2SLGBTQ+ / Paths Remembered

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To learn more about Two Spirit and LGBTQ+ Health, text "LGBTQ2S" to 94449

Roller derby champion. Activist. Cyclist. Follow three indigenous members of the Two Spirit and LGBTQ community as they journey toward self-acceptance, supportive healthcare, and communities that celebrate them.

Two Spirit and LGBTQ
LGBTQ

For Email Newsletters you can trust.

Featured

Our community is like a dreamcatcher. We need every strand.

Young? Native? Transitioning?

Resources to help you advocate for your health

Resources

Find a Provider

Finding a provider who understands Two Spirit or LGBTQ experiences can be tough. These resources can help.

Note: The providers listed are self-identified and not always verified. These organizations cannot guarantee a good experience.

Find Community

For Two-spirit People:

  • Montana Two Spirit Society:
    • Organization advocating and educating the Montana LGBTI community and general community about Two Spirit issues, histories and traditions.
  • Northeast Two Spirit Society:
    • Regularly updated blog, reporting on news, culture, and daily life of Two Spirit people in northeastern states.

For Native Two Spirit and LGBTQ Youth:

  • Indigenizing Love Toolkit:
    • Two Spirit leadership profiles and activities to help create communities of young Native Two Spirit and LGBTQ people and their allies.
Know your Care

Health Resources

Know your Rights

You are protected from harassment and discrimination by tribal, state, and federal laws. These resources can help you learn more.

Our Art and Literature

Art:

  • Prepahhontoz:
    • An art and music campaign to increase awareness of PrEP and prevent HIV/AIDS in Native American/Alaska Native communities.
  • Two Spirit Documentary:
    • Documentary explores the spiritual nature of gender and real-world examples.

Literature:

  • Not vanishing. Press Gang Pub, 1988.
    • Collection of poetry written about two-spirit, lesbian, and Native themes.
  • Driskill, Qwo-Li, Daniel H. Justice, Deborah A. Miranda, and Lisa Tatonetti. Sovereign Erotics: A Collection of Two-Spirit Literature. , 2011. Print.
    • A collection of works written by Indigenous Two-spirit and queer people.
  • Driskill, Qwo-Li. Asegi stories: Cherokee queer and two-spirit memory. University of Arizona Press, 2016.
    • Novel about Cherokee history written from a post-colonial lens.
  • Rifkin, Mark. 2012. The Erotics of Sovereignty: Queer Native Writing in the Era of Self-Determination. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
    • A novel about how the policy of self-determination innacted in 1970 has impacted contemporary queer Native writers.
  • Roscoe, Will. 1988. Living in the Spirit: A gay American Indian anthology. New York: St Martin’s Press.
    • A book combining personal accounts, stories, and poetry regarding the complexity of queer Native history.
  • Webber, Storme. Blues Divine. RiverShe Collective Arts, 2015.
    • A collection of poetry derivative of music and spoken tradition. Contains Native and queer themes.
Organizational Capacity

The Board is staffed with approximately 45 individuals, the majority of whom have BA/BS or advanced degrees and training to meet the needs of diverse activities provided to the tribal health programs of the 43 NPAIHB member tribes. The EpiCenter has four core purposes: Administrative, Data Management/Analysis, Training, and Research. The NPAIHB organizational chart outlines the managerial structure.
From early in the history of the NPAIHB, the Northwest Tribes recognized that data, surveillance, and research were central to building awareness about health disparities afflicting American Indians and Alaska Natives. The Northwest Tribal EpiCenter has successfully engaged Northwest tribes in collaborative research and surveillance activities and, as a result, serves as an essential resource for these tribes for tribal health data and health information services support, including capacity building. All data from such activities belong to the tribes involved in the research. In addition, the NPAIHB hosts the Portland Area IHS Institutional Review Board (IRB), which oversees protection of human subjects in research occurring in Northwest Indian communities.
Over 190,000 American Indians/Alaska Natives reside in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho, representing 6.3 percent of the United State

Provider

Our community is like a dreamcatcher. We need every strand.

Native Two Spirit and transgender youth need your support.

Providers describe healthcare barriers for Two Spirit and trans youth.

External Links

Clinical Guides

Approach to Care:

Collecting Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Information:

  • Do Ask Do Tell: 
    • A toolkit for collecting data on sexual orientation and gender identity in clinical settings.
  • Beyond Men, Women, or Both
    • A Comprehensive, LGBTQ-Inclusive, Implicit-Bias-Aware, Standardized-Patient-Based Sexual History Taking Curriculum

Gender-Affirming Treatment Options:

Health Data
Ally
LGBTQ

For Email Newsletters you can trust.

“I talked to an elder. He really helped me be more comfortable with myself.”

Is your child Two Spirit or transgender? Are they talking about transitioning?

A blog highlighting Two Spirit and LGBTQ+ stories.

Resources

Find community. Find support
  • PFLAG: 
    • Community and advocacy organization for LGBTQ families, friends, and allies.
  • Stand With Trans: 
    • Online platform for parents of trans youth to communicate with other parents as well as advocate for and support trans youth
  • Indigenizing Love Toolkit:
    • Activities and information to help you support Two Spirit and LGBTQ youth.
Know their rights. Advocate
Films

There’s Heart Here

Follow three indigenous members of the Two Spirit and LGBTQ community as they journey toward self-acceptance, supportive healthcare, and communities that celebrate them.

To learn how you can support Two Spirit and LGBTQ individuals in your community, click the button below that best describes you.

See me. Stand with me.

An instructional video for healthcare providers seeking to create more supportive clinic environments for their Two Spirit and LGBTQ patients.

Becoming Jane Doe

Alara, an Athabaskan and Tlingit transwoman, found her gender identity through drag. Listen as she shares her journey to self-acceptance and supportive community.

Blog

Two Spirit and LGBTQ+ Blog

2021

2020

Print Materials

“Why do we ask?” Folding Card

Pronouns

Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

Print Materials

Celebrating Our Magic Toolkit

“Celebrating Our Magic” Toolkit is a culturally-specific resource for American Indian/Alaska Native communities and aims to provide resources for transgender and Two-Spirit youth, their relatives, and their healthcare providers.

To order free print copies of the Toolkit, contact Morgan at mthomas@npaihb.org.

See me. Stand with me.

Rack Cards

Pamphlets

Provider

Ally

Two Spirit and LGBTQ

Posters

Two Spirit Talks Podcast

Two Spirit Talks Podcast

We’re Two Spirit and Indigenous LGBTQ+ people seeking stories and wisdom that reflect our experiences. Join us each month to hear directly from our community about ceremony, song, solidarity, and how we can build on the diverse teachings of our pasts to create a queer Indigenous future.

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“We’re making our own history.”

Meet our hosts, Jack and Rick, through a discussion of their personal journeys toward acceptance, intentions for individual growth, and their shared hopes for this project.

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“People need a portal.”

Marlon Fixico reminisces on his journey from a childhood shaped by his elders to his roles as a Two Spirit activist, organizer, and — now — elder himself.

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“I go into the wilderness to heal.”

Vivian Mork, Tlingit elder, illuminates the innate relationships between nature, language, sexuality, and well-being — and how the damage of climate change threatens these connections.

More NPAIHB Programs