As pride month comes to a close, we want to stress the importance of continuing to support the 2SLGBTTQIA+ community throughout the year.
Two-Spirit people have traditionally been recognized in Indigenous communities as having the spirit of a man and a woman, resulting in marriages between men or marriages between women. They were often considered a third gender and were mainly the visioners, healers, and medicine people of their society. Today, the term Two-Spirit refers to Indigenous peoples who are gay, bisexual, transgender, bi-gender, and more.
The term “Two-Spirit” comes from the Anishinaabemowin term “niizh manidoowag” (two spirits). Although the term was only coined in 1990, Two-Spirit peoples lived and held places of distinction in their communities long before then. The term “Indigiqueer” has also recently become more popular, and encompasses Queer Indigenous peoples who do not necessarily identify with “Two-Spirit”.
For more detailed information on Two-Spirit peoples, please see the bibliography at the end of the blog.
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Here are a few Two-Spirit and Indigequeer book suggestions. Be sure to let us know over on social media if we missed any!
Kids
47,000 Beads by Koja and Angel Adeyoha and illustrated by Holly McGillis
Families by Kerry McCluskey and Jesse Unaapik Mike and illustrated by Lenny Lischenko
Ho’onani: Hula Warrior by Heather Gale and illustrated by Mika Song
The Eagle’s Path by Michelle Corneau and illustrated by Audrey Keating
Young Adult
After the Snow Melts by Maggie Blackbird
Elatsoe by Darcie Little Bear
Fire Song by Adam Garnet Jones
Gives Light by Rose Christo
Kynship by Daniel Heath Justice
Love After the End edited by Joshua Whitehead
Love Beyond Body, Space & Time edited by Hope Nicholson
Moonshot Vol. 2 edited by Tama Wise
Pukawiss The Outcast by Jay Jordan Hawke
Street Dreams by Tama Wise
Surviving the City, Vol. 1 + 2 by Tasha Spillet-Summer
Adult fiction
All My Relations: An Anthology of Contemporary Canadian Native Fiction edited by Thomas King
Along The Journey River by Carole laFavor
Blessed by Maggie Blackbird
Drowning in Fire by Craig S. Womack
Evil Dead Center: A Mystery by Carole laFavor
Food and Spirits: Stories by Beth Brant
Guns Of Penance by Mari Kurisato
Jonny Appleseed by Joshua Whitehead
Maiden, Mother, Crone: Fantastical Trans Femmes edited by Gwen Benaway
Ravensong by Lee Maracle
Red Weather by Janet McAdams
Rough Paradise by Alec Butler
The Bone People by Keri Hulme
The Cherokee Rose by Tiya Miles
The Gilda Stories by Jewelle L. Gómez
The Uncle's Story by Witi Ihimaera
The Woman Who Owned the Shadows by Paula Gunn Allen
Tied Up with a Bow by Maggie Blackbird
Two Princes by Maggie Blackbird
Non-fiction/memoirs
A Gathering of Spirit: A Collection by North American Indian Women edited by Beth Brant
A Generous Spirit: Selected Works by Beth Brant edited by Janice Gould
A History of My Brief Body by Billy-Ray Belcourt
A Two-Spirit Journey: The Autobiography of A Lesbian Ojibwa-Cree Elder by Ma-Nee Chacaby
Abandon Me: Memoirs by Melissa Febos
An Indigenous People’s History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
Art as Performance, Story as Criticism: Reflections on Native Literary Aesthetics by Craig Womack
As We Have Always Done by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson
Asegi Stories: Cherokee Queer and Two-Spirit Memory by Qwo-Li Driskill
Bad Indians by Deborah A. Miranda
Becoming Two-spirit: Gay Identity and Social Acceptance in Indian Country by Brian Joseph Gilley
Black Dove: Mamá, Mi'jo, and Me by Ana Castillo
Captive Genders edited by Eric A. Stanley and Nat Smith
Changing Ones by Will Roscoe
Colouring The Rainbow: Blak Queer and Trans Perspectives - Life Stories and Essays By First Nations People of Australia edited by Dino Hodge
Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, And Transgender Myths From The Arapaho To The Zuñi: An Anthology edited by Jim Elledge
I'll Sing 'Til the Day I Die by Beth Brant
Indian Blood by Andrew Jolivette
Indigenous Men and Masculinities edited by Robert Alexander Innes and Kim Anderson
Kiss of the Fur Queen by Tomson Highway
Lesbian Triptych by Jovette Marchessault
Living the Spirit: A Gay American Indian Anthology edited by Will Roscoe
Making Love with the Land by Joshua Whitehead
