INDIGENOUS PEOPLES Part 2
Oregon History
1806
Per GLAPN website: “Lewis & Clark are directed by local Indians where “two young men” live together – leaving their tribe.” [this is not confirmed as more research needs to be done through the Lewis and Clark journals https://lewisandclarkjournals.unl.edu/item/lc.jrn.] NOTE: Lewis and Clark did encounter at various tribes the following, but at this point, not in Oregon. The Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expeditions contains diary notes by Nicholas Biddle which report of the Mandan Indians that on Saturday, December 22, 1804: “A number of Squaws & men. Dressed in Squaws Clothes Came with Corn to Sell to the men for little things…” [Nicholas Biddle], Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expeditions, 1804-1806 ... ed. Reuben Gold Thwaites, 8 vols. (N.Y. Dodd. Mead. 1904-05), vol. I. p. 239. Another edition: [Nicholas Biddle], Letters of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, with Related Documents, 1783-1854, ed. Donald Jackson (Urbana: University of Illinois, 1962), p. 531.] And in 1810: Notes by Biddle, dating to April 1810, among the letters and documents of the Lewis and Clark expedition, report: “Among Minitarees if a boy shows any symptoms of effeminacy or girlish inclinations he is put among the girls, dressed in their way, brought up with them, & sometimes married to men. They submit as women to all the duties of a wife. I have seen them-the French call them Birdashes.[2]”
1808-11
Per https://www.foresthiker.com/ Kootenai Indian girl, Ququnok Patke (One-Standing-Lodge-Pole-Woman) is reported to have said, “She announced that she had been transformed into a male! She told her astonished band, “I’m a man now. We Indians did not believe the white people possessed such power from the supernatural’s. I can tell you that they do – greater power than we have. They changed my sex while I was with them. No Indian is able to do that.”
With that she announced that henceforth she would be called Kauxuma nupika, (Gone-to-the-spirits). Instead of dresses she had worn in the past, she now sported men’s shirts, leggings, breech cloths and she began to carry a gun. Her tribe remained skeptical, but she was undeterred and soon announced her intention to take a “wife”.
This is recounted in article - https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2010/6/4/873042/-
In the book LGBTQ America: A Theme Study of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer History (nps.gov) the story is cited using Claude E. Schaeffer, “The Kutenai Female Berdache: Courier, Guide, Prophetess, and Warrior,” Ethnohistory 12, no. 3 (1965): 193–236; David Thompson, David Thompson’s Narrative of His Explorations in Western America, ed. J. B. Tyrrell (Toronto, Canada: The Champlain Society, 1916), 512–513, and Schaeffer, “The Kutenai Female Berdache,” 196–197.
This has also been stated in https://www.glapn.org/6031TransTimeline.html but the date is 1811. A report is published about a woman in the Kutenai tribe in Oregon who dresses like a man and has a “wife.” (“Oregon Gay History Timeline”)
The story is recounted in one of the earliest published stories of a Two-Spirit person in the Pacific Northwest written by Barry, Neilson J. in an article in the Washington Historical Quarterly 20 (1929) entitled “Ko-Come-Ne Pe-Ca, the letter carrier.” [pp. 201-203] and again in 1930 written by O.B. Sperlin “Two Kootenay women masquerading as men? Or were they one?”
KO-COME-NE PE-CA, THE LETTER CARRIER
It would be a difficult feat for any man to deliver a letter to a vague address, distant many hundreds of miles, across an unexplored wilderness infested by hostile savages. It would be twice as difficult to deliver a letter and then return with the reply. Yet this doubly difficult feat was actually accomplished, but not by a man-it was done by a woman. It required a remarkable woman to perform this surprising achievement, and the woman was most certainly remarkable, although her story is only known by piecing together fragments of information recorded by early travelers!
Mr. Finnan McDonald of the North West Company was in charge of Spokane House in 1811. He had an important communication for Mr. John Stuart who was stationed at Fort Fraser in the northern part of New Caledonia, now called British Columbia. The letter required a reply, yet the intervening wilderness was utterly unknown, even whether it could be crossed at all. So, McDonald sent the letter by a woman who returned with the answer, the remarkable woman, Ko come ne Pe-ca.
