Statement on National Indigenous History Month and Pride Season
June 3, 2023
Statement on National Indigenous History Month and Pride Season
As we enter the month of June, we have the privilege of celebrating two significant observances that hold profound meaning: National Indigenous History Month and the beginning of Pride season. Celebrating these observances together offers an opportunity to recognize and honor the invaluable contributions, resilience, and ongoing struggles Two-Spirit, Indigiqueer, and Indigenous LGBTQIA+ people.
Two-Spirit, Indigiqueer, and Indigenous LGBTQIA+ activism plays a vital role in challenging heteronormative and binary constructs, advocating for inclusive spaces, and fighting against discrimination and settler colonialism. Their activism offers a powerful reminder that social justice movements are interconnected, and the struggle for equality encompasses multiple facets of identity, including /indigeneity and queerness. Indigenous cultures have long embraced and celebrated gender and sexual diversity, and the contemporary Two-Spirit/Indigiqueer movements draws strength from this cultural heritage. (It’s important to note that concepts like Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer were created to be pan-Indigenous unifying identities, but they do not replace the culturally specific roles/terms already embedded in many Indigenous languages, cultures, and traditions.)
During this month of celebration, let us amplify the voices and stories of Two-Spirit, Indigiqueer, and Indigenous LGBTQIA+ individuals and commit to dismantling homophobia, transphobia, and the overarching structure of ongoing settler colonialism, which shapes and gives rise gender and sexual hierarchies and bigotry.
A few notable Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer activists include:
- Arielle Twist (Cree, member of the George Gordon First Nation band)
- Joshua Whitehead (Oji-Cree, member of the Peguis First Nation)
- Kent Monkman (Cree, member of the Fisher River band)
- Smokii Sumac (Adoptee from the Ktunaxa Nation)
- Kiley May (Mohawk and Cayuga, member of the Six Nations of the Grand River)
