Queer & Trans indigenous histories outside of Europe, particularly focusing on indigenous histories and traditions in Africa and North America. The presentation provides historical and current examples of diverse genders and sexuality from cultures around the world.
I've been fortunate to have access to this knowledge, I've been grateful to learn from Two Spirit and First Nations healers, elders and activists. These histories and stories have always existed and they have only recently re-emerged after centuries of genocide. These are the histories my European ancestors set out to destroy.
Recent histories and current realities cannot be separated from colonial era anti-homosexuality laws that were imposed by Britain and other European imperial powers around the world. It's also important that when looking at diverse histories we don't present it as an us and them situation, indigenous and racialized cultures are not stuck in the past, their histories and realities are constantly evolving just as ours are today.
Please read the full presentation description, context and additional resources here: http://www.jonnysopotiuk.ca/2014/02/24/queer-histories/.
Department of Health Compounder Question Solution 2022.pdf
Queer & Trans Indigenous Histories
1. Queer & Trans
Indigenous Histories "
Pre-colonization, European colonialism + imperialism,
Process of decolonization
Jonny Sopotiuk, February 2014
2. Acknowledgements"
!
“The limitations of allies are enormous and important to hold alongside our
willingness to act. As allies, we’re not the ones who shoulder the burden. Allies
need to stay ever mindful that the potential fall out or backlash for our actions
as allies will fall on the oppressed people, not us.”
― Vikki Reynolds, Vancouver-based Ally and Activist
4. Presentation Format"
!
1. Current Context
2. European Colonialism
3. Africa
4. Asia
- Middle East / West Asia
- East Asia / South East Asia
- Oceania / South West Pacific
5. Central + South America
6. North America (Turtle Island)
7. Decolonization
5. Current Context"
!
“Education either functions as an instrument which is used to facilitate
integration of the younger generation into the logic of the present system and
bring about conformity or it becomes the practice of freedom, the means by
which men and women deal critically and creatively with reality and discover
how to participate in the transformation of their world.”
― Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed
6. LESBIAN AND GAY RIGHTS IN THE WORLD
ILGA, THE INTERNATIONAL LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANS AND INTERSEX ASSOCIATION
Greenland
Alaska
Iceland
Finland
Russia
Sweden
Estonia
3 entities Denmark
Canada
Lithuania Latvia
Poland Belarus
Ireland Netherlands Germany
Belgium
Czech. Rep.
Europe:
Slovakia Ukraine
Lux.
Austria
Kazakhstan
Washington
Moldova
41 countries
Switzerland Slovenia Hungary
Mongolia
Maine
Croatia Romania
Wisconsin
and 10 entities
New Hampshire
France
Vermont
Bosnia & Herz. Serbia
Massachussets
Oregon
Mont. Kos. Bulgaria Georgia
Andorra
New York
North
Rhode Island
Uzbekistan Kyrgyzstan
Iowa Illinois
Italy
Connecticut
Fyrom
Portugal Spain
Korea
Armenia Azerb.
Albania
Nevada
New Jersey
Delaware
Turkmenistan
Washington, D.C.
Turkey
Tajikistan
Colorado
Maryland
Greece
Japan
South
Malta
California
Syria
Gibraltar
Cyprus
China
U.S.A.
Korea
Afghanistan
Lebanon
Tunisia
Israel
Morocco
32 states
Iran
Iraq
Ghaza
Nepal
19 states
Jordan
Canary Islands
Kuwait
Pakistan
Coahuila
Bhutan
Algeria
The Bahamas
Libya
Bahrain
Egypt
Dominican Rep.
