Shell Play, with Toni Jensen

About this episode

Toni Jensen discusses her experiences with guns and the impact of gun violence on Indigenous communities.

Toni Jensen grew up around guns. As a girl, she learned to shoot birds in rural Iowa with her father. As an adult, she’s had guns waved in her face near Standing Rock, felt their silent threat on the concealed-carry campus where she teaches. Toni is a Métis woman, with mixed European and Indigenous ancestry. She's no stranger to the violence enacted on the bodies and lands of Indigenous people, especially women, and the ways violence is hidden, ignored, forgotten. This episode was incidentally recorded on May 24, 2022, the day of the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. It is dedicated to the memory of those destroyed by gun violence. Transcript available: firesidepod.org/episodes/jensen. Buy the book and other merch at firesidepod.org/store.

People in this episode

Host: Blair Hodges

Guest: Toni Jensen

Topics covered

• gun violence
• Indigenous issues
• personal narrative
• cultural identity
• violence against women

Keywords

• gun violence
• Indigenous women
• Toni Jensen
• cultural identity
• personal narrative
• Standing Rock
• Uvalde

Mentioned in this episode

Places: Iowa, Standing Rock, Uvalde, Texas

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