
see her artwork. So this is also from her Wikipedia page,
which we know. We love to see a Wikipedia page
on women. They should be in there, they write. Ciku
A Lulu explores a wide range of themes throughout her work,
with a strong focus on reclaiming and revitalizing Indigenous knowledge
and traditions. She is particularly dedicated to addressing the patching
(02:27):
of ancestual gaps caused by colonialism, working to restore cultural
continuity and strengthened Indigenous identity. Her work also emphasizes land
based education, teaching from a cultural perspective that reconnects indigenous
peoples with their ancestral lands, languages, and ways of knowing. A.
Lulu has employed a diverse range of artistic techniques, including
(02:47):
traditional and contemporary practices such as intricate traditional beaedwork, evocative poetry,
handcarved stamping, and documentary filmmaking, which we are focusing a
bit more on just a Again, her work is gorgeous
and she is pushed to honor her people, her family,
and her community through her works. Her twenty twenty two
(03:09):
award winning film Spirit Andmulsion captured the beauty and history
of her family, specifically her mother, in such an authentic way.
The film, which was shot with a Super eight camera
and for those youngins, this is an old school camera
way back when, and you can tell the difference in
the artistry of it. But you know, for those of
us who were born in that era, we know it's okay.
(03:31):
But it follows her Teano indigenous mother in her life
as an activist and co founder of a bilingual indigenous
paper titled Indigena, which was published in North America, which
was one of the first, by the way to do so.
So this is from her website and the synopsis of
the film. A connection to My mother in the Spirit
World reactivates Teano culture and presence, revealing a realm unseen Meanwhile,
(03:57):
amidst a backdrop of flowers everywhere, and in act of sovereignty,
extends into the future. Filmed on Super eight and developed
by hand with plant medicines and botanicals, Spirit Emulsion evokes
a language for tane of filmmaking in relationship to the
Earth and cosmos, breathing an ancestral connection into new form.
And yeah, if you have a chance to go look
get any of the trailers, you should because it is gorgeous.
(04:21):
Her words and storytelling is amazing, and it is an
amazing backdrop to her digging into her mother's past who
has passed by the way. So here's what she told
CBC News about the film. My mom passed into the
spirit world about twenty two years ago, and I'm actually
working on a feature length documentary to represent her activism.
She was a very important indigenous activist back in the
(04:42):
nineteen seventies with the Red Power movement, both in the
United States and in dinn and day Tano. Indigenous people
are the people originally other Caribbean who encountered Columbus set
a Lulu, and she continues, my mom was one of
the early advocates to assert the tane of people still exist.
There's a moment now for Tana across all the Caribbean
and also the diaspora to regenerate our culture and traditions
(05:05):
and practices. There's a lot of energy there that my
mom helped to start back in her day that's actually
flourishing today. This whole process for me in the making
of the short was really like an opening prayer for
my practice as a filmmaker and my preparations to make
this feature link documentary about her. And it was really
beautiful because she continues to guide me. I feel her
presence in a daily way all the time. And yeah,
(05:26):
she is currently working on this film with a current
project which was awarded the grant from the Sun Dance Institute,
so it should be released I'm guessing the next year
and it's titled Indigena Again from her site, here's the
synopsis for that. To fulfill a dying wish, a filmmaker
retraces her mother's work as an activist and journalists during
the Red Power movement, bringing to light five hundred years
(05:48):
a day, no resistance, and igniting her own journey of reclamation.
So there is a trailer out for that. She's talking
to her uncle about her mom's work and the presence
of her mom in this movement and how how powerful
she was, how outspoken she was about the Taneal culture.
Now we've kind of talked about them before. We talked
about them with our cross episode with Margaret Kiljoy. It's
(06:11):
a fascinating conversation and I love seeing the overall look
of the Talanal people coming to reclaim their culture as
because they were forgotten or at least silenced for a
long long time. And yeah, it does cross everywhere, so
it's hits like Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Haiti, all of those areas.