The first recorded of her was in 1808 at David Thompson's post on the Kootenay river, now western Montana, when she was taken as wife by Boiseverd, a Canadian. She belonged to the Kootenay tribe, which is noted for the modesty and docility of the women, but Madame Boisevard was neither modest nor docile, since she suddenly became possessed with a desire to become a man and a warrior, which resulted in very greatly disturbing the routine of that trading post. Her fixed determination could not be changed, and David Thompson insisted that she be sent to her people. However, the Kootenays did not approve of a man like woman, a Ko-come-ne Pe-ca as they called her. She immediately adopted the opprobrious term as her name and having dressed herself in the costume of a man she joined a war party in a foray against their enemies, probably the Blackfoot Indians. Although she was frail and of delicate frame, yet she succeeded in distinguishing herself for courage, with the result that she was able to induce a number of young men to place themselves under her command and had soon attained considerable reputation for her bravery.
Also cited in:
1 Sir John Franklin, Narrative of Second Expedition", Lea and Carey, Philadelphia, 1828, page 251-2.
2. David Thompson, Narrative, Champlain Society, Toronto, p. 512.
3.Washington Irving, Astoria, Chapter X.; Hudson edition, pages 142, 154. Gabriel Franehere, Narrative, 1854, PP. 118, 121. Alexander Ross, First Settlers, 1849
4. Gay American History – Lesbians and Gay Men in the US by Jonathan Ned Katz p 293
5. Lang, Sabine. Men as Women, Women as Men: Changing Gender in Native American Cultures. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1998.
6. Rupp, Leila J. Sapphistries: A Global History of Love Between Women. New York University Press, 2009.
7. Schaeffer, Claude E. “The Kutenai Female Berdache: Courier, Guide, Prophetess, and Warrior.” The American Society for Ethnohistory Vol.12, no. 3 (Summer 1965): pp.193-236.
8. Sperlin, O.B., “Two Kootenay Women Masquerading as Men? Or Were They One?”
Washington Historical Quarterly 21(1930): pp. 120-130.
9. The Queerest Places by Paula Martinac page 302 under Astoria
Another version of this story is told in https://www.riabrodell.com/sitting-in-the-water-grizzly
1893
Per J D Chandler’s Hidden History of Portland, Oregon under his chapter NO OUTWARD SIGN, page 166 he states, “In addition the Panic of 1893 forced the foreclosure of mortgages all over the state…Many of them, along with displaced and impoverished Native Americans, joined the transient workforce.” This is in the same chapter to which he talks about sex workers and the rise of the homosexual community during the late 1800s and early 1900s. There is nothing though stated about the Native America’s dealing with this except that they were displaced and became part of the transient workforce, which then became part of or involved in the sex trade of Portland.
1901
[Including this as it is believed to be important to understanding tribal stories and how they are presented, though not of Oregon]
William Jones or Megasiáwa (Black Eagle) (1871–1909) an Indigenous Indian anthropologist of the Fox nation. He gathered stories and parables of the Fox nation and a book entitled Fox Texts, Publications of the American Ethnological Society, vol. 1 was published. This was the first known statement about what we call lesbianism. This is found on page 151 under the section entitled "Parables," called “Two Maidens Who Played the Harlot with Each Other."
It is said that once on a time long ago there were two young women who were friends together. It is told that there were also two youths who tried to woo the two maidens, but they were not able even so much as to talk with one another. After a while the youths began to suspect something wrong with them. It is reported that this took place in the summer.
So, it is said that once during the summer, the two maidens started away to peel off bark. The youths followed after, staying just far enough behind to keep within sight of them. The girls went a long way off, and over there is where they stripped off bark. While (the girls) were peeling the bark (the youths) all that time kept themselves hidden from them.
After a while (the youths) no longer heard the sound of (the maidens) at work. Whereupon they began to creep up to where they were. When they drew nigh, behold, the maidens were then in the act of taking off their clothes! The first to disrobe flung herself down on the ground and lay there. 'Pray, what are these (girls) going to do?' was the feeling in the hearts of (the youths). And to their amazement the girls began to lie with each other!
Thereupon one of the youths whistled, and both together ran up to where (the girls) were. One that was lying on top instantly fell over backwards, her clitoris was standing out and had a queer shape, it was like a turtle's penis. Thereupon (the maidens) began to plead with (the youths): 'Oh, don't tell on us!' they said to them. 'Truly it is not of our own free desire that we have done this thing. We have done it under the influence of some unknown being.'
