#plains cree

[nikkiitalks]

Little girl in pink regalia does a Blackfoot & Plains Cree dance celebrating the Prairie Chicken, Source unknown.

[pingintech]

there is a lot of exclusionary and divisive trans discourse on this website these days in the midst of it all it can be hard for some people to remember we are all one community and as a result we neglect important conversations we should likely rather be having so today i want to talk about 2S identities both for education and positivity and to talk for a bit about how colonialism has changed the way we talk about gender

✨two spirit appreciation post ✨

first lets talk about what 2 spirit and why the term is important

a lot of people here on turtle island tend to have very black and white perspectives on sex and gender and gendered roles in american society but when people say gender is a social construct thats not just a catchy slogan it is something purposefully constructed that changes over time with societal values and it is a fairly new social construct especially within the context of turtle island

before colonization the social values held around gender sex and gender roles held by the people indigenous to this land were incredibly varied and complex and specific to each groups cultural and spiritual beliefs and values but they were overwhelmingly beliefs that not only viewed sex and gender as complex and fluid but celebrated those born with complex relationships with sex and gender and saw them as important spiritual members of their communities

after colonization indigenous people were killed en masse and separated children from their families in order to force their children into boarding schools because only through force and violence could colonizers make it seem as if their own cultural and societal values were not only normal and rational but righteous and moral

if sex and gender were truly binary and men belonged at the top of our societal hierarchy naturally and women were made to be subservient to men if these were truly normal civilized and natural ways of viewing the world it would not require genocide in order to enforce it

2 spirit describes an anti colonial movement within indigenous communities in attempt to form community around indigenous spiritual and cultural beliefs around sex and gender based on their own cultural and religious histories

2 spirit typically describes someone who holds both feminine and masculine spirits simultaneously but it has a wide range of meanings related to individual cultural beliefs

2 spirit is a term for indigenous people based on the history of indigenous peoples and only indigenous people can claim this identity

while the vast array of experiences 2 spirit can describe have existed long before colonization and have deep roots in each respective culture the term 2 spirit itself was coined by Anishinaabe elder Myra Laramee in 1990 During the Third Annual Intertribal Native American, First Nations, Gay and Lesbian American Conference the term 2 spirit comes from the Anishnaabemowin term niizh manidoowag which literally translates to two-spirits

not all 2 spirit people consider themselves trans or even queer and as these spiritual and cultural beliefs long outdate the modern trans or queer communities its frankly completely understandable as these identities are a natural part of their own culture

the issues 2 spirit indigenous people face and their issues are absolutely issues important to and similar to the struggles of trans people as a whole not only are 2 spirit identities counter to american beliefs about sex and gender and as a result gender expression in 2 spirit indigenous people specifically is often punished but gender expression within indigenous communities even outside of 2 spirit peoples is often punished by american patriarchy as american views around sex and gender are structurally imperialist euro centric and white supremacist and has no allowance for cultural diversity in terms of sex and gender

the laws and policies around sex and gender that disadvantage women at the expense of men that punish diversity in gender expression and identity are antithetical to many indigenous peoples core cultural and spiritual values and decolonizing our views around sex and gender is incredibly important for us to do within our own queer communities

2 spirit as a term also isnt meant to replace other terms from indigenous communities that describe cultural spiritual and historical beliefs around sex gender and gender expectations and there are many terms that are used to describe fluidity in gender and gender roles in their respective cultures such as

agokwe agokwe-nini okitcitakwe and ogokwe in Anishinaabemowin

etuijijaqimijinui'k and l'nuk in Mi'kmaq

nàdleehé in Dine or Navajo

aayahkwew Înahpîkasoht napêhkân iskwewak napêw iskwêwisêhot and iskwêw ka napêwayat in Cree and Plains Cree

