Casting call for “Will You Still Love Me When I’m Fuzzy?”

I’ve just been accepted to the Queer Women of Color Media Arts Project’s Filmmaker training program and am getting ready to start pre-production for my third film! This semi-autobiographical short film is about a cis woman coming to terms with the news that her trans boyfriend is going to start taking hormones. Though initially she does not handle the news very well, she ultimately realizes that her love for her partner vastly outweighs her fear of what the future holds.

This scene is from a longer film I hope to eventually shoot about about a young mixed queer woman navigating the unspoken rules of nonprofit culture and growing in her relationship with her partner, a young trans man navigating transphobia in the university. I chose to shoot this segment of the film for QWOCMAP because of its potential as tool for teaching cis folks that we are not the center of the universe. And also because I think there need to be more open/honest dialogues about how we navigate power and privilege in interracial and queer/trans relationships.

I am looking for queer and trans actors in their twenties to fill the following roles:

Naima is a mixed-race woman with naturally big, curly hair. She loves Theo and tries to support him the best she can, but when Theo tells her he’s going to start taking hormones, she panics. She is fearful of the prejudice he will face, and how it may shape their life together.

Theo is femme trans guy (any race). He loves his partner, Naima, and when he “comes out” about starting hormones, he’s surprised by how upset she gets and begins to worry that transitioning might test the strength of their relationship.

Ray can be of any gender or race. Ray is the best friend that calls Naima out on her selfishness, which helps Naima see she was in the wrong and make amends with Theo.

I’ll be shooting this spring in Oakland. If you’re interested or have questions, please hit me up at NMKCasting@gmail.com.

ArtActivistNia.tumblr.com

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“Stomp Dance: Two-Spirit Gathering (A Giveaway Poem),” a new performance by Cherokee author Qwo-Li Driskill:

Short video from Mangos with Chili’s “RECLAIMING THE RITES: performance honoring the sacred of our queer and trans of color lives.” Poem published in Yellow Medicine Review: A Journal of Indigenous Literature, Art and Thought (Fall 2012). Chip Livingston, Editor.

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U of A conference looks into the world of two-spirited people

cassket:

EDMONTON - For Dr. James Makokis, being native and gay means coming from a long line of valued healers.

Aboriginal people who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered call themselves two spirited. “There have always been a place for two-spirited people in our communities,” says Makokis, a local doctor and a keynote speaker for at a conference this weekend on two-spirited people.

The University of Alberta is hosting the conference, which it believes is a first for a major research university in Canada. The conference is also connected to a one-man play, Agokwe, which runs until Nov. 11 at the Catalyst Theatre. In Agokwe, actor Waawaate Fobister remembers his own first love interest and heartbreak on a northern Ontario reserve.

Makokis grew up on the Saddle Lake Cree Nation and now lives in Edmonton. He works three days a week as a family physician in the southern Alberta Siksika reserve.

Growing up, his home was a traditional one, and his family regularly attended ceremonies and prayers. When he came out as gay at 17, it started a long search to understand what that meant for Cree people of the plains and woodlands before colonization.

Makokis had always been different. He liked to play with dolls and girls when he was a young child, and his family accepted it. It only became a problem for those around him when he went off reserve to school in St. Paul. The bullying was difficult in junior and senior high.

But when he actually came out as gay, his father was the one who had the most difficulty accepting it. His father went to residential school, and Makokis blames his struggle on “the effects of homophobia within Christianity, especially as it was in the residential school. Anybody that was different was punished, so if you were two-spirited in a residential school, it was even worse.”

His parents sought support from their family and understanding in books. “My mom went out and bought 30 books or something like that about having a son that’s gay. She would read to my dad at night. They would just sit there and cry,” he said, as they read stories of parents reacting in fury and abandoning their children.

“They would never want that to happen to me.”

Together, the three of them also sought help and understanding by questioning the elders about the traditional place of two-spirited people.

Remembered through oral history, there are stories of key leaders who were two-spirited, Makokis said. In ceremonies, aboriginal people pray toward each of the four directions, and the being to the north has two-spirit qualities.

The teaching is that this being came into the world with two body parts, male and female, and the community recognized it was going to be a time of great change.

Aboriginal people have differentiated themselves from within the larger gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered community since the 1990s, giving themselves the name two-spirited while learning more about their traditions. Some scholars have remarked on how the terms used to describe gay men or woman in many aboriginal languages do not carry pejorative meanings.

In Cree, the word Ayeekwe simply means “people that cannot have children,” Makokis said.

Their traditional role in society was to help around the home and to be a healer, and it’s interesting to look around at his aboriginal medical colleagues, Makokis said. By his count, there is a much higher than average representation of homosexual people, but he hasn’t seen any quantifiable data. Still, it feels good to think about, he said. “That’s an interesting positive perspective to put on it.”

