street roots
Feb. 3, 2012
‘Two-spirit’ people work to keep native tradition, respect alive
BY A M Y LAM
C O N T R IB U T IN G C O L U M N IS T
or Se-ah-dom Edmo, her Native
community’s inclusion of Two-Spirit
people had never been in doubt. As
a child her parents taught her by example to
______________
be supportive of
everyone in their
M
STATO
community. She
remembers her
family taking in a
UNITING young gay Native
m COMMUNITIES man that had been
expelled by his
Am y Lam is the
own family.
Development &
The term “Two Spirit” was created in the
Communications
1980s as a term to unite and bring together
Associate at the
Western States
Native peoples with multiple gender and
Center, which aims to
sexual identities. It acknowledges that
build a progressive
before colonization, individuals with multiple
movement by
gender and sexual identities in many Native
supporting grassroots
organizations. The
communities — who today might be called
Center’s Uniting
lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer
Communities project
- were not only accepted, but honored and
works with
respected.
organizations based
During colonization Europeans targeted
in communities o f
color to advance
Two Spirit people with violence because
LG BTQ equality.
they did not fit into the European Christian
concepts of gender and sexuality. However,
as describe in a statement by the First
Nations Collective in 2011, “LGBT history
in this land known as America began long
before Stonewall. LGBT First Nations
people have celebrated multiple gendered
people for millennia, and since the
European Invasions, have struggled to keep
F
J
this and other traditions alive.”
“I’ve seen too many Two-Spirit people
leaving our community just so they can be
who they are. Our community cannot afford
to lose any more people. We lose people to
alcoholism, diabetes, depression, all these
things that hit our community extra hard.
We can’t afford to push people out just
because they are Two Spirit,” she said.
Se-ah-dom is the coordinator of the
Indigenous Ways of Knowing (IWOK)
Program, a Lewis & Clark College project
that works to empower tribal communities
through education rooted in traditional
indigenous beliefs.
“In many Native traditions, being
supportive of Two-Spirit individuals and
families has been an ideology that many
Native folks still believe in and carry
forward,” Se-ah-dom said. “To reclaim
traditional practices is an exercise of Native
people’s sovereignty.”
IWOK has been able to advance this
inclusivity work with support from Western
States Center’s Uniting Communities
project, which aims to raise up the needs,
leadership and experiences of LGBTQ
people of color in Oregon and Nevada.
IWOK and the Center hosted a joint training
for Native American Rehabilitation
Association of the Northwest (NARA
Northwest) staff, because NARA wished to
ensure that as a direct service provider, it
was welcoming all members of its
community.
IWOK also plans to develop tribal codes
and policies that recognize Two-Spirit
people. “We hope this resource will provide
Tribes in the northwest and across the
nation with ideas on how to initiate policy
change,” Se-ah-dom said. “And because
Northwest Tribes are big economic
development centers and employ many
people, they are unique allies in the fight for
LGBTQ equality in general.”
IWOK also works with members of
Portland Two-Spirit Society, a newly formed
organization of Two-Spirit people working to
support one another and engage the
community.
“Homophobia and transphobia are
harmful to our spirits. Native people think
and operate very holistically. Hostile and
negative attitudes towards any members of
our community affect us all,” said Se-ah-
dom.
The collaboration between IWOK and
NARA Northwest not only continues; it is
blossoming. On Feb. 11, together with
Portland State University and Western
States Center, they will be hosting
“Honoring the Two Spirit Traditions, A
Place for Everyone,” a day long training for
Native Americans.
“We are hoping for a full representation
from our community, from elders, youth and
parents.”
More information can be found at
graduate. Iclark. edu/live/news/14687
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