Qatar
Bangladesh
Saudi
Mexico
Taiwan
U. A. E.
Cuba Virgin Islands
Arabia
10 states
Myanmar
Lao
Federal District
Haiti
Mauritania
India
Jamaica
Puerto Rico
Vietnam
Oman
Mali Niger
Sudan
Belize
Antigua & Barbuda
Cape Verde
St Kitts & Nevis
Thailand
Dominica
Philippines
Honduras
Eritrea Yemen
Senegal
St. Vincent
Chad
St. Lucia
Guatemala
Gambia
Burkina
Grenada
6 cities
El Salvador
Cambodia
Barbados
Djibouti
Faso
Guinea-Bissau
Trinidad and Tobago
Nicaragua
Benin
Guinea
South
Costa Rica
Palau
Sri Lanka
Ghana Nigeria
Sierra Leone
Venezuela Guyana
Sudan Ethiopia
Panama
Ivory
Coast
Suriname
Central African
Maldives
Liberia
Togo
Brunei
French Guiana
Aceh Province
Republic
Malaysia
Colombia
Cameroon
Somalia
Singapore
Equatorial Guinea
Uganda
Congo
Kenya
Sao Tome & Principe
Indonesia
Rwanda
Ecuador
Gabon
Seychelles
Dem. Rep. Burundi
of the Congo
South Sumatra
Peru
Tanzania
Timor-Leste
Brazil
Papua New
Guinea
14 entities
Comoros
Malawi
Angola
Norway
U. K.
Hawaii
May 2013
www.ilga.org
PERSECUTION
DEATH PENALTY
5 countries and parts of Nigeria and Somalia
Zambia
IMPRISONMENT
71 countries and 5 entities*
Death penalty
Imprisonment
from 14 years to a
life-long sentence
unclear: legislation
not specifically
homophobic but
which can be used
as such
“Propaganda law”
restricting freedom
of expression and
association
imprisonment,
no precise
indication of
the length /
banishment
Iraq:
persecution by
organised nonstate agents /
India: law
awaiting court
ruling
Kiribati
Samoa
Tuvalu
Mozambique
Cook Islands
Vanuatu
Bolivia
imprisonment
up to 14 years
Nauru
Solomon
Islands
Namibia
Paraguay
Zimbabwe
Mauritius
Western
Australia
Swaziland
Chile
South Africa
Rosario
Uruguay
Argentina
Buenos Aires
RECOGNITION
RECOGNITION OF SAME-SEX UNIONS
31 countries and 35 entities*
JOINT ADOPTION
14 countries and 38 entities*
Marriage
Equal (almost
equal) substitute
to marriage
Clearly inferior
substitute to
marriage
Joint adoption
Fiji
Madagascar
Botswana
Australia
8 states
Lesotho
PROTECTION
ANTI-DISCRIMINATION LAWS
65 countries and 85 entities*
Countries which introduced laws
prohibiting discrimination on the
grounds of sexual orientation
NO SPECIFIC LEGISLATION
Norfolk Island
Tonga
New South Wales
Australian
Capital Territory
Victoria
New
Zealand
Tasmania
* These laws are aimed at lesbians, gay men and bisexuals and at same-sex activities and relationships.
At times, they also apply to trans and intersex people. This edition of the world map (May 2013) was
coordinated by Stephen Barris (ILGA). Design: Eduardo Enoki. Data represented in this map is based
on “State-Sponsored Homophobia: a world survey of laws. Criminalisation, protection and recognition
of same-sex love - 2013”, an ILGA report by Jingshu Zhu & Lucas Paoli Itaborahy available in various
languages on www.ilga.org. ILGA thanks groups which contributed to the annual update.
Current legal realities as of May 2013.
7. Oral Traditions"
!
“Western discourse has come to prioritize the written word as the dominant
form of record keeping and until recently, Westerners have generally
considered oral societies to be peoples without history.”
― Indigenous Foundations, University of British Columbia
8. European Colonialism"
!
“When the missionaries came to Africa they had the Bible and we had the land.
They said 'Let us pray.' We closed our eyes. When we opened them we had
the Bible and they had the land.”
― Archbishop Desmond Tutu
10. British Sodomy Laws"
!
-
1553: British Buggery Act.
