Two-Spirit Roundtable Discussion Series
The Two-Spirit Roundtable was a community-based research study to understand how Two-Spirit people describe and support their wellbeing. The study was led by Dr. Margaret Robinson, a Two-Spirit scholar and member of Lennox Island Mi’kmaw Nation. The team hosted roundtable discussions with 21 Two-Spirit people in Timmins and Ottawa, Ontario. Roundtables offered Elder-led ceremony, food, and a chance for Two-Spirit people to discuss their views on wellbeing, especially on maintaining mental health. The Timmins Roundtable was supported by the Timmins Native Friendship Centre (https://www.tnfc.ca), and the Ottawa Roundtable was supported by the Ontario Aboriginal HIV’/AIDS Strategy (https://www.oahas.org/). Margaret also conducted one-on-one interviews with Two-Spirit people who couldn’t attend a discussion but wished to contribute. The data were analyzed through talks with Two-Spirit advisors and community partners.
A key finding from the study was the difficulty participants reported in finding and accessing supportive cultural teachings about being a Two-Spirit person. To help address this concern, the study team produced an online webinar, with Two-Spirit Elder Dr. Albert McLeod, Dr. Alex Wilson of the University of Saskatchewan, and Krysta Williams of the Native Youth Sexual Health Network (recorded March 28, 2014). The project also recorded a series of short podcasts with Two-Spirit people, provided below.
Chi-miigwech/Wela’lioq/Thank-You to
Sound editor Mark Hasan
Cartoonist Archie Cromwell
OAHAS hosts T. Sharp Dopler and Elder Willy Bruce. Elder Bruce has since passed.
Team
Louis Cruz, Advisor
Blu Waters, Advisor
Dr. Lori Ross, Co-Supervisor
Dr. Janet Smiley, Co-Supervisor
Dr. Margaret Robinson, Study Lead
Learn More
Email: mrobinson@dal.ca
Phone:902-494-1360
Funding
The Two-Spirit Roundtable was funded by a Canadian Institutes of Health Research fellowship in Aboriginal Methodologies and by grants from the Evidence Exchange Network.
Podcasts
Jeremy Dutcher (Tobique Wolastoqiyik Nation)
Jeremy discusses cultural loss, reclaiming Indigenous language, connecting with his elders, struggling with isolation, and Indigenizing queer space. Recorded May 16, 2014. (LINK1)
“In the Maliseet language there is no he or she. It’s all gender neutral.”
“I think there is so much I have gained in my life from learning about this identity and discovering what that can mean.”
Jeremy discusses his work with Egale Canada and the Wabanaki Two-Spirit Alliance, the resilience of our communities, and reclaiming Indigenous words that describe who we are. Recorded May 16, 2014. (LINK2)
“You are not alone. There are people who love you and support you, even though they don’t know you. There’s a community.”
Art Zoccole (Lac des Mille Lacs Nation )
Art discusses the emergence of 2-Spirited People of the 1st Nations, the importance of Indigenous language, and the importance of Aboriginal health projects such as the 2 SHAWLS study. Recorded March 10, 2014. (LINK1)
“You know, pre-European contact, that in our communities there was no homophobia. I say that over and over again.”
Art discusses the importance of mutual respect, Indigenous ceremony, harm reduction, and the joy and peace of cultural safety. Recorded March 10, 2014. (LINK2)
“Standing up and doing your part to be included as part of the community helps to address the discrimination, the homophobia.”
Jeffrey J. McNeil-Seymour (Tk’emlúps te Secwe̓pemc Nation)
Note: Jeffrey passed from cancer on June 26 of 2023.
Jeffrey discusses doing research with Indigenous communities, the impact of residential schools and Christianization, and traditional community roles for Two-Spirit people. Recorded April 2, 2014. (LINK1)
“I feel like the Two-Spirit piece for me is fluidic movement between gender and sexuality, and at different points in my life I’ve been more masculine, or more feminine.”
Jeffrey discusses the place of Two-Spirit people within powwow dancing, the need for visibility, and fighting transphobia and homophobia in Indigenous communities. Recorded April 2, 2014. (LINK2)
“Here into the arena came a trans Two-Spirit person in women’s fancy dress regalia, and was dancing and accepted for how she presented and who she was, and was cheered on and celebrated for that.”
Alec Butler (Mi’kmaw and French)
Alec discusses coming into community, embracing his Two-Spirit, intersex, and trans identity, discovering his Mi’kmaq background, and representing Two-Spirit experience and identity in his art. Recorded April 2, 2014. (LINK1)
“I started working with Billy [Merasty] and Gloria [May Eshkibok], and the first rehearsal we had I took out a talking stone and started passing it around. And they were like, “How did you know about this?” And like, I didn’t really know about this. It’s kind of intuitive.”
Alec discusses practices that support Two-Spirit mental health, shares his experience growing up intersex, doing social justice work in community, and the power of art as an outlet. Recorded April 2, 2014. (LINK2)
“I’m always encouraging alternate forms of care, a more holistic approach to the body, mind, and spirit.”
Tobi Caribou
Tobi discusses Indigenous health care, acceptance and rejection, and finding chosen family at 2-Spirited People of the 1st Nations. Recorded April 8, 2014. (LINK1)
“It was nice to be somewhere that I could identify with and to actually have a name that I could associate myself with.”
J. Andrew Baker (Ojibwe & settler)
Andrew discusses Two-Spirit identity, how Indigenous language carries teachings, Ojibwe traditions around sexuality and gender, and the impact of colonialism on these traditions. Recorded February 18, 2014. (LINK1)
“…teaching are in the language, no matter what language it is. So when you come to carry even pieces even of those language and understand what those pieces are you gain those teachings in an in-depth way.”
Andrew discusses intergenerational trauma, loss of Two-Spirit culture, and Ojibwe language terms for Two-Spirit people. Recorded February 18, 2014. (LINK2)
“We need to revisit and know our histories. Often, we don’t know where trauma’s coming from or why. We don’t know the history.”