nedí nezu (Good Medicine)

by Tenille Campbell

Overview

nedí nezų (Good Medicine) explores the beautiful space that being a sensual Indigenous woman creates—not only as a partner, a fantasy, a heartbreak waiting to happen but also as an auntie, a role model, a voice that connects to others walking the same path. From the online hookup world of DMs, double taps, and secret texts to earth-shakingly erotic encounters under the northern stars to the ever-complicated relationship Indigenous women have with mainstream society, this poetry collection doesn’t shy away from depicting the gorgeous diversity in decolonized desire. Instead, Campbell creates the most intimate of spaces, where the tea is hot and a seat is waiting, surrounded by the tantalizing laughter of aunties telling stories.

These wise, jubilant poems chronicle many failed attempts at romance, with the wry humour needed to not take these heartbreaks personally, and the growth that comes from sitting in the silence of living a solo life in a world that insists everyone should be partnered up. With a knowing smile, this book side-eyes the political existence and celebrates the lived experience of an Indigenous woman falling in love and lust with those around her—but, most importantly, with herself.

nedí nezų is a smart, sensual, and scandalous collection dripping in Indigenous culture yet irresistible to anyone in thrall to the magnificent disaster that is dating, sex, and relationships.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781551528465
Publisher:	Arsenal Pulp Press, Limited
Publication date:	04/13/2021
Pages:	92
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 7.70(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Tenille K. Campbell is a Dene/Métis author and photographer from English River First Nation in Treaty Ten, northern Saskatchewan. Her acclaimed debut poetry collection, #IndianLovePoems (Signature Editions), was shortlisted for the Indigenous Voices Award. Campbell is the force behind sweetmoon photography, which specializes in capturing NDN joy in its many forms. She is also the co-creator and a blogger at tea&bannock, an online collective for Indigenous women photographers and artists to share their stories. Campbell completed her MFA in creative writing at the University of British Columbia and is working on a doctoral degree in Indigenous Literature at the University of Saskatchewan.

Read an Excerpt

snagging while Indigenous means road trips from rez to rez one hundred miles a story in the making meeting grandparents cousins and aunties because there are no secrets among family

snagging while Indigenous means bringing dry meat across borders jars of canned fish clinking in the backseat bags of frozen blueberries waiting to be handed to relations ancient bribes for modern flirtations

snagging while Indigenous means DM’s and double taps organizing flights after conferences and casually saying hey
I was just in the neighbourhood we should hang out
I know your cousin


you look like trouble and you know it tall and lean head cocked just so
I can taste you already northern accent dripping from tongue and lips

you look like morning regrets the shuffling of clothes the lost bra the headache of trying to remember where I am what your name is

you look like someone who will text that I’m beautiful captivating like northern lights sparkling like a blanket of stars like someone who has those words on copy and paste

call me auntie
I'm too old for you
I am one hundred and ninety-five moons older than you
I am one child born of me older than you
I am a million tears of sadness and laughter older than you call me auntie


you tasted like fresh river water chilled by underwater glacial pulsing through my mouth over my tongue down my throat carrying story


kissing cree boys around spinning bottles snaps never posted stories told in group chats and dm’s nēhiyaw to dënësułıné
smiling turning into laughter turning into speculative glances you kiss me like you wanna remember how I taste imprinting your lips onto mine making sure I never forget these early mornings late nights who’s keeping track all I know is when you pull me closer hand on neck grinning and making me blush dominant to submissive
I wonder whose turn is it now

hiyaw : Cree People dënësułıné: Dene People


when you kneel down in worship palms up head bowed speak out loud the blessings before you ceremony and praise traditions passed down echoed through stories

when your lips and tongue taste me for the first time knees spread before you alter to receive your reverence
I remind you we are ceremony and this is your blessing


I’ve never wanted to dance the drums don’t call me home the swirling ribbons and colourful beads have never entangled me we don’t all pow-wow, you know

but but but watching you big drum singer
I want to dance for you

Table of Contents

1 Language Lessons

Snagging while Indigenous 13

You look like trouble 14

You are fresh river water 15

Kissing cree boys 16

When you kneel down to worship 17

I've never wanted to dance 18

Between thick pale thighs 19

I want to taste your language 20

Morning stretches 21

It's that two a.m. DM 22

You smelted of sweat 23

Saltwater crush 24

I don't want this 25

I sit on his lap 26

Kissing indigenous 28

It was quiet 29

Do you even remember / kikaskeyihtan ci 30

You sit on my couch 32

2 Northern Lights

Falling into like 37

We've seen sunsets 39

I whisper your name in the dark 41

I wanna be tangled in moonlight 42

Sweetgrass 43

The first time I fell in love 44

Listening to songs 45

Do you think of her 47

The first time I kissed you 48

I count to three 50

The last time we kissed 52

It was the quiet moments 53

You're that broken 54

The silence killed us 55

3 Broken Treaties

Indigenous academia 59

I make love 61

Professor 62

Your hand squeezing gently 63

Sadness drenched in dripping syrup 64

Do you think of me 65

Repeat 66

Men are trash 68

One guy 70

Black velvet sky 71

When you come to the door 72

You want me to celebrate you 73

The night we met I fell in love 74

You wouldn't have fit in on the rez 75

The first time we fuck 76

I wonder 78

I am not a wild strawberry 80

Why indigenous erotica 82

4 The Land

I'm tired of thin pointy lips 87

You kiss / nentsun dé 88

I want to kiss 90

Water so clear 92

Red rose hot tea on my tongue 94

You dipped 96

Your fingers lace in mine 97

My body holds wells of water 98

Thick indigenous women 99

With you 101

Call me auntie 103

I remember 104

Urban Indigenous 105

We aren't all nice aunties 107

She makes me feel 109

We met in late spring 110

Sex sex sex 112

Glossary 115

Acknowledgments 117

Artist Statement: Heather Dickson 119

Editorial Reviews

"Dare we all have such an opportunity to revel in the intimate oratories of Tenille Campbell’s matriarchy. She asks us to ‘know that we are in ceremony’ as she undertakes an album of sensual and sexual vignettes rinsed clean of seeds in gentle spring waters. Alternatively, she interrogates fatphobia, Indigenous masculinities, academia, heteropatriarchy, and untangles the ways in which poetry hinges on the pervasive in the stratosphere of social media. Campbell shows us yet again why Indigeneity is wholly and irrevocably erotic by nature.” —Joshua Whitehead, author of Jonny Appleseed

“Since I was hit on by someone using lines from #IndianLovePoems and immediately went out to buy it, I’ve been eagerly waiting for Tenille Campbell’s next collection. What a joy and a blessing to find myself in pages as intimate as staying up late with your best friend sharing truths, as hot as meeting your next lover’s gaze, and as sharp as a mean auntie. nedi nezu cements Campbell’s reputation as the matriarch of decolonized desire.” —Eden Robinson, author of Trickster Drift

From the Publisher