Native American communities from across the US frequently acknowledge people who hold a third gender, known as two-spirit (though most tribes have their own specific terms). Two-Spirit people are celebrated and often have special ceremonial and social roles in their tribes. In the Spirit is a series that brings together Native performing artists and culture bearers from the Queer and Two-Spirit community across the United States, offering engagement and discussion around their emerging body of work. The series aims to place the performing arts of this community front and center in inclusive and connective celebration.

The In the Spirit series is curated and co-produced in partnership with Andre Bouchard of Indigenous Performance Productions and Beatrice Thomas and Kyle DeVries of Authentic Arts and Media.

About the Artists

In the Spirit artists include multidisciplinary storytellers, dancers, drag artists and poets who examine their Native, Queer and Two-Spirit heritages through traditional and contemporary performance. Their work asks us to consider how our understandings of art and of our histories shift when viewed through an Indigenous perspective. From interactive walking tours to intimate performance pieces that center Queer and Indigenous ways of making and interpreting art, these artists take us on a journey of collective interrogation, reimagination and healing.

snowflake-arizmendi-calvert-headshot-2.png Snowflake Arizmendi-Calvert (Yaqui / Raramuri / Chamula) Dancer and Drag Performer

delesslin-george-warren-headshot-2.png DeLesslin George-Warren (Catawba Indian Nation) Performer, Educator and Researcher

landa-lakes-headshot-2.png J Miko Thomas/ Landa Lakes (Chickasaw) Writer, Musician, Activist and Drag Performer

storme-webber-headshot-2.png Storme Webber (Alutiiq / Black / Choctaw) Poet, Playwright, Educator and Interdisciplinary Artist

Resources

We recommend exploring the following resources to learn more about Two-Spirit identity and Native performing arts in North America and to more deeply engage with In the Spirit events. These resources have been compiled by the series artists and producers:

• "Eight Things You Should Know About Two Spirit People" by Tony Enos.
• "Two Spirit: The Trials and Tribulations of Gender Identity in the 21st Century" by Samantha Mesa-Miles.
• The short documentary Largest Two Spirit Pow Wow In the Nation about The Bay Area American Indian Two Spirits Pow Wow held annually in San Francisco, produced and directed by Project 562 and Matika Wilbur.
• Indigenous Theater and Performing Arts of North America Resource Guide compiled by Lilian Mengesha.
• The People Have Never Stopped Dancing by Jacqueline Shea Murphy, which addresses the Native person, absent and present, in modern dance studies.

In the Spirit is supported by the New England Foundation for the Arts through the New England Arts Resilience Fund, part of the United States Regional Arts Resilience Fund, an initiative of the U.S. Regional Arts Organizations and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, with major funding from the federal CARES Act from the National Endowment for the Arts.

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