PODCASTS
Unreserved with Rosanna Deerchild: How two-spirit people are ‘coming in’ to their
communities
Unreserved is hosted by Rosanna Deerchild, who is from O-Pipon-Na-Piwan Cree Nation at South Indian Lake in northern Manitoba and now lives and works in Winnipeg. In this episode, Rosanna speaks with Two-Spirit people about their understandings of what it means to be Two-Spirit, its relationship to the land and to different ceremonial and cultural practices, and their experiences reclaiming their place in community spaces.
You can listen to this episode for free on the CBC’s website.
The Red Nation Podcast: How do you say Two-Spirit in Ojibwe? W/ Kai Minoshe Pyle
The Red Nation Podcast focuses on Indigenous history, politics, and culture. This episode features host Lou Cornum, a Diné Two-Spirit writer and researcher, and guest Kai Minosh Pyle, a Métis/Anishinaabe Two-Spirit writer and researcher. Their discussion focuses on Two-Spirit Anishinaabe histories and Indigenous language revitalization.
Ma-Nee Chacaby: ‘I’m Old, But So What?’ Says The Two-Spirit Elder
In this episode, Ojibwe-Cree Two-Spirit Elder Ma-Nee Chacaby speaks about her childhood, her understanding of the term Two-Spirit, and her experiences as an Indigenous lesbian in Thunder Bay in the 1980s.
SHORT FILMS
Woman Dress (TJ Cuthand, 2019)
In this short film, a Two-Spirit person named Woman Dress journeys across the Plains collecting and sharing stories. Director TJ Cuthand, uses archival footage and re- enactments to tell a family oral story passed down from his relatives. Credited with coining the term ‘Indigiqueer,’ TJ Cuthand is of Plains Cree and Scots descent, a member of Little Pine First Nation, and currently resides in Toronto, Canada. This film is free to watch on the National Film Board’s website.
Biidaaban (The Dawn Comes) (Amanda Strong, 2019)
In this stop-motion short film, Biidaaban, a young Anishinaabe non-binary person, sets out on a journey to reclaim the ceremonial harvesting of sap from sugar maples in an unwelcoming suburban neighbourhood of Ontario. They are helped by Sabe, a 10,000- year-old shapeshifter, as well as a ghostly caribou and wolf. Director Amanda Strong is Michif Indigenous filmmaker currently based out of the unceded Coast Salish territory in Vancouver, British Columbia. This film is free to watch on YouTube.
êmîcêtôsêt – Many Bloodlines (Theola Ross, 2019)
This short documentary shares the story of a queer Cree filmmaker and her white partner as they navigate questions of race, culture, and gender roles on their journey to parenthood. Director Theola Ross is a social worker and filmmaker from Pimicikamak Cree Nation, Manitoba; now living in Tkaronto, Ontario. This film is free to watch on the National Screen Institute’s website.
Second Stories: Our Place in the Circle (Lorne Olsen, 2008)
In this documentary, director Lorne Olson works with Indigenous theatre professionals to recreate a striking vison he had of Two-Spirit people dancing, smiling, and laughing. He also shares his experiences as a Two-Spirit person working to accept himself and find his place in community. Lorne Olson is from the Brokenhead Ojibway Nation in Manitoba. This film is free to watch on the National Film Board’s website.
Link: https://www.nfb.ca/film/second_stories_-our_place_in_the_circle/
BOOKS
Love After the End: An Anthology of Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer Speculative Fiction
(edited by Joshua Whitehead, 2020)
Love After the End is a collection of speculative fiction short stories written by Two- Spirit and Indigiqueer authors. Each story provides an answer to the question, “What does it mean to be Two-Spirit during the apocalypse?”
Elatsoe (Darcie Little Badger, 2020)
The main character of this YA novel is Elatsoe, an asexual Lipan Apache teenager who can raise the ghosts of dead animals, including her best pal, her ghost dog Kirby. When her cousin is murdered, Elatsoe and Kirby set out to track down the killer and figure out what happened. Darcie Little Badger is a member of the Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas.
She Walks for Days Inside a Thousand Eyes: A Two Spirit Story (Sharron Proulx-Turner,
2008)
Sharron Proulx-Turner combines poetry and non-fiction to illuminate the connections between contemporary Two-Spirit Métis women and Two-Spirit women from history. The book strives to reclaim these historical women from the writings of Western anthropologists and missionaries. Sharron Proulx-Turner was a Two-Spirit writer and a member of the Métis Nation of Alberta.
Surviving the City series (Tasha Spillett)
The YA graphic novel series Surviving the City features two best friends, Miikwan, an Anishinaabe teen, and Dez, an Inninew teen, as they navigate life in an urban city, their developing friendship and Dez’s Two-Spirit identity. Author Tasha Spillett is a Cree/Trinidadian educator, author, and speaker.
Sovereign Erotics (ed. Qwo-Li Driskill, Daniel Heath Justice, Deborah Miranda, 2011)
Bringing together a variety of 2SLGBTQ+ Indigenous writers, this anthology includes poetry, fiction, non-fiction, and essays that reflect the diversity and complexity of Indigenous queer, trans, and Two-Spirit life.
INDIGENOUS 2SLGBTQ+ ORGANIZATIONS AND PROGRAMS
O:se Kenhionhata:tie recently opened the Willow River Centre, the only Indigiqueer-led space in the Region of Waterloo. Located in Kitchner, the space is open to Two-Spirit, IndigiQueer, and racialized LGBTQ+ community members to come together. The centre hosts Elders visits, feasts, arts markets, galleries, workshops, drumming, and much more.
Ever Sick! Indigenous Performing Arts and Entertainment is a Two-Spirit-led organization that builds community and provides support to Indigenous 2SLGBTQ+ people in Treaty 3, in Northwestern Ontario, by organizing events, workshops, and conferences. The organization includes the Haus of Ever Sick!, a group of Two-Spirit performers that host drag shows.
2-Spirited People of the First Nations is a non-profit organization that offers a variety of services and programming to Indigenous 2SLGBTQ+ people living in Toronto. The organization provides peer support, crisis response services, harm reduction services and supplies, and case management and wrap-around services. 2 Spirits also organizes workshops and cultural events, such as the yearly 2-Spirit Pow-Wow in Toronto, and youth groups, such as Zhawenim, a youth hand drum group.