Nîtisânak by Jas M. Morgan
One Bead at A Time: A Memoir by Beverly Little Thunder
Piece of My Heart: A Lesbian of Colour Anthology edited by Makeda Silvera
Revolutionary Voices: A Multicultural Queer Youth Anthology by Amy Sonnie et al
Samoan Queer Lives by Dan Taulapapa McMullin and Yuki Kihara
Sexuality, Nationality, Indigeneity by Daniel Heath Justice et al
Sovereign Erotics by Qwo-Li Driskill et al
Spaces Between Us: Queer Settler Colonialism and Indigenous Decolonization by Scott Lauria Morgensen
Straight Walk: A Supermodel's Journey to Finding Her Truth by Patricia Velásquez
The Power of Style: How Fashion and Beauty Are Being Used to Reclaim Cultures by Christian Allaire
The Queerness of Native American Literature by Lisa Tatonetti
Thunder Through My Veins: Memories of A Métis Childhood by Gregory Scofield
Two Spirit People: American Indian, Lesbian Women and Gay Men by Lester B. Brown
Two-Spirit People: Native American Gender Identity, Sexuality, and Spirituality edited by Sue-Ellen Jacobs et al
Queer Indigenous Studies: Critical Interventions in Theory, Politics, and Literature by Qwo-Li Driskill
Urban Indigenous Youth Reframing Two-Spirit by Marie Laing
Why Indigenous Literatures Matter by Daniel Heath Justice
Writing as Witness by Beth Brant
Yelesalehe hiwayona dikanohogida naiwodusv/ God taught me this song, it is beautiful by Qwo-Li Driskill
Poetry/Plays
Book of Memory: Honor Poems by Qwo-Li Driskill
Burning Upward Flight by Qwo-Li Driskill
Disintegrate/Dissociate by Arielle Twist
Eyes Bottle Dark with a Mouthful of Flowers by Jake Skeets
Fireweed by Tunchai Redvers
Full-metal Indigiqueer by Joshua Whitehead
Holy Wild by Gwen Benaway
IRL by Tommy Pico
Kipocihkân: Poems New & Selected by Gregory Scofield
Love Medicine and One Song by Gregory Scofield
Metzali: Siwayul Shitajkwilu: Indigenous: Heart of a Womxn Writing by Xemiyulu Manibusan Tapepechul
Mohawk Trail by Beth Brant
My Woman Card Is Anti-Native, & Other Two-Spirit Truths by Xemiyulu Manibusan Tapepechul
Nature Poem by Tommy Pico
NDN Coping Mechanisms: Notes from the Field by Billy-Ray Belcourt
Not Vanishing by Chrystos
Passage by Gwen Benaway
Raised by Humans by Deborah A. Miranda
She Walks for Days Inside a Thousand Eyes: A Two-Spirit Story by Sharron Proulx-Turner
The Borders of Empire: Seven Poems and a Play by Qwo-Li Driskill
The Internet Is Anti-Native, & Other Two-Spirit Truths by Xemiyulu Manibusan Tapepechul
The Rez Sisters by Tomson Highway
The Trees Are Still Bending South by Sharron Proulx-Turner
This Wound Is a World by Billy-Ray Belcourt
Two-Spirit Acts by Jean Elizabeth O’Hara
Walking with Ghosts: Poems by Qwo-Li Driskill
Bibliography - Two-Spirit Peoples
Elliot, Michelle and Laura Chopiuk. “Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer Children’s and YA Book
Lists”. Indigenous Library and Information Studies, University of Alberta.
https://indigenouslis.ca/two-spirit-and-indigiqueer-childrens-and-ya-book-lists/.
Filice, Michelle. “Two-Spirit”. The Canadian Encyclopedia, 03 July 2020, Historica Canada.
www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/two-spirit.
“Two-Spirit | Health Resources”. Indian Health Service.
https://www.ihs.gov/lgbt/health/twospirit/.
“Two-Spirit People of the First Nations”. Rainbow Resource Centre, 2014.
https://rainbowresourcecentre.org/files/16-08-Two-Spirit.pdf.
Bibliography - Two-Spirit Books
“5 Books Written by Two-Spirit/Indigiqueer Authors”. Native Max Magazine.
https://nativemaxmagazine.com/5-books-written-by-two-spirit-indigiqueer-authors/
“Books by and about Two Spirit or LGBTQIA2S Native Americans”. San Francisco Public
Library. https://sfpl.bibliocommons.com/list/share/1097527647/1117688187
Elliot, Michelle and Laura Chopiuk. “Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer Children’s and YA Book
Lists”. Indigenous Library and Information Studies, University of Alberta.
https://indigenouslis.ca/two-spirit-and-indigiqueer-childrens-and-ya-book-lists/.
“EPL Picks: Two-Spirited Authors”. Edmonton Public Library.
https://epl.bibliocommons.com/list/share/69130658/894373258
“Two-Spirit / Indigenous LGBTQ Books”. Listopia, Goodreads.
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/102007.Two_Spirit_Indigenous_LGBTQ_Books.
Photo credit: Sweetmoon Photography. Source: www.joshuawhitehead.ca