So it's really important that we talk about that because
(06:32):
we don't want to lose a whole group of people
to white supremacy, to anything, but especially that. So again,
the trailers alone are incredible. You should go and check
it out. And she's produced these films through her own
production company, Akia Films, which she writes is quote an
avant garde indigenous film production company centered on artistic, culturally
(06:54):
grounded storytelling, rich audio visuals, and sovereign narratives. The word
key means the other side in innukdata and also refers
to her mother's nickname. There's also a reference in her
father's culture saying that it kind of talked about the
mountainous waters. So like a lot of reference here and
on the site. They have several key things that is
(07:14):
important to them and their work, including their missions which
they write is this. Akia strives to create films that
lovingly and profoundly reflect the power of Indigenous stories and
people while actively fostering decolonization and resurgence by working in
a highly relational way, embedded in culture and community, engaging
appropriate protocols, ethics, processes and frameworks, creating innovative project strategies
(07:38):
that amplify grassroots work, collaborating with trusted partners, and centering
community care, consent, and narrative sovereignty, which I thought was
really important that we put that in there, because it's
such a label of ethics that we don't often see,
especially if people are trying to do Indigenous stories that
(07:59):
are indigenous, they don't understand all of that. I think
Alulu's work also goes hand in hand with her advocacy work,
including her work with Indigenous Nations, which calls for the
indigenous nations to become more independent and work through their
(08:21):
own government affairs and freedoms. So they're trying to separate
themselves from the colonization that still stands in place and
try to create their own country and nationalism, which I
think is really important. She also worked with Human Rights
Watch to help investigate the human rights and issues that
are occurring against the Indigenous women of Saskatchwan, so she
(08:42):
apparently did a lot of investigation for them as well.
And of course, again these are just a few. We
didn't highlight all of the works that she's continued to do.
There's so much. She's like many of our activists that
we talk about have so much under their belt that
it's it would be we would need to we need
to run it as an interview, honest, like, that's what
we really need to talk about all this work. But
(09:03):
with that, we wanted to talk about her poetry because
she is an amazing writer, has some amazing essays on there.
I wanted to include so much more work, but I'm like, no, no,
everybody needs to go look at her site, and if
you need to spell our names s I k U
A L L l oo, you should definitely go and
check out her site. But this is one of the
(09:24):
poems that she has featured on there, and I thought
we would read it for you. And it's titled Interface.
There's a couple of words in here that I'm pretty
sure is indigenous in her language that I could not
find the pronunciation for. I feel like you might already
know this, and Christina is wonderful editing all of my
mistakes out, so apologies if it's wrong. It's really hard
(09:46):
to find if you know the correct pronunciation. Let us know.
We want to know, we want to be educated. So
this is the title interface, an interface between my ancestral
line and the world that seeks to eradicate us. I
so invoke adorn connection as protection through spiritual gaze, the
potent double space where future and past coalesce reveals the
(10:10):
invisible thread by which we span eternity. I'll reach back
to know you anana tinuk stitching tracing, embracing these spiritual
lines a prayer across time. I find you waiting for me,
smiling gently with wordless grace, you unearth the nuance of
our strength, quiet power from the realm, beyond the words
(10:31):
in sight, where truth is stark and fearless, armored in
our innate love, with arms of generations wrapped darkly around me,
I am free to celebrate our existence persistence with joyful,
sovereign madness.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
I like that one, and.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
There's so many more that you should check out. Yes,
if you have a moment, go look at our stuff.
I have a feeling that we will be coming back
to indigenous any on our list when it is released.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
Yes, absolutely well in the meantime, listeners, Yes, please go
check out her work. And as always, if you have
any suggestions for this segment or anything else thoughts, resources,
we would love to hear from you. You can email
us at Hello at Stuffannever Told You dot com. You
can find us on Blue skyte Mom Stuff podcast, or
on Instagram and TikTok at stuff I've Never Told You.
(11:24):
We're also on YouTube. But we have some new merchandise
at com Bureau and we have a book you can
get wherever you get your books. Thanks as always too,
our super producer Christina, our secretive ducer My and a
contributor Joey. Thank you and Thanks to you for listening
stuff I Never told you. Instruction of iHeart Radio. For
more podcast from my heart Radio, you can check out
the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you listen to
your favorite shows,
Hey, this is Anny and Samantha. I'm good to stuff.
I never told your production of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
And welcome for today's activist around the world, we decided
to extend our coverage on indigenous activists with an Inuit, Haitian,
Taino artist, activist and so much more. Ciccu a Lulu,
which is a really fun name. Mm hmmm, I just
(00:39):
want to put that out there. It's very like melodious.
It is it is right, which is fitting because she
is a very amazing artist and it just fits her.
But she is currently in Canada, but Alulu graduated from
the University of Victoria with degrees in anthropology and Indigenous studies,
which is a fitting educational background for the amazing works
(01:02):
that she has done and continues to do. Not only
has she work to uplift Indigenous stories and voices and
preserve the cultural depth of her community, but she has
done it through her beautiful storytelling. Y'all, There's a lot
and there's so much to her. Even though we're focusing
on her specific artwork, we'll mention briefly about her activism,
(01:23):
but there's a lot there, so you should know, of course.
