The mothership
My mothership, as it stands, is a work in progress. It’s a 40ft school bus I purchased in August of 2021 that I’m learning to drive and gathering renovation funds for. I refer to this vehicle as my spaceship or mothership because I want this to embody a way of Indigenous futurism; by living in hyper-attunement with my ancestral lands and waters with the freedom to roam amongst my kin. This will be the space I will live, work, and travel out of while continuing to advocate for the rights of Indigenous peoples and their lands. My dream is for this bus to become more than my rent free home and art studio, but rather a mutual aid effort on wheels used to redistribute funds and resources to autonomous land defense, strengthen tribal sovereignty outside of gaming income, and helping Natives regardless of nation who experience housing insecurity.
If you’re moved by this mission and looking to support send funds to
Venmo: @JamieJohn42
CashApp: $jamiejohnjpg
PayPal:@jamierayj
Support me on Patreon to see exclusive updates on my body of work and bus renovation updates
rough drawing of floor "plan" back of the bus
middle of the bus / floor "plan"
front of bus floor "plan" drawing
idea for the side of the bus paint job
LAnd back is incompatible with capitalist and consumerist ways of being. land back is incompatible with white supremacy.
In the so-called United States, Indigenous people represent less than 2% of the overall population but make up nearly 8% of those unhoused. Insecure housing, criminalization, and forced removal impacts Indigenous communities globally as a result of colonialism, the increased development of our homelands, and imperialist policy. The Mothership would eliminate my need to pay rent on stolen land and payments for temporary housing when traveling.
We see the ripple effects of colonialism in the militarization of settler made borders, police brutality, and the systemic disempowering of Indigenous sovereignty. Those being forced into migration across false borders are often subject to violent and inhumane treatment, meant to leave them without dignity or autonomy. Under the logic of the settler nation state, there is no kinship, there is no reciprocity, and agency is robbed from the land and those closest to it.
Being Anishinaabe, nearly half of my homelands are across the so-called Canadian border, a country where I am not considered a citizen. Migration is criminalized and policed under white supremacist surveillance and often the circumstances created by American imperialism are what lead to the forced removal of thousands. The building of a nomadic living space allows me to live amongst land, water, and more than human kin just as many Anishinaabek did before me.
My mission with The Mothership is through building a living space/art studio, continuing to educate, and enacting aid efforts, I’ll be able to use my skills help build a new world. I’ll travel to redistribute goods and bring people to frontline camps defending the land, attend ceremony and community gatherings, and showcase my art all across Turtle Island. Miigwetch!