It is said that afterwards one of the maidens became big with child. In the course of time, strange to relate, she gave birth, and the child was like a soft-shell turtle!
1926-1926
Leslie Spier also wrote a work published at the University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology under a section entitled: Klamath Ethnography. Leslie wrote in the Introduction: “The present study is based on information gathered among the Klamath for the Klamath for the University of California during two visits, each for a month, in 1925 and 1926. Klamath material culture was partly known…The Klamath still live in their old home in southern Oregon, but their ancient culture exists only in their memories.”
It should be noted that in Walter L. Williams book, The Spirit and The Flesh, page 184, “Indians being questioned by anthropologists sometimes complain that the nosy whites cannot take an obvious hint to avoid certain subjects.” One particularly insensitive interviewer was Leslie Spier, who did fieldwork among the Klamaths in 1925 and 1926. Not only did Spier snidely characterize berdaches as “psychologically abnormal,” but he was arrogant as well. One of Spier’s informants, then in his sixties, had been a berdache in his teens and twenties, but had given up dressing as a berdache by the 1890s (Spier did not think to ask why). In response to Spier’s inquiries, the Klamath falsely claimed that he had once been married to a woman, and his wife had died twenty years ago. It evidently did not occur to the anthropologist that the Indian might have lied to prevent further questioning. When Spier asked why he had never remarried, the Indian replied simply, “Some men like it that way.”
Under TRANSVESITES on page 51 -53 Leslie Spier wrote in Klamath Ethnography:
Transvestites or berdaches (tw!înnă’ěk ) are found among the Klamath as in all probability among all other North American tribes. These are men and women who for reasons that remain obscure take on the dress and habits of the opposite sex. Their number is small. Five men who lived as women were cited by an informant, two women who lived as men, and others are known. One of the former was from the Dalles. This is a very minor fraction in a population numbering upward of two thousand. Kroeber has assumed that such individuals are invariably upward of two thousand. Kroeber has assumed that such individuals are invariably psychologically abnormal, homosexual; I am not sure... At any rate their abnormality is socially canalized: they are permitted to live as they desire despite the distaste of the normal Klamath for the practice, and the scorn and taunting to which he subjects them.
It is to the point to note that the men who turned women adopted woman’s dress, pursuits, personal habits, and speech, and in one case at least married. Neither of the two women affected male garb; one married and made some pretense of men’s habits the other is rather simply a case of an irregular sex life.
He cases of two of the trans Horned men which follow seem to turn on adolescent experiences, While these are phrased with relation to esoteric situations, they are more adequately explained as states of psychological disturbance rationalized in these terms, A third of the men-women turned shaman, but I do not know that this followed directly from the transformation. As both sexes are shamans there was no need for the transformation had this been the goal.
Milsamese’lapli, also called White Sindey, was the berdache she man. He tried to laugh like a woman. He was twice married, first to a Molala man named Tel’ptci, later to a Klamath, Te!o’mőka, The latter is known to me as a normal old man who has since raised a family of his own. White Sindey made considerable pretense to shamanistic powers but was rather scouted. He performed and reacted like an ordinary shaman.”
[Interjecting here that Anthony Hudson who was referred to early in this paper, in one of their emails stated, “In the meantime, I’d recommend The Spirit and the Flesh by Walter Williams. It includes great information about the Klamath doctor White Cindy, who I’ve seen mentioned in your notes, and while it’s written by a white academic who uses the antiquated anthropological term berdache (Williams even notes that he wrote it before he learned about the coining of the pan-Indian term Two Spirit), it conveys some great information about the region mainly through the Klamath, though he’s didn’t uncover what we’ve been working on at Grand Ronde.
I will say it is also important to note that Two Spirit is a modern umbrella term and not necessarily Native gay men, and that historic figures like White Cindy need to be understood as not cross dressers or transvestites, like anthropologists have identified them, but as all types of gender variant people from a different world and language and history. White Cindy, as noted by Williams and a historian from the ‘50s, was honored and respected as a woman and gendered correctly in language by her community. A lot of the anthropological history as it is recorded distorts who these figures really are thanks to settler bias. It really was a different world!”]