1837: First draft of Indian Penal Code completed.
1860: British Raj introduce Indian Penal Code, including Section 377,
which criminalizes sexual activities “against the order of nature”.
1897-1902: Indian law applied to African colonies.
1950s +1960s: Independence won by most former colonies.
1967: England and Wales decriminalizes most consensual
homosexual conduct.
!
British Colonies that have since removed the laws:
!
- New Zealand (1986), Australia (state by state and territory by
territory), Hong Kong (1990 before being returned to China) and Fiji
(2005 high court decision).
This Alien Legacy. Human Rights Watch.
11. Anthropological Evidence"
“Since anthropology emerged along with the expansion of Europe and the
colonization of the non-Western world, anthropologists found themselves
participants in the colonial system which organized relationships between
Westerners and non-Westerners. It is, perhaps, more than a coincidence that a
methodological stance, that of the outsider, and a methodological approach,
“objectivity,” developed which in retrospect seem to have been influenced by,
and in turn to have supported, the colonial system.”
!
― Diane Lewis, Anthropology and Colonialism
12. “The Spanish invader Vasco Núñez
de Balboa (1475-1519) shown in Central
America with his troops, presiding over
the execution of Indians, whom he ordered
eaten alive by the war dogs for having
practiced male love.”
!
New York Public Library, Rare Book Room,
De Bry Collection, New York.
14. Africa"
!
“[Homosexuality] is repressed for its perceived symbolism rather than because
of its proven harm. …. Thus, it is not the act of sodomy that is denounced… but
the so-called sodomite who performs it; not any proven social damage, but the
threat that same-sex passion in itself is seen as representing to heterosexual
hegemony.”
― South Africa's Constitutional Court justice Albie Sachs
15. LESBIAN AND GAY RIGHTS
IN AFRICA
PAN AFRICA ILGA IS THE AFRICAN REGION OF THE INTERNATIONAL LESBIAN,
GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANS AND INTERSEX ASSOCIATION
May 2013
Tunisia
Morocco
www.ilga.org
Canary Islands
Algeria
Libya
Egypt
Mauritania
Mali Niger
Cape Verde
Senegal
Gambia
Guinea-Bissau
Guinea
Eritrea
Djibouti
Benin
South
Sudan Ethiopia
Central African
Liberia
Togo
Republic
Cameroon
Somalia
Equatorial Guinea
Uganda
Congo
Kenya
Sao Tome & Principe
Rwanda
Gabon
Dem. Rep. Burundi
of the Congo
Tanzania
Sierra Leone
PERSECUTION
Burkina
Faso
Sudan
Chad
Ghana
Ivory
Coast
Nigeria
Seychelles
DEATH PENALTY
Mauritania, Soudan and parts of Nigeria and Somalia
IMPRISONMENT
34 countries
Death penalty
Imprisonment
from 14 years to a
life-long sentence
imprisonment up to
14 years
unclear: legislation
not specifically
homophobic but
which can be used
as such
imprisonment, no
precise indication of the
length / banishment
Zambia
Namibia
RECOGNITION OF SAME-SEX UNIONS & JOINT ADOPTION
South Africa
Comoros
Mozambique
Zimbabwe
Mauritius
Madagascar
Botswana
RECOGNITION
Marriage
Malawi
Angola
Swaziland
Joint adoption
PROTECTION
ANTI-DISCRIMINATION LAWS
6 countries
Countries which introduced laws prohibiting
discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation
NO SPECIFIC LEGISLATION
South Africa
Lesotho
*These laws are aimed at lesbians, gay men and bisexuals and at same-sex activities and relationships. At times, they also apply to
trans and intersex people. This edition of the world map (May 2013) was coordinated by Stephen Barris (ILGA). Design: Eduardo Enoki.
