From 2018, but I need my #TwoSpirit uplifted these days! (And the picture is so beautiful!)
#NativeAmerican Two-Spirits Look to Reclaim Lost Heritage
Read more:
https://www.voanews.com/a/native-american-two-spirits-look-to-reclaim-lost-heritage/4440354.html
How did I miss this [ the show #TheLowdown ]!!! Getting my #WillieJack fix tonight (while prepping some Indigenous foods to cook up tomorrow)! I LOVE WILLIE JACK!
Re-connected with a dear friend (who is like a younger sister to me) tonight. We will be doing genealogy research on our #NativeAmerican ancestors, sharing #NativeAmericanFoods and recipes, and re-learning and learning new dances for upcoming #Powwows! To reconnecting with #Sisters!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbrvwaVXJ48
#Halluci_Nation #ATribeCalledRed #NativeAmericans #Indigiqueer #SharingInformation #SharingKnowledge #Connection #CommunityFirst
A Tribe Called Red- Sisters ft Northern Voice(2013) A Tribe Called Red / Tribal Spirit Music / Pirates BlendBuy on iTunes: http://bit.ly/1gxWTEr www.atribeca...
WATERLOO REGION COMMUNITY RALLIES FOR WILLOW RIVER CENTRE
Downtown Kitchener’s Willow River Centre (WRC), an Indigiqueer led community center, and the brick-and-mortar base for Land Back Camp, was recently in imminent danger of closing.
After receiving less grant money than anticipated, the WRC’s budget could no longer sustain their rent. For an organization whose mission is largely to provide a safe space for marginalized people, this issue presented a very formidable challenge.
In an effort mainly organized by the Palestinian Youth Movement, a banquet and fundraiser were organized in a short time.
“We had nothing to do with it, either…We just gave them our social media passwords, and they ran with it,” Bangishimo, co-founder of the centre said.
With 200 tickets sold, 12 community sponsors, 86 donated raffle items, a meal provided by nine local businesses and plenty of volunteers, the fundraiser brought in over $27,000. The WRC was able to stay alive.
“It was the most on point organizing I’ve ever seen,” Amy Smoke, the WRC’s other co-founder, said.
The fundraiser was a triumph for the centre and the region at large.
A large portion of the WRC’s funding comes from the Upstream Fund, a fund created in 2022 to support community organizations and build a more harmonious and happier Waterloo Region.
Upstream draws its money from the regional budget and aims to prioritize groups that service underrepresented, racialized, or marginalized people.
Initially, the Community Edition reported in the June issue that the WRC’s funding issues were caused by Upstream extending their eligibility beyond Indigenous and Black organizations. With a greater pool of people to compete for funds, less money overall could be distributed to each individual group.
This however, has proven to be untrue. While many of Upstream’s recipients are and have been Black and Indigenous, they have never been exclusively so. Furthermore, Upstream is not currently providing funds to more people than before. Their records consistently show cohorts numbering between 30 and 40 members each year since they started.
According to the WRC’s grant writer, Robyn Schwarz, hard times are coming for nonprofits across the board. With a conservative government, whose mandate is to cut taxes, money for publicly funded services is drying up.
“[The majority of Regional Council] wants a five per cent increase, but that’s actually a cut, because in order to keep current services where they are, we need about 12 per cent,” Schwarz said.
Schwarz said nonprofits are particularly affected because Ontario’s provincial government and Canada’s federal government currently prioritize business support over social services.
With only a five per cent tax increase (less than half of what Schwarz predicts is needed) nonprofits are the first to lose funding. Upstream gets cut, and by extension, so does the WRC.
“Basically, the thing to blame is that we’re under a government right now that doesn’t want to tax things and doesn’t want to fund the nonprofit sector,” Schwarz said.
Regardless of government funding, a substantial portion of the community wants to support organizations like the WRC, and that support was felt by Smoke and Bangishimo.
“We were wrapped in care, and it was really lovely to be held by other people,” Smoke said.
Despite the economic instability and the challenges of working as a nonprofit under a conservative government, the WRC is committed to keep working.
“We’re still grant writing, still getting funds to continue doing what we need to do. Regardless of what happens in a brick and mortar, Land Back is a movement. We’re not going anywhere,” Smoke said.
#AmySmoke #Bangishimo #BangishimoJohnston #blackAndIndigenous #ChristoffLeRoux #DowntownKitchener #Indigiqueer #landbackCamp #localActivism #PalestinianYouthMovement #RobynSchwarz #upstream #willowRiverCenter #wrc #ZackMason
Some of these short stories were really good.
3/5: In the introduction, editor Joshua Whitehead says that the anthology had originally been dystopia themed but after everything (namely covid and the world being on fire), the focus was shifted to utopias. I’d say it’s still very dystopian and that makes it a bit heavy reading. There is a hopeful silver lining in each story, though. This was a mixed bunch. Some stories were very good, some would’ve needed a LOT more work. My favorites were Abacus, Andwànikàdjigan, Seed Children, and especially Eloise.
