Transformative Marks Podcast
A podcast that journeys through the world of Indigenous tattooing, amplifying the voices of ancestral skin markers, Indigenous tattoo artists, cultural tattoo practitioners, and those who wear the marks. Through a mix of interviews and solo shows, Dion Kaszas brings you the entertaining, challenging, and transformative stories behind every dot, line, and stitch. Embedded in each mark is a unique story that brings forward the reality of contemporary Indigenous peoples living a contemporary existence. Our Indigenous ancestors' struggle, pain, tears, resistance, and resilience are celebrated, honored, respected, and embedded underneath our skin. This podcast explores the stories, truths, and histories essential to us as Indigenous tattoo artists, cultural tattoo practitioners, and ancestral skin markers. These stories bring forward our ancestral visual languages and cultures' power, brilliance, and beauty. So that those coming after us are reminded of how amazing we are.
Dion and the Transformative Marks Podcast acknowledge the support of:
The Canada Council for the Arts
Transformative Marks Podcast
Latest Episodes
Gatekeeping With A Soft Heart with Jessica Coffey
062 A lot of people want ancestral tattoos but feel stuck on one brutal question: “Am I enough to wear them?” I sit down with Inuit hand poke tattoo artist Jessica Coffey to talk about the real, complicated middle ground between pride and doubt...
Chin Markings Became A Promise To Stay Sober with Gillian Prince
061 A chin marking can be more than a design. Sometimes it becomes a vow you carry every time you look in the mirror.We sit down with Anishinaabe hand poke tattoo artist Gillian Prince (Waubanungohnse) to talk about Indigenous tattooing...
The Red Road: How Traditional Tattoos Guide One Artist's Sobriety Journey with Nick Wawia
#060 The journey from addiction to wholeness often requires powerful medicine. For Nicholas Wawia, that medicine came in the form of ancestral skin marking – specifically, the forward-facing red lines across his face that remind him daily to "k...
From Frontlines to Skin Lines: Finding Balance Through Indigenous Tattooing with Anne Spice
#059 Anne Spice's journey into ancestral tattooing reveals a profound path toward healing that extends far beyond artistic expression. Beginning as casual practice at a land occupation, her work evolved when she returned to her Whitehorse commu...
Reviving Ancestral Traditions: Indigenous Tattooing, Identity, and Modern Adaptations with Missy Mahan
#058 Prepare to be inspired by the incredible journey of Missy Mahan, an Indigenous tattoo artist with roots in the Tohono, O'odham, Yuchi, and Muscogee Nations. With over a decade in the tattoo industry, Missy has skillfully woven her cultural...