Data represented in this map is based on “State-Sponsored Homophobia: A world survey of laws: Criminalisation, protection and
recognition of same-sex love - 2013”, an ILGA report by Jingshu Zhu & Lucas Paoli Itaborahy available in various languages on www.
ilga.org. ILGA thanks groups which contributed to the annual update.
16. Lesotho"
!
Traditional Basotho women entered into
“mummy-baby” relationships. Young
girls were “gradually socialized into adult
female roles and relationships by slightly
older more experience girls … sexual
intimacy is an important aspect of these
relationships.”
!
As women grow older and start to raise a
family, the sexual nature of these
relations lessen, but the support network
formed and the deep emotional
attachment among women remain.
SAGE: Questioning Gender: A Sociological Exploration: Robyn Ryle.
17. Mashoga"
!
Mashoga is a Swahili term that connotes
a range of identities on the gender
continuum. While loosely used to
indicate gay men, a large proportion of
mashoga are biological men who adopt
the female gender early in life. They
often assume female gender roles and
serve a crucial role in wedding
ceremonies.
Gender Diverse Cultures Map. Independent Lens. PBS.
18. South Africa"
!
It is very common for adolescent boys to
visit mine workers, living in all male
compounds, to provide sexual services
called “thigh sex”. The mine workers
often have girlfriends and wives at home.
!
In South African townships, adolescent
boys (called skesana) commonly
entered sexual relationships with older
men (called injonga).
Eugene J. Patron. Heart of Lavender: In Search of Gay Africa.
19. Asia"
!
"The sun may have set on the British Empire, but the empire lives on. It’s
amazing how millions of yellow- and brown-skinned people have so absorbed
Victorian prudishness that even now, when their countries are independent and they are all happy and proud they’re free from the yoke of the British - they
stoutly defend these laws.”
― Au Waiping, Singapore
20. LESBIAN AND GAY RIGHTS
IN ASIA, AUSTRALIA,
NEW ZEALAND AND
PACIFIC ISLANDS
ILGA-ASIA AND ILGA-ANZAPI ARE REGIONS OF THE INTERNATIONAL
LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANS AND INTERSEX ASSOCIATION
May 2013
Kazakhstan
Georgia
Uzbekistan Kyrgyzstan
Armenia Azerb.
Turkmenistan
Turkey
Tajikistan
Syria
Cyprus
Afghanistan
Lebanon
Israel
Iran
Iraq
Ghaza
Nepal
Jordan
Kuwait
Pakistan
Bahrain
Saudi
Arabia
Qatar
U. A. E.
North
Korea
Bhutan
Bangladesh
Taiwan
India
Lao
Vietnam
Thailand
Yemen
Philippines
6 cities
Cambodia
Palau
Sri Lanka
Maldives
PERSECUTION
Aceh Province
Malaysia
IMPRISONMENT
Asia: 18 countries and 3 entities*/ANZAPI**: 8 countries and
Cook Islands
Imprisonment
from 14 years to a
life-long sentence
imprisonment up to
14 years
Brunei
Singapore
DEATH PENALTY
Iran, Yemen and Saudi Arabia
Death penalty
Japan
South
Korea
China
Myanmar
Oman
www.ilga.org
Mongolia
imprisonment, no
precise indication of the
length / banishment
Indonesia
South Sumatra
Timor-Leste
Papua New
Guinea
Nauru
Solomon
Islands
Kiribati
Samoa
Tuvalu
Iraq: persecution
by organised
non-state agents /
India: law awaiting
court ruling
Cook Islands
Vanuatu
Fiji
RECOGNITION
RECOGNITION OF SAME-SEX UNIONS
Asia: Israël / ANZAPI**: New Zealand and 9 entities*
JOINT ADOPTION
Asia: Israël / ANZAPI**: New Zealand and 3 entities*
Marriage
Australia
8 states
Clearly inferior substitute
to marriage
Norfolk Island
New South Wales
Equal (almost equal)
substitute to marriage
Joint adoption
Western
Australia
Australian
Capital Territory
Victoria
PROTECTION
ANTI-DISCRIMINATION LAWS
Asia: Israël and 7 entities / ANZAPI**: Australia, Fiji,
New Zealand and 8 entities*
Countries which introduced laws prohibiting
discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation
NO SPECIFIC LEGISLATION
** ANZAPI: Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Islands
New
Zealand
Tasmania
These laws are aimed at lesbians, gay men and bisexuals and at
same-sex activities and relationships. At times, they also apply to
trans and intersex people. This edition of the world map (May 2013)
was coordinated by Stephen Barris (ILGA). Design: Eduardo Enoki. Data
represented in this map is based on “State-Sponsored Homophobia:
a world survey of laws. Criminalisation, protection and recognition of
same-sex love - 2013”, an ILGA report by Jingshu Zhu & Lucas Paoli
Itaborahy available in various languages on www.ilga.org. ILGA thanks
groups which contributed to the annual update.