I present to you all my contribution to Pride Month, as welcomed by the Bay Mills Community College! #PrideMonth #Pride #TwoSpirit #LGBTQIA #IndigenousArt #IndigiArt #Indigiqueer #Indigenous
#Minneapolis #powwow celebrates belonging for #TwoSpirit, #queer community
#TwoSpiritPowwow invites natives to dress and dance on their own terms.
By Auds Jenkins
June 23, 2023
"Em Matson leaned intently over a long table to arrange the delicate pieces of water lily appliqué.
"Amid the mechanical whir of sewing machines and the lively chatter during a community regalia making night, Matson zeroed in on the task at hand: finishing their ribbon pants in time for the Two Spirit Powwow.
"On Saturday, New Native Theater will sponsor Minneapolis' second annual 'Reclaiming Our Identities' Two Spirit Powwow, part of a burgeoning movement of powwows across the country that honor Two Spirit and #indigiqueer (Indigenous and queer) people.
"'I can't wait to see everybody turn out. I know that if you come specifically to this powwow, it means you support our community,' said Wase Mannidu Ikwe, a Two Spirit person of the Rocky Boy Chippewa Cree Tribe. 'It's nice to see our allies. As Two Spirits, we make large impacts in the native community. We are valid.'
"'Two Spirit' is an umbrella term derived from the #Anishnaabe '#NiizhManidoowag' (literally translated as "two spirits") that describes native people who exist outside the #GenderBinary and hold sacred roles in their communities.
"Popularized by activists in the 1990s, the term honors multiplicity within native conceptions of gender identity and spirituality. It also reflects a pre-colonial legacy of gender diversity that is being reclaimed today.
"'Prior to European #colonization, #GenderDiversity was the norm for many tribes. Gender was based on your roles and responsibilities, not what you looked like,' said Matson, a Two Spirit of the Sault Ste. Marie Ojibwe and one of the organizers of Minneapolis' Two Spirit Powwow.
"In the months leading up to the powwow, organizers have hosted regalia-making nights for local Two Spirit and indigiqueer folks to make ceremonial clothing that authentically represents their identities.
"'Our goal was for you to come and make whatever makes you feel comfortable,' said organizer Beth Seidl of the White Earth Band of Chippewa. 'We wanted everyone to feel safe, without any chance of someone coming by and saying, 'You're a boy. Why are you making a ribbon skirt?' if that's not how they identify."
#Minnesota #Decolonize #NonBinary
#GBLTQI #Activism
#Reclamation #Indigiqueer
'We are medicine': Saturday's #TwoSpiritPowwow celebrates #LGBTQ+ community amid adversity
by Madeline Nguyen
Arizona Republic
Feburary 16, 2024
"The fourth annual #Arizona #TwoSpirit #Powwow will celebrate the state’s two-spirit and LGBTQ+ communities on Saturday at South Mountain Community College in Phoenix.
[...]
"Historically, two-spirit individuals were esteemed as talented and respected members of their communities, often assuming roles as healers and visionaries. However, with the spread of colonization and conservative Christian values, they began to face discrimination.
"'Powwows were meant for a social gathering of different tribal communities, and they came together, danced, sang, had fun, and it was a way for each of us to socialize with each other,' said Navi Ho, a cochair of the powwow who identifies as two spirit. 'So in that sense, being part of the two-spirit, LGBT community, we never felt welcome at a powwow because of the colonial thought that gay people are not welcome or queer people are not welcome.'
"Saturday’s powwow seeks to assist two-spirit individuals within the local community in reclaiming their identities. This will be achieved by removing the binary gender divisions typically found at standard contest powwows and instead focusing on nonbinary categories, Ho explained.
"The event will showcase drum groups and dancing contests catering to attendees of all ages, from 'tiny tots' to adults. Additionally, there will be a market featuring local LGBTQ+ or allied businesses selling art and other goods, along with various food trucks offering frybread, kettle corn, and shaved ice. Moreover, booths representing local organizations and providing free testing for sexually transmitted infections will be available to connect attendees with community resources, Long explained.
"The event aims to not only give two-spirit and LGBTQ+ people an opportunity to celebrate their identities but to also educate people of all ages within the local community about what it means to be two-spirit, according to Ho.
"'We are medicine within our community,' they said. 'We are that sacred piece that once we come back into the circle, the sacred circle, we will complete it. So that’s all there — there’s unity; there’s love; there’s connection. And so this is very important for our community.'"
#Decolonize #NonBinary
#GBLTQI #Activism
#Reclamation #Indigiqueer
#IndigenousYouth
DoomsdaysCW
The Community Edition
ship
William Deaffie
Danilynn Jiibay (ᐧᐋᐸᓄᑮᔑᒃ)