Indigenous Fantasies
and Sovereign Erotics: Outland Cherokees write Two-Spirit Nations by Lisa
Tatonetti
Tatonetti addresses the historical infancy of GLBTQ2
literature in North America as it continues to develop over time. This genre
began with the work of Maurice Kenny, a Mohawk descendant, who was recognized as the first queer
Native author in 1988. Tatonetti situates the heart of this movement in San
Francisco where there was a relatively large queer Indian population. However, the
momentum of Native GLBTQ2 literature began in the mid-1970s and did not take
shape until the late 1980s. As Kenny’s literary works serve as the basis for
the creation of this genre, it then became a snowball effect where other
branches of literary fields stemmed from a small body of literature into a
complex academic field. Tattolini responds to this complexity by attempting to
define Two-Spirit ideologies as not necessarily a gender/ sexuality binary, but
rather a multi-faceted understanding of these two convergent ideas that “(1)
recognizes the historical diversity of gender roles in many indigenous
communities; (2) acknowledges that gender diversity is not necessarily aligned
with sexual preference; and (3) allows for the significance of spiritual
traditions within understandings of gender and sexuality.” (pg. 158) These overlapping
Two-Spirit guidelines allow for a diverse inquiry to occur when discussing
sovereignty, nationhood, and sexuality.
Tatonetti critiques the respective works of Qwo-Li Driskell
and Daniel Heath Justice, writers of two different genres, to further analyze
how these authors similarly incorporate an overlapping conversation of
nationhood, land, and sexuality. As these contemporary authors highlight a
history strewn with colonial violence (especially toward the body), and
confront their multiple means of (Indigenous) existence beyond gender-normative
constraints, they create a new conversation that informs methods of
decolonization. According to Tatonelli, this is an inspiring contribution to an
ongoing forum to discuss indigenous nationhood in terms of naturalizing the
diverse identity of GLBTQ2 frameworks.
Gifts of Maskihkiy:
Gregory Scofield’s Cree Metis Stories of Self-Acceptance by June Scudler
Scudler initiates a close reading of the literary works of
Gregory Scofield, a Metis “writer/storyteller/ community activist” (pg.11) who
recognizes the sanctity of his spiritual traditions in order to reach a broader
understanding of his Cree Metis lineage and multiple views toward the idea of
gender. As a result, his development as a writer reflects his ongoing growth
out of constraining binaries addressing race, class, or gender and solidified
definitions of gender that leave no space for interpretation. In other words,
he doesn’t like to be labeled.
Scofield only grew to embrace or embody his Metis heritage
at the age of 21, as this group of half-breeds were ousted throughout history
as having a “dark” past because they had resisted colonization by the Canadian
government and by other settlers. This journey of self-reflection summoned
forth his denial of his Metis heritage because Native and non-native were
racist against the Metis because of colonial impositions on historiography. He
presented Metis identity as either one (dark) or the other (light), or some
confused gray area in-between. Upon the realization of his Metis roots, he
began to think of traditional storytelling as medicine that played an integral
part in framing his epistemological essence. It is through this process of
inward reflection that he was able to reject the binary system of
identification. This poses an important question. Are binaries a necessary
construct for the process of re-articulating one’s identity, or gender? Is it
an inextricable foundation used to re-articulate one’s identity. Or in this
case of Scofield is it just needed to get to the point of realization that we
can shift away from these categorizations?
The purpose of Scofield’s work is driven by the desire to
create a space for the Metis in history as well as in contemporary times. He
says in one of his poems, “If anything, we are Katipamsoochick” (pg. 193) or
the “people who know themselves.” (pg. 193) Scofield is saying that they do not
need history to define themselves because they can do it themselves. They are
active agents in their own ways of knowing. Here Scofield creates that space
where there has been a historical disavowal of their existence.
Scofield addresses the contradictions of Two-Spirit
connotations, and does not try to define it, or offer up labels to provide a
narrow understanding of it. Most importantly, because our sexual identity may
change over time, or occur in multiple formats. There is this tension that
arises when we try to define such things as sexual identity and he falls back
on his Cree Metis spiritual bodies of knowledge to negotiate these tensions.
Instead, he encourages us to embody this idea as “our very essence,” and by
recognizing our “sacred responsibilities.”(pg.197)
Scofield recounts an interesting story about a man,
ayekkwew, or two-spirit, who had broken a sacred Cree law because he wore a
dress that a woman had menstruated on (pg.197-198). It was a belief that a man
could be killed by the blood of a menstruating woman, but he went against what
Scofield says, his sacred responsibility. Because this individual act went
against a moral order of their society, Piciw-isk-wew died. Scofield asserts
that since Piciw-isk-wew’s female spirit didn’t defend him, perhaps “the idea
of two-spiritedness was conceptual rather than spiritual.” (pg.198) A person’s
moral obligation is to embody one’s pawatew, and this in turn guides the
individual to respect the sacred law. I just thought this example was
interesting because it brings up ideas of how the female spirit can overcome a
male spirit in a way that is punishable by death, and perhaps maybe a male
spirit can be this destructive as well. But in this case, the cause of death
was outside of the two-spirit control and in the hands of the “spirit helpers.”Further,
Scofield interprets gender as fluid and that individuals have the agency to
control their gender identity, as Piciw-isk-wew did this against the wishes of
his “spiritual helpers.” Lastly,
he speaks of this first encounter of a two-spirit by an anthropologist account
that did not delve into the deep meaning that Scofield provides as the
anthropologist narrowly concludes that if Piciw-isk-wew was born a woman, he
would not have died. Overall, Scofield highlights through this example the
complexity of the term two-spiritedness.
Vocab words:
pawatew: One’s sacredness, the spirit helper who becomes
part of one’s identity, which informs sacred responsibility.
ayekkwew: Neither man nor woman, or man and woman. A person
who has both male and female spirits; also known as Two-Spirited.
No comments:
Post a Comment