Tonga
21. Egypt"
!
During the Mamluk Sultanate in what is
now Egypt from the 1200s to the 1700s,
young girls who we perceived to have
masculine traits were celebrated and
raised as boys and afforded all of the
legal and societal advantages.
Gender Diverse Cultures Map. Independent Lens. PBS.
22. Oman "
!
The xanith of Oman are considered an
intermediate gender in this Islamic
nation. They are biological males and do
not practice emasculation, but do
assume the dress, mannerisms, and
some social roles of women. They have
masculine names and are referred to in
the masculine grammatical gender form.
The Gay and Lesbian Vaishnava Association. Serena Nanda.
23. Iran"
!
Transsexual rights are actually
acknowledged in Iran, where it is still
punishable by death to be gay. Due to a
decree by the Ayatollah Khomeini, gay
and/or transgender men are permitted to
live lives as straight women and
permitted to undergo sex reassignment
surgery, after which their official
documents are changed to reflect their
new identities.
Gender Diverse Cultures Map. Independent Lens. PBS.
24. India "
!
Hijras are physiological males who adopt feminine
gender identity, wear women's clothing and other
perform feminine gender roles. In the past the term
referred to eunuchs or those born intersex or with
indeterminate genitalia.
!
In India per Hindu mythology, hijras represent the
half-male, half-female image of Shiva — an image
symbolic of a being that is ageless and sexless.
Many hijras live in well-defined, organized, all-hijra
communities, led by a guru.
!
During the era of the British Raj, authorities
attempted to eradicate hijras, whom they saw as "a
breach of public decency." Also during British rule
in India they were placed under the Criminal Tribes
Act 1871 and labelled a "criminal tribe," hence
subjected to compulsory registration, strict
monitoring and stigmatization. After independence
however they were decriminalized in 1952, though
the stigma continues.
Gender Diverse Cultures Map. Independent Lens. PBS.
25. Indonesia "
!
The Bugi people of southern Sulawesi
recognize three sexes (male, female,
intersex) and five genders: men, women,
calabai, calalai, and bissu. Calabai are
biological males who embody a feminine
gender identity. Calalai are biological
females who embody a male gender
identity. Bissu are considered a
"transcendent gender," either
encompassing all genders or none at all.
The bissu serve ritual roles in Bugi
culture and are sometimes equated with
priests.
Gender Diverse Cultures Map. Independent Lens. PBS.
26. Phillipines "
!
Bakla is a Tagalog term that
encompasses an array of sexual and
gender identities, but especially
indicated a male-born person who
assumes the dress, mannerisms, and
social roles of a woman. While bakla
have existed as a recognized third
gender for centuries, more conservative
influences in recent decades has
marginalized them.
!
The bakla actually developed their own
language to use with each other, called
swardspeak. It is a mixture of Filipino,
English and Spanish and is spoken with
a "hyperfeminized inflection."
Gender Diverse Cultures Map. Independent Lens. PBS.
27. Southwest Pacific"
!