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queernonymoose:

Two Spirit/LGBT Rights Toolkit for Tribal Governments Introduced

cassket:

A first-of-its-kind guide complete with sample legal language is now available for tribal governments to adopt or amend their laws to recognize the rights of all their citizens, including Two Spirit and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people.

The “Tribal Equity Toolkit: Tribal Resolutions and Codes to Support Two Spirit and LGBT Justice in Indian Country” made its debut on September 26 when it was introduced to delegates at the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians’ 59th Annual Fall Convention at the Wild Horse Resort & Casino in Pendleton, Oregon.

“Our hope is to begin to construct a cohesive narrative about Two Spirit & LGBT Natives within our own Tribal communities and for those stories to compel us to take action,” said Se-ah-dom Edmo, director of the Indigenous Ways of Knowing Program at Lewis & Clark College, which developed the toolkit in partnership with the Native American Program of Legal Aid Services of Oregon, Basic Rights Oregon and theWestern States Center. The Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians supported the work.

Edmo said inspiration for the project came from the landmark decisions by the Coquille Tribe and the Suquamish Tribe recognizing same sex marriage in 2008 and 2011, respectively.

The comprehensive toolkit is packed with legal information and structured around the categories of Family; Employment; Education’ Health Care/End of Life; and Bias-Motivated (Hate) Crimes. Each category is broken subjects. Family, for example, is broken into Marriage, Domestic Partnerships and Civil Unions, Children, Child Custody and Visitation, and Child Welfare. Each section includes one or more sample resolutions. Marriage, for example, includes the Tribal Resolution in Support of Two Spirit Equality and the Freedom to Marry and a Marriage Equality Ordinance.”

In addition, Basic Rights produced an eight-minute video called “Our Families: LGBT Two Spirit Stories” featuring the personal stories of LGBT tribal members. In the video Phillip Hillarie, a Lummi Nation citizen, advises, “Any Two Spirit person who is able and willing to come out, I would encourage them to reach to their elders. I want young people to keep hold of their families, who can help them to build that hope and trust in who they are.”

Also, the organizations also produced a two-page flier called “Why Marriage Matters” that supports a Washington state ballot initiative – Referendum 74 – upholding same sex marriage that goes before voters in November.

Robert Kentta, a Siletz Tribe citizen, council member and Cultural Resources Director, provides an eloquent foreword to the toolkit. He delineates the historic wrongs by which the dominant culture treated Indigenous Peoples as less than human – stolen lands, genocide, introduced diseases, children snatched and placed in hateful “institutions of assimilation.” Having been wronged, Kentta writes, “all of us…have a strong sense of what social justice is and what it should look like.” Two spirit people have special roles in the communities, cultures and ceremonial life, Kentta says. “Our people were strong and beautiful in our traditional understanding of life, and that we all have different gifts. Two Spirit indicates an ability to see the world from both male and female perspectives and to bridge the world of male and female. The concept of balance is important in our traditional views, and balance can be between individuals or groups or within a particular individual. Two Spirit captures that concept of balance within an individual.” Noting that Two Spirit people have been “invisibilized and stigmatized” he says tribes now have a chance to “protect and preserve Two Spirit and LGBT narratives as an essential piece to preservation of our cultures.” The toolkit provides tribal governments the opportunity to reflect on how they are either perpetuating policies that are damaging to the community or policies and laws that uphold and demonstrate a commitment to justice and equity as enduring community values, Kentta says. “The work compiled here – with love and understanding, is just what it says it is – a toolkit. It does not dictate, it does not ask anything of you but to read it and decide what you believe in, and what core principles you stand for. It gives our communities another set of tools for restoring ourselves.”

The free toolkit will be available November 1 on the website of the Indigenous Ways of Knowing Program.

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What does it mean to be “Two Spirit?”

Walking in the land of our ancestors,
Walking along with our hearts open,
Walking close to the Creator,
Walking with passion,
yet hiding who we are.

Today I go to a powwow,
wishing in my heart
to be a Switch Dancer;
Eating frybread and laughing
with my people.

Deep in my heart,
I want to walk hand in hand
with my love,
as we sing on the powwow trail,
I want my love sitting behind me,
as I sing the songs of my elders and honor our ancestors.

Two Spirit is who I am.
I pick and choose which of my
people to tell.