winyanktehca winkte winkta and wintike in Dakota

sipiniq arnaasiaq angutaasiaq and choupan in Inuktitut

tuučuk and čakusšƛ in Nuuh-chah-nulth

titqattek in Ktunaxa

aakíí’skassi in Siksikáí’powahsin

miáti in Hidatsa

and many many more

2 spirit people across tribes and cultures and religions you belong in our community

trans people should absolutely be fighting for the rights and issues of indigenous folks but especially for those of our 2 spirit siblings

the trans community could absolutely learn quite a few things from 2 spirit elders about sex and gender and how to deconstruct our views around them

anti colonialism and anti imperialism are trans issues

and a world where first nations and inuit peoples have sovereignty over their own lands is one that benefits us all especially as queer people

i am not indigenous myself and while i think 2 spirit identities are really important in discussions of the trans community as their beliefs around sex and gender and gender expectations and roles far predate modern concepts of the trans community or even the queer community at large as we understand it today it is not my place to define these terms and thats why im not a lot of the information used in this post is based primarily on the information found on sites like these as well as descriptions and discussions of 2 spirit identity and community weve heard from actual 2 spirit people in our own community https://w2sa.ca/two-spirit-library/understanding-the-term-two-spirit https://www.theindigenousfoundation.org/articles/the-history-of-two-spirit-folks https://waapihk.com/2025/06/07/histories-of-two-spirit-identity/

[neechees]

Today's Cree Word of the Day is:

cîstahowin: Vaccination

[allthecanadianpolitics]

Plains Cree doctor slams Alberta premier’s transgender policy

A physician from Saddle Lake Cree Nation in Alberta is slamming Alberta Premier Danielle Smith's transgender policy.

A Plains Cree physician who practices family medicine in Alberta says it’s shameful that Conservative Premier Danielle Smith is playing politics with transgender issues.

“It’s really important to know that people don’t do this [gender affirmation] lightly,” said Dr. James Makokis, who identifies as Two-Spirit and works directly with trans patients. “It is something that they’ve known their entire life.

“And clinicians do thorough assessments of ensuring that people when they say they’re trans, they’re trans and we just ensure that there’s not medical contra-indications to doing so and there is a thorough assessment process of that.”

On Wednesday, Smith announced a number of policy changes on social media that will restrict medical access to those seeking gender affirmation therapy – especially transgender youth.

Full article

Tagging: @politicsofcanada

[comraderelic]

[aworldofpattern]

Lily Gladstone at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, wearing custom duck feather top by Plains Cree designer Jontay Kahm.

[wintercountings]

Cree Moccasins, 1894-1960

[Image description: a pair of Native Moccasins made from deer hide. The inside and soles are a faded greyish-tan color. The outer rim of the foot of the moccasin has white beads with diamonds with alternating colors of blue and yellow, and lined thickly in red, evenly spaced against the white. The inside of the rim has a background of blue beads with a vertically stacked, dark yellow, horizontal diamond design, outlined with white that are outlined in red. A single white & red rectangle sits at the centre of the two diamonds. End image description.]

[old-powwow-days]

2 Spirit Dream Catcher Dot Com by Theo Jean Cuthand

“2 Spirit Dreamcatcher Dot Com queers and indigenizes traditional dating site advertisements. Using a Butch NDN "lavalife" lady (performed by director Thirza Cuthand), 2 Spirit Dreamcatcher Dot Com seduces the viewer into 2 Spirit "snagging and shacking up" with suggestions of nearby pipeline protests to take your date to, and helpful elders who will matchmake you and tell off disrespectful suitors. It's the culturally appropriate website all single 2 Spirit people wish existed. Following up on her video "2 Spirit Introductory Special $19.99," this work examines the forces of capitalism through envisioning a "financially unfeasible" service for a small minority community.”

Reclamation

After white people leave Earth en masse for Mars, the Indigenous people left behind contemplate their place in healing the world and what ha

 Reclamation by Theo Jean Cuthand

“After white people leave Earth en masse for Mars, the Indigenous people left behind contemplate their place in healing the world and what happens next.