“In our society, the meaning of marriage is universal – it's a declaration of love
and commitment to a special person.”
― Louisa Wall, New Zealand MP with Maori ancestry
29. Samoa"
!
Fa'afafine are biological males who have
a strong feminine gender orientation,
which the Samoan parents recognize
quite early in childhood, and then raise
them as female children or rather third
gender children. Fa'afafine traditionally
assume roles of family care, although
they are present in many spheres of
Somoan society.
!
Fa'afafine are not considered "gay" in
Samoan culture, as they may be sexually
involved with men, women, or other
fa'afafine.
Gender Diverse Cultures Map. Independent Lens. PBS.
30. Hawaii"
!
The mahu could be biological males or
females inhabiting a gender role
somewhere between or encompassing
both the masculine and feminine. Their
social role is sacred as educators and
promulgators of ancient traditions and
rituals. The arrival of Europeans and the
colonization of Hawaii nearly eliminated
the native culture, and today mahu face
discrimination in a culture dominated by
white European ideology about gender.
Gender Diverse Cultures Map. Independent Lens. PBS.
31. New Zealand"
!
In Maori culture, wakawahine are men
who prefer the company of women and
take up traditionally feminine occupations
such as weaving. Wakatane denotes a
biological female who pursues
traditionally male roles, such as becoming
a warrior or engaging in physical labor.
Gender Diverse Cultures Map. Independent Lens. PBS.
32. Central + South America"
!
“When a broad coalition of human-rights activists brought a gay rights charter
to the United Nations in 2007, the push was led not by the likes of Sweden or
the Netherlands, but by Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil.”
―Freedom to Marry
33. GAY AND LESBIAN RIGHTS IN LATIN
AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN
ILGA-LAC IS THE LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN REGION OF THE
INTERNATIONAL LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANS AND INTERSEX ASSOCIATION
May 2013
Coahuila
Mexico
10 states
Federal District
www.ilga.org
The Bahamas
Dominican Rep.
Cuba Virgin Islands
Jamaica
Haiti
Puerto Rico
Antigua & Barbuda
St Kitts & Nevis
Dominica
Honduras
St. Vincent
St. Lucia
Grenada
Barbados
Trinidad and Tobago
Belize
Guatemala
El Salvador
Nicaragua
Costa Rica
Panama
Colombia
Venezuela Guyana
Suriname
French Guiana
Ecuador
Peru
Brazil
PERSECUTION
14 entities
IMPRISONMENT
11 countries
Imprisonment
from 14 years to a life-long sentence
imprisonment up to
14 years
Bolivia
RECOGNITION
RECOGNITION OF SAME-SEX UNIONS
5 countries and 2 entities*
Paraguay
JOINT ADOPTION
Argentine, Brazil and Federal District of Mexico
Marriage
Joint adoption
Equal (almost equal)
substitute to
marriage
Clearly inferior
substitute
to marriage
Chile
Rosario
PROTECTION
ANTI-DISCRIMINATION LAWS
9 countries and 28 entities*
Countries which introduced laws prohibiting
discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation
NO SPECIFIC LEGISLATION
* These laws are aimed at lesbians, gay men and bisexuals and at same-sex
activities and relationships. At times, they also apply to trans and intersex
people. This edition of the world map (May 2013) was coordinated by Stephen
Barris (ILGA). Design: Eduardo Enoki. Data represented in this map is based
on “State-Sponsored Homophobia: a world survey of laws. Criminalisation,
protection and recognition of same-sex love - 2013”, an ILGA report by Jingshu
Zhu & Lucas Paoli Itaborahy available in various languages on www.ilga.org.
ILGA thanks groups which contributed to the annual update.
Uruguay
Argentina
Buenos Aires
34. Brazil"
!
Histories of Brazil (1576) described
Native American women in northeastern
Brazil who "give up all the duties of
women and imitate men, and follow
men's pursuits.” These women marry
and they treat each other and speak with
each other as man and wife.