Weye Hlapsi (via icey1001992)

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Check this out!

nock-knock:

                                         

November 2 - 3, 2012
Campus St. Jean, University of Alberta
Edmonton, Canada

 

The University of Alberta is excited to make history by hosting the first Two Spirit conference held in Alberta. To our knowledge this is also the first conference of its kind to be hosted by a major research university in Canada. Building on the success of the 2011 AMIQAAQ conference, our 2012 conference theme is: Born This Way: Two Spirit Voices. This ground-breaking conference is supported through the Office of the Provost Vice President (Academic). Working in conjunction with the Institute for Sexual Minority Studies and Services (iSMSS), Edmonton’s Two Spirit Society, Exposure Committee, and many others we are able to provide an unprecedented opportunity to “break the silence” that has long surrounded sex, sexual and gender differences in our families, cultures, and communities.

At this conference participants will learn about Two Spirit individuals, cultures, and communities; interrogate hetero and gender normativity which often renders many sexual and gender minorities invisible and silent; share stories and experiences of community advocacy, struggle, healing, reconciliation, and knowledge building; and create new networks of support to transform our communities into spaces of hope and possibility for all to be welcomed and valued for their unique individual cultures and identities. 
To see the keynotes, click here. 

(Thanks to theesussing for pointing this out!)

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…. Indigenous women are already involved in in all kinds of nation building – from raising and educating children to the front lines of direct action, to professionals using their credentials to undermine and critique colonialism. Far too often, these contributions go unrecognized, unappreciated and uncelebrated. Women have always been resisting and re-building, and the vast majority of this work has been done and is being done outside of the bounds of the Indian Act and Aboriginal organizations. This unrecognized labour, inspiration and unending contribution forms the backbone of our families and communities, and family and community are the backbone of our political systems.
Queering Resurgence: Taking on Heteropatriarchy in Indigenous Nation-Building by Leanne Simpson (via jhameia)

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Part 1 of As They Are: Two Spirits in Two Worlds, a produced by USC students under the Department of Anthropology and the Institute for Multimedia Literacy.

Part 2
Part 3

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Rainbow and red: Queer American Indians from New York to San Francisco are showing both their spirits.

An extensive article about the Northeast Two Spirit Society, that has some interesting thoughts on creating connections with historic two-spirit identities while acknowledging and existing as modern people.

“There was a time on this land in which we did have full equality,” he comments. “There was a gender analysis with an open acceptance of same-sex couples and relationships. There was a place for all of it, and I think that it’s a shame that it’s been ignored.” Pruden sees this history as crucial to current two-spirit identity. “There is a model there that can be reactivated, claimed and worked on”, he says, although he adds hastily, “There is no going back to a traditional model.” 

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késsé cé ça?! (what is?)

2spiritskillshare:

What is the 2Spirit Skillshare? What is the work of a 2Spirit Skillshare?

The Two-Spirit Skillshare is a project of Tities Wîcinímintôwak/Bluejays Dancing Together Arts Collective. 
We come together to meet the needs of the 2Spirit Collective such as making, viewing, discussing Native art, culture and cultural theory.
The Skillshare brings together Indigenous people to create work and exchange knowledge that speaks to being Native to Turtle Island. This work helps us to connect to ourselves as 2Spirit people while allowing for these self-labels to be engaged through a creative process. A Skillshare honours that we all have expertise and knowledge to share and that these skills are important in revitalizing and reclaiming our traditions. We also honour that this knowledge comes from many places including lived experience, academia, culture, family, oral traditions, observations, and more. We do workshops and art-making to build community while creating work that reflect our stories, bodies and strengths.
The Two-Spirit Skillshare is about self-determined creative process as much as it is about final product. Spending time together in a deliberate way, using art-making and knowledge sharing as the means for connection, is Indigenous art.

Who is the Tities Wicinimintowak/Blue Jays Dancing Together Arts Collective?

We are artists, writers, educators, community workers and activists. We are all-encompassing of Indigenous expressions of our genders and sexualities. 

Who is the 2Spirit Skillshare for?

Anyone who self-identifies as Native to North America and Two-Spirit, Queer, Trans, Questioning of their gender, sexuality, gender roles and responsibilities - or knows how to refer to themselves in their Original languages. Friends and family of two-spirit people are welcome. We are finding ways for non-Native supporters to be involved in specific roles, as determined by the collective.

How can I get involved?

If you self-identify with what we are doing and how we work you can
submit a workshop proposal (verbal or written)
attend workshops
spread the word
assist with donations (see our wish list)

Where can I find updates? 

2spiritskillshare.tumblr.com — or — email us at 2spiritskillshare@gmail.com

Wish list

regular access to a free, accessible community space
art supplies (specifics?)
free web design
flip chart
markers
flip chart stand
gift cards
shelter (for powwows)
banner (for everywhere)
free printing (b&w and colour)
food
juice
personal art donations for gifts

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