Continuing onto page 52 and 53 Leslie Spier wrote in Klamath Ethnography: One of my informants now in his sixties had been a berdache in his youth. I had observed his general unmasculine behavior, but it was not until my visit of the second year that another informant gave the reason. He Lives alone, takes pride in his cooking and the care of his house, weaves baskets for sale as women do, and still wears a basket hat, which no Klamath man now will. He is fleshy, slow, and distinctly feminine in gait and gestures, and speaks with the higher pitch of women’s voices. Yet his transvestite state was given up nearly half a century ago. He is shrewd enough, though mild mannered, yet I confess that I suspected no abnormality. When about sixteen years old he was at the Dalles where an old woman shaman of the place took a fancy to him. He, however, was afraid that she would harm him, so he put on woman’s dress. He wore his hair long, prepared lily seeds, wove mats and baskets, all typical all typical women’s pursuits. He has never married. After learning his history, I brought up the subject of marriage with him. He claimed that he had once been married, his wife having died twenty years ago, and in answer to the question why he had not remarried replied: “Some men like it that way.”
The most striking case is that of the chief LEle’ks. As an adolescent he wore women’s dress and performed the appropriate tasks. One day returning from the lily seed harvest he lay down to sleep. They placed a bow and arrow and a punt pole by his side, the latter a symbol of women’s work. They stood over him and shouted. As he jumped to his feet he grasped the bow, thus determining his future. He ran off to Mount Scott (t!u’msῠmEni), staying through the night on the mountain in quest of a supernatural experience. As he was returning, he smelled the sweaty odor of running horses. He left off women’s dress and actions from that time. He became lucky in every way, acquired wealth, especially in horses, and prestige, and became the foremost chief the Klamath have known. His subsequent career seems quite normal unless the exception be made of his seven wives!
A woman named Co’pak lived like a man although she retained women’s dress. She married a woman who lived with her a long time and finally died. She observed the usual mourning, wearing a bark belt as a man does at this time to prevent the back from growing bowed. She tried to talk like a man and invariably referred to herself as one.
Another woman still living has had relations with both women and men, never adopted men’s garb but told them that she was a man. She is today a common prostitute, an abnormal, irascible person. Those she lived with were all older women, not young girls. This practice is known as sawa’linăa, to live as partners. They say of such: “They have lots of partners, friends (snewă’èts dọma’ sa w linia’saitkt).” Other Klamath of any standing have always avoided her and her women partners. She was never married to a man.”
1930
Leslie Spier wrote a paper entitled UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PUBLICATIONS IN AMERICAN ARCHAEOLOGY AND ETHNOLOGY Volume XXX. Page 52 in the Introduction states, “The present study is based on information gathered among the Klamath for the University of California during two visits, each for a month, in 1925 and 1926.” In the paper she had one chapter entitled: “Transvestites or berdaches”.
Note: David Thompson's narrative of his explorations ... - Image 633 - Canadiana https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.9_92052/633
1930
Sperlin, O. B. “Two Kootenay Women Masquerading as Men? Or Were They One?” The Washington Historical Quarterly, vol. 21, no. 2, 1930, pp. 120–30. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/40475309. Accessed 21 Apr. 2023. There are 11 pages of this research concerning the topic.
In the book Men as Women, Women as Men – Changing Gender in Native American Culture by Sabine Lang (1998) she states, “It has been reported of the Tillamook women-men that they were valued as “shamans”, but not which feminine tasks they performed on a day-to-date basis.” Though the paper does not state any individuals, it does bring a perspective that there were individuals in tribes that were identified at this time period.
1937
Per above published as Culture Element Distributions: VII Oregon Coast by H G Barnett, University of California Anthropological Records 1 (3) (185)
1940
PLATEAU BY VERNE E RAY ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS EDITORS: A. L. KROEBER, E. W GIFFORD, R. H. Lowie, R. L. OLSON Volume 8, No. 2, pp. 99-262, I map, 4 PP. text-figures Submitted by the Editors December 6, 1940. The paper included such tribes as, the Lillooet, Chilcotin, Shuswap, Lower Carrier, Kutenai, and Flathead. Shortly thereafter I worked with the Coeur d'Alene, Umatilla, and Tenino. No mention in the paper of either Berdaches or transvestites. Either not recognized or none was found.
1941
CULTURE ELEMENT DISTRIBUTIONS: XIV NORTHERN PAIUTE BY OMER C. STEