It is with a heavy heart that we say good-bye to Michael St. Claire of the Wichita Two-Spirit Society, who has gone home to live with the Creator. NE2SS honors the final journey of Michael; he was a strong supporter of NE2SS and the national two-spirit community. His gift of laughter will live on. 

We learned of Michael transition, early this morning. Michael passed away yesterday on Sunday May 6, 2012. He went quickly and was in no pain. 

Michael’s legacy will live on through his support and work, and the countless numbers of lives he made better with his many gifts and gentle words of encouragement. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Michaels’s friends, family, Wichita Two-Spirit Society, and the many lives he touched in his lifetime.

On Wednesday, April 11, from 6-8 p.m., come to a screening of Yvonne Latty’s documentary, “Sacred Poison.” The event will take place at the Carter Journalism Institute, 20 Cooper Square, 7th floor. Prof. Andrew Needham will act as interlocutor for the documentary and lead a discussion. As well, Prof. Latty hopes to have Earl Tulley, one of the key voices in the documentary, participate via Skype. The film is 30 minutes long, and short reception will follow the screening.

Prof. Latty is Director of the Reporting New York and Reporting the Nation programs at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute. The film recently won Best Documentary Short Film at the Phoenix Film Festival. Prof. Latty sent the following description:

“The documentary shows the devastating toll past uranium mining has had
on the Navajo people and discusses the potential risks posed by a
renewal of uranium mining. It lays out the complex and conflicting
economic, political, environmental and spiritual issues involved.
However, this documentary in no way portrays the Navajo as victims of
outside forces, but rather agents of change within their community and
beyond.”

For more information on the issue, the following links are stories about Earl Tulley and energy and mineralization issues on the Navajo Nation.

1. Navajo Environmental Activist Earl Tulley Announces Candidacy for Navajo Vice President
2. Navajos Hope to Shift From Coal to Wind and Sun

The NorthEast Two-Spririt, the Audre Lorde Prject and the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene are collaborating in honoring March 20th for Native American AIDS Awareness Day. There will be a film with discussion this evening.

The TWO SPIRITS documentary is an award winning documentary which interweaves the tragic story of a mother’s loss of her son with a revealing look at a time when the world wasn’t simply divided into male and female and many Native American cultures held places of honor for people of integrated genders. Fred Martinez was nádleehí, a male-bodied person with a feminine nature, a special gift according to his ancient Navajo culture. But the place where two discriminations meet is a dangerous place to live, and Fred became one of the youngest hate-crime victims in modern history when he was brutally murdered at sixteen. Between tradition and controversy, sex and spirit, and freedom and fear, lives the truth—the bravest choice you can make is to be yourself. There will be an interactive discussion after the film. Read the rest of this entry »

Polari Journal is calling for submissions for a special issue to be published online in October 2012. This special issue will feature the best queer indigenous/aboriginal writing from around the globe. Polari tends towards the shorter forms: short stories, poetry, essays, scholarly papers, one act plays/scripts and reviews. In general, the word limit for fiction, plays and essays is 6000 words. Reviews should not be more than 1500 words. For poetry, the maximum is 100 lines. The Final Date for submission is July 1st 2012.

Send all submissions and questions to: editor@polarijournal.com (Source, VIDA: Women in the Literary Arts FB page)

Please spread the word of this call for submissions to your networks!

Join Scott L. Morgensen for the New York City debut of Spaces between Us : Queer Settler Colonialism and Indigenous Decolonization. February 23, 7 - 9 pm, at Bluestockings Bookstore, 172 Allen Street, New York, NY 10002.

How does settler colonialism shape queer politics? How have Two-Spirit activists called queer / trans non-Natives to challenge racism and settler colonialism and to support Indigenous sovereignty?

In Spaces Between Us, Morgensen interprets the historical interrelationships - or “conversations” - that have connected Native Two-Spirit and non-Native GLBTQ people in a white settler society. At once a critique of queer settler colonialism and a call to radical alliance work, Spaces between Us presents a white settler critic answering Two-Spirit activists by centering conversation among queer / trans people about Indigenous decolonization.