The Case for Same-Sex Marriage. William Eskridge.
35. Peru"
!
In pre-colonial Andean culture, the Incas
worshipped the chuqui chinchay, a dualgendered god. Third-gender ritual
attendants or shamans performed
sacred rituals to honor this god. The
quariwarmi shamans wore androgynous
clothing as "a visible sign of a third space
that negotiated between the masculine
and the feminine, the present and the
past, the living and the dead. Their
shamanic presence invoked the
androgynous creative force often
represented in Andean mythology,"
according to scholar Michael J. Horswell.
Gender Diverse Cultures Map. Independent Lens. PBS.
36. Guevedoche"
!
A genetic third sex, passed down in
children over generations, exists in the
Dominican Republic. With
undifferentiated genitalia, they generally
are raised as girls, but begin developing
male traits at puberty. Instead of
changing their gender identities to male,
most chose to live as a third gender
called guevedoche or machi-embra. The
society has accommodated the
guevedoche and constructed a third
gender with distinct roles for them.
Gender Diverse Cultures Map. Independent Lens. PBS.
37. North America "
Turtle Island"
!
There are over 155 instances of male two-spirits documented historically with
female two-spirits being documented in a third of those.
― Will Roscoe, 1991, American scholar, activist and writer
39. George Catlin, Dance to the Berdache, Great Plains (Sac and Fox First Nations). 1800’s.
40. We’wha"
!
Famous two-spirit from the Zuni people.
Significant documentation based on her
befriending anthropologists. We’wha was
described as “the strongest character
and the most intelligent of the Zuni tribe”
and served as a cultural ambassador to
the Zuni people.
Gender Diverse Cultures Map. Independent Lens. PBS.
41. Coast Salish"
!
Regional gender systems varied, even
from village to village. Alternative
genders were widely observed among
coast tribes and Nations with local
stories of Two-Spirit people. Among the
Tulalip and Nootka peoples there were
eight named genders.
Alternative Genders in the Coast Salish World: Paradox and Pattern. Jean C. Young.
42. Opaskwayak"
!
The Opaskwayak Cree Nation (OCN)
located in the Northern Manitoba has a
long tradition of supporting diverse
gender and sexual identities and
expressions.
!
Young members of the Nation are
encouraged to dance in the gender
customs that they felt most comfortable
in. The community has the nickname of
“the Factory” in the queer First Nations
community for the number of Two Spirit
people coming out of it.
Two Spirited: being GLBT and Aboriginal. ReVision Quest. CBC Radio.
44. Decolonization"
!
“I think the notion of dreaming in a time where we are told that it is foolish, futile
or not useful is one of the most revolutionary things we can do. To have our
lives determined by our dreams of a free world--instead of reactions to a stateimposed reality--is one of the most powerful tools of decolonization.”
― Harsha Walia, Undoing Border Imperialism
45. The Seven Fires"
-
1988: First Inter-tribal Native American, First Nations, Gay and
Lesbian American Conference held in Minneapolis, Minnesota
1990: Term two-spirited emerges at the third traditional gathering in
Winnipeg, Manitoba
2000’s: Two-spirit sweat lodge established in North Vancouver
Squamish nation in response to gay bashing on reserve.
2008: Coquille Indian Tribe on the southern Oregon coast, in the U.S.
West, adopts a law recognizing same-sex marriage
2009: Award-winning Two-spirits film released.
2010: National Film Board releases: Deb-we-win Ge-kend-am-aan,
Our Place in the Circle by Lorne Olson.
2013: 8 indigenous tribes across the USA now recognize same-sex
marriages among their members.
Multiple Sources. jonnysopotiuk.ca/2014/02/24/queer-histories/
47. Questions?"
!
Queer & Trans
Indigenous Histories "
Pre-colonization, European colonialism + imperialism,
Process of decolonization
Jonny Sopotiuk, February 2014