So let's get started. So from her site cicku Alulu
dot com. Cicku A Lulu Enuaitian Tao is an award
winning interdisciplinary artist, writer, and filmmaker from yellow Knife and
Tea by the way of Miti, Metalic or in You
and Haiti. Her poetics and sorial work weaves the intimate
(01:45):
and intangible with archives and cultural materials to represence and
cistrial trajectories. And that disciplinary includes film, poetry, art, and
so much more. Everyone should go and look at her
side as well. Her work is incredible. She does have
an Instagram but it is private, so not sure why,
but you know private, so maybe you can request to
(02:06):
see her artwork. So this is also from her Wikipedia page,
which we know. We love to see a Wikipedia page
on women. They should be in there, they write. Ciku
A Lulu explores a wide range of themes throughout her work,
with a strong focus on reclaiming and revitalizing Indigenous knowledge
and traditions. She is particularly dedicated to addressing the patching
(02:27):
of ancestual gaps caused by colonialism, working to restore cultural
continuity and strengthened Indigenous identity. Her work also emphasizes land
based education, teaching from a cultural perspective that reconnects indigenous
peoples with their ancestral lands, languages, and ways of knowing. A.
Lulu has employed a diverse range of artistic techniques, including
(02:47):
traditional and contemporary practices such as intricate traditional beaedwork, evocative poetry,
handcarved stamping, and documentary filmmaking, which we are focusing a
bit more on just a Again, her work is gorgeous
and she is pushed to honor her people, her family,
and her community through her works. Her twenty twenty two
(03:09):
award winning film Spirit Andmulsion captured the beauty and history
of her family, specifically her mother, in such an authentic way.
The film, which was shot with a Super eight camera
and for those youngins, this is an old school camera
way back when, and you can tell the difference in
the artistry of it. But you know, for those of
us who were born in that era, we know it's okay.
(03:31):
But it follows her Teano indigenous mother in her life
as an activist and co founder of a bilingual indigenous
paper titled Indigena, which was published in North America, which
was one of the first, by the way to do so.
So this is from her website and the synopsis of
the film. A connection to My mother in the Spirit
World reactivates Teano culture and presence, revealing a realm unseen Meanwhile,
(03:57):
amidst a backdrop of flowers everywhere, and in act of sovereignty,
extends into the future. Filmed on Super eight and developed
by hand with plant medicines and botanicals, Spirit Emulsion evokes
a language for tane of filmmaking in relationship to the
Earth and cosmos, breathing an ancestral connection into new form.
And yeah, if you have a chance to go look
get any of the trailers, you should because it is gorgeous.
(04:21):
Her words and storytelling is amazing, and it is an
amazing backdrop to her digging into her mother's past who
has passed by the way. So here's what she told
CBC News about the film. My mom passed into the
spirit world about twenty two years ago, and I'm actually
working on a feature length documentary to represent her activism.
She was a very important indigenous activist back in the
(04:42):
nineteen seventies with the Red Power movement, both in the
United States and in dinn and day Tano. Indigenous people
are the people originally other Caribbean who encountered Columbus set
a Lulu, and she continues, my mom was one of
the early advocates to assert the tane of people still exist.
There's a moment now for Tana across all the Caribbean
and also the diaspora to regenerate our culture and traditions
(05:05):
and practices. There's a lot of energy there that my
mom helped to start back in her day that's actually
flourishing today. This whole process for me in the making
of the short was really like an opening prayer for
my practice as a filmmaker and my preparations to make
this feature link documentary about her. And it was really
beautiful because she continues to guide me. I feel her
presence in a daily way all the time. And yeah,
(05:26):
she is currently working on this film with a current
project which was awarded the grant from the Sun Dance Institute,
so it should be released I'm guessing the next year
and it's titled Indigena Again from her site, here's the
synopsis for that. To fulfill a dying wish, a filmmaker
retraces her mother's work as an activist and journalists during
the Red Power movement, bringing to light five hundred years
(05:48):
a day, no resistance, and igniting her own journey of reclamation.
So there is a trailer out for that. She's talking
to her uncle about her mom's work and the presence
of her mom in this movement and how how powerful
she was, how outspoken she was about the Taneal culture.
