Indigenous
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I write this letter to you
Dear Indigenous Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Queer, Trans, and Two-Spirit (LGBTQ2S+) Youth; I write this letter to you and at some subconscious level, I write this letter to a younger version of myself. The words I write here are meant to offer hope and to remind you of the strength, beauty, and wisdom that was inherited.…
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The Right Sequence: Guardians, Innovators, & Guides
I have these childhood memories of dancing, closing my eyes, and hoping that with the right sequence of steps and grace, I could call forth the rain. Then, there it was. The raindrops kissing my skin. The mud caressing my feet. My body bursting with joy and laughter being liberated. I remember the strike of…
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A Story To Be: Queer, Trans, & Indigenous
I grew up knowing who I was culturally. I was born and raised to be Diné (Navajo), but I was not allowed to be queer or trans (specifically non-binary femme). Those were identities that I was not meant to explore in my household or even in school. My memory is not the best, unfortunately, and…
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Telling (Creation) Stories in the 21st Century
I recently read TRAIL OF LIGHTNING by Rebecca Roanhorse (Ohkay Owingeh /Black/Navajo in-law). It is considered a Sci-Fi/Fantasy postapocalyptic/dystopian book that takes place sometime in the near/far(?) future and the main character is a Diné womxn. Below is Amazon’s description of the book: While most of the world has drowned beneath the sudden rising waters…
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An Ever Changing One: ‘Two Spirit’ Limitations
One of the things I probably have not thoroughly discussed since I have had this blog is my English “gender identity”. I emphasize ‘English’ because there is a specific cultural, spiritual, socio-political identity within Diné ontologies that I am perceived and that I identified with. As I have shared in a past blog post, my Diné…
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Being Home: Emerging 2018 Thoughts
It has been twenty-three days since the start of 2018. Since December 20, 2017, I have been in the midst of the red mesas and canyon walls familiar to my soul; surrounded by the juniper berries and slumbering yucca plants, healing and reflecting upon the completion of 2017 and my first semester of graduate school.…
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Anti-Blackness in Native Communities
About a year ago, I wrote a paper titled ‘Bondage, Resistance, and Belonging’, outlining the relationship between Indigenous Peoples within the ‘US’ and enslaved Africans, with a particular focus on the Choctaw, Seminole, Cherokee, Creek, and Chickasaw or known as the “Five Civilized Tribes”. My paper was an attempt to analyze it from the…
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Rock Your Moccasins 2017
It’s #RockYourMocs week! This is my third year participating in the annual Rock Your Moccasins during Native American/Indigenous Peoples’ Heritage Month. #RockYourMocs is in its 7th Annual year. It was started in 2010 by Jessica “Jaylyn” Atsye, a member of the Laguna Pueblo in New Mexico. #RockYourMocs was becoming internationally known as a moment for Indigenous…