#nadleehi

[mad-intersex-mermaid]

For this Native American History Month, I wanna send a special shout out to intersex Native and Indigenous folks, to gender non-conforming Native and Indigenous folks, to nonbinary Native and Indigenous folks, to genderfluid Native and Indigenous folks, and especially to intersex Black Native and Afro-Indigenous folks, to gender non-conforming Black Native and Afro-Indigenous folks, to nonbinary Black Native and Afro-Indigenous folks, to genderfluid Black Native and Afro Indigenous folks.

I'm Black Native and Afro-Indigenous; my gender identity is nonbinary and genderfluid, and in context with me discovering and reclaiming gender identities and gender expression descriptors from my Native/Indigenous culture and especially from specific Indigenous groups in my blood, I'm nadleehi (Navajo/Diné), asegi udanto (Tsalagi), sxints (Nuxalk), atsione (Tsalagi) and dilbaa (Navajo/Diné again). (I also have extensive heritage from Algonquin, Lakota, Blackfoot, Métis, Iroquois, Seminole, Nêhiyaw, Mi'kmaw, etc. and many, many, many, many other tribes.)

Then on top of that, I found out I was born intersex which I found out later in life, which along with me learning the history of how Native Americans have often held intersex folks, androgynous folks, feminine males and masculine females in high respect has been a very healing and enlightening part of my journey, culturally and expression wise.

In fact, I've been thinking about how American western culture fixates on sex and gender way too much and mainly in context of forcing colonialist eurowestern gender boxes on folks, especially black and indigenous folks, forcing labels or labelessness on us too often. And as an Afro-indigenous woman/femme, I've already been in the process of deprogramming from colonialist gender norms and reconnecting with my blackness and my Native/Indigenous American and Indigenous/Aboriginal roots, and at times my gender expression and identity intersects with that. Lily Gladstone (who uses she and singular they pronouns) worded it perfectly as decolonizing gender and that's the journey I've been on, and a journey that I'm still on as it's ever evolving and increasingly more nuanced and complex.

Anyways, I just wanna say that I love you guys, I see you and I wanna send out as much love, light and warmth to many of you as possible. 💕💕

[nativemissfit]

[lillian-darby]

"Nadleehi–Legends of Navajo Two-Spirits" by Mark Carlson-Ghost in 'Celebrating diversity in culture, myth and history'.

This was one hell of a read :oo I highly recommend.

https://www.markcarlson-ghost.com/index.php/2017/12/16/nadleehi-legends-navajo-two-spirit/

"A Navajo elder named Klah was said to be a nadleehi. In the 1920s, Klah said that the nadleehi who helped the men during the separation of the sexes was named Kay-des-tizhi, literally “Wrapped in a Rainbow.” Klah’s picture is featured at the top of this post. He suggested that it also was Kay-des-tizhi who hid the sacred male and female reeds beneath his rainbow cloak to rescue the people from the flood."

[profeminist]

The Navajo Culture's Four Different Genders

“Last night PBS aired Two Spirits, the season finale of their Independent Lens series, which detailed the traditional Navajo belief that there we are living in a many-gendered world, one that includes many more sexes that just male and female.

Filmmaker Lydia Nibley seeks to explain the Navajo idea of the nádleehí, which translates in English to "one who constantly transforms." Their culture, along with other Native American heritages, believe there's at least four genders: male, female, male with a feminine essence, and female with a masculine essence.”

Read the full piece and watch the video here