Now we've kind of talked about them before. We talked
about them with our cross episode with Margaret Kiljoy. It's
(06:11):
a fascinating conversation and I love seeing the overall look
of the Talanal people coming to reclaim their culture as
because they were forgotten or at least silenced for a
long long time. And yeah, it does cross everywhere, so
it's hits like Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Haiti, all of those areas.
So it's really important that we talk about that because
(06:32):
we don't want to lose a whole group of people
to white supremacy, to anything, but especially that. So again,
the trailers alone are incredible. You should go and check
it out. And she's produced these films through her own
production company, Akia Films, which she writes is quote an
avant garde indigenous film production company centered on artistic, culturally
(06:54):
grounded storytelling, rich audio visuals, and sovereign narratives. The word
key means the other side in innukdata and also refers
to her mother's nickname. There's also a reference in her
father's culture saying that it kind of talked about the
mountainous waters. So like a lot of reference here and
on the site. They have several key things that is
(07:14):
important to them and their work, including their missions which
they write is this. Akia strives to create films that
lovingly and profoundly reflect the power of Indigenous stories and
people while actively fostering decolonization and resurgence by working in
a highly relational way, embedded in culture and community, engaging
appropriate protocols, ethics, processes and frameworks, creating innovative project strategies
(07:38):
that amplify grassroots work, collaborating with trusted partners, and centering
community care, consent, and narrative sovereignty, which I thought was
really important that we put that in there, because it's
such a label of ethics that we don't often see,
especially if people are trying to do Indigenous stories that
(07:59):
are indigenous, they don't understand all of that. I think
Alulu's work also goes hand in hand with her advocacy work,
including her work with Indigenous Nations, which calls for the
indigenous nations to become more independent and work through their
(08:21):
own government affairs and freedoms. So they're trying to separate
themselves from the colonization that still stands in place and
try to create their own country and nationalism, which I
think is really important. She also worked with Human Rights
Watch to help investigate the human rights and issues that
are occurring against the Indigenous women of Saskatchwan, so she
(08:42):
apparently did a lot of investigation for them as well.
And of course, again these are just a few. We
didn't highlight all of the works that she's continued to do.
There's so much. She's like many of our activists that
we talk about have so much under their belt that
it's it would be we would need to we need
to run it as an interview, honest, like, that's what
we really need to talk about all this work. But
(09:03):
with that, we wanted to talk about her poetry because
she is an amazing writer, has some amazing essays on there.
I wanted to include so much more work, but I'm like, no, no,
everybody needs to go look at her site, and if
you need to spell our names s I k U
A L L l oo, you should definitely go and
check out her site. But this is one of the
(09:24):
poems that she has featured on there, and I thought
we would read it for you. And it's titled Interface.
There's a couple of words in here that I'm pretty
sure is indigenous in her language that I could not
find the pronunciation for. I feel like you might already
know this, and Christina is wonderful editing all of my
mistakes out, so apologies if it's wrong. It's really hard
(09:46):
to find if you know the correct pronunciation. Let us know.
We want to know, we want to be educated. So
this is the title interface, an interface between my ancestral
line and the world that seeks to eradicate us. I
so invoke adorn connection as protection through spiritual gaze, the
potent double space where future and past coalesce reveals the
(10:10):
invisible thread by which we span eternity. I'll reach back
to know you anana tinuk stitching tracing, embracing these spiritual
lines a prayer across time. I find you waiting for me,
smiling gently with wordless grace, you unearth the nuance of
our strength, quiet power from the realm, beyond the words
(10:31):
in sight, where truth is stark and fearless, armored in
our innate love, with arms of generations wrapped darkly around me,
I am free to celebrate our existence persistence with joyful,
sovereign madness.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
I like that one, and.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
There's so many more that you should check out. Yes,
if you have a moment, go look at our stuff.
I have a feeling that we will be coming back
to indigenous any on our list when it is released.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
Yes, absolutely well in the meantime, listeners, Yes, please go
check out her work. And as always, if you have
any suggestions for this segment or anything else thoughts, resources,
we would love to hear from you. You can email
us at Hello at Stuffannever Told You dot com. You
can find us on Blue skyte Mom Stuff podcast, or
on Instagram and TikTok at stuff I've Never Told You.
(11:24):
We're also on YouTube. But we have some new merchandise
at com Bureau and we have a book you can
get wherever you get your books. Thanks as always too,
our super producer Christina, our secretive ducer My and a
contributor Joey. Thank you and Thanks to you for listening
stuff I Never told you. Instruction of iHeart Radio. For
more podcast from my heart Radio, you can check out
the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you listen to
your favorite shows,
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