What does it mean to Indigenize queer identity?
A conversation with Felysha Aragon My name is Felysha Aragon. I’m from Nambe Owingeh here in New Mexico. My father comes from the Big Island of Hawaii. I use she/her, they/them, he/him pronouns. I really don’t care. I’ve lived most of my life in Hawaii and moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico a couple years ago, […]
Indigiqueer Gardening – Our Sovereignty is Land Sovereignty
Shawn Peterson (Nuu-chah-nulth) Youth program manager, Na’ah Illahee. Itai Jeffries (Yésah) Co-Manager, Paths (Re)Membered Project Yireidi Valencia-Martinez Hñähñu (Otomi Nation) Youth coordinator, Na’ah Illahee Tell us about your garden. Shawn: Our organization had been caring for beds at the University of Washington Arboretum for a few years now, we’re a small staff, and it was a […]
Decolonization Means the End of Ableism
A conversation about disability with Jen Deerinwater Osiyo! I’m a citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma and am bisexual and Two Spirit. I’m also multiply disabled, chronically ill, and I’m immune-compromised. I’ve struggled a lot with chronic pain and mobility issues since the age of 13. I’m 41 now, and my health is getting […]
To Destigmatize HIV We Have to Talk About It: A Conversation with Noquisi
My name is Noquisi. I’m 22, Cherokee. I live in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I’m HIV positive. I’m an artist and a model. I paint, I do pottery. I’ve recently started to work with an artist supported by the Tulsa Artist Fellowship, which is a foundation that supports artists to live and work in Tulsa. I’m really open […]
to love and mourn in the age of displacement: A Conversation with Alan Pelaez Lopez
Alan Pelaez Lopez is an AfroIndigenous poet from the coastal Zapotec community of Oaxaca, México. Their collection, to love and mourn in the age of displacement, includes “mourning (v): how the ancestors hold”: We sat down with Alan to discuss their poetry, in light of the mourning of this past year. Itai All of us […]
“It Starts with You”: Michael King, newly elected Two Spirit Tribal President
Mygk! Hello, my name is Michael King. I’m 32 years old and come from a small community called Navajo Mountain, about five miles from the Utah/Arizona border. It is called Kaivayaxaru, “The Mountain Place.” I’ve lived here my whole life, only leaving for school. I come from two different tribes. I am Navajo on my […]
New Year, New Name: The Paths (Re)Membered Project
We are excited to begin the year by announcing a new name and logo for the Two Spirit and LGBTQ+ work at the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board. The Paths (Re)Membered Project centers the Two Spirit and LGBTQ+ community–its strengths, resiliencies, and histories—in our movement toward health equity. Through community engagement, research, and advocacy, […]
What is your vision of Two Spirit and LGBTQ+ liberation?
Three visual artists share their visions of Two Spirit and LGBTQ+ liberation. To me, Two Spirit and LGBTQ+ liberation means taking up space, resisting and speaking back to the monolith, to colonization. As many harmful ideas of gender and sexuality come directly from the effects colonization has had on us as Indigenous peoples, another important […]
McGirt v. Oklahoma: Responses from Queer Indigenous Oklahomans
In July 2020, the Supreme Court ruled for McGirt in McGirt v. Oklahoma, acknowledging that Congress has never extinguished the reservation lands set aside for the Muscogee Creek Nation in 1866. This means 47 percent of the state of Oklahoma, an area that’s home to 1.8 million people, is still Native land. We asked two Indigenous […]
Remembering Our Two Spirit & Indigenous LGBTQ+ Relatives
In this month’s blog post, four public health professionals describe their journeys toward inclusive programming for Two Spirit and Indigenous LGBTQ+ people within organizations and within themselves. When did your organization start to think about the Two Spirit voices that were there, and those that were missing, in terms of goals and programming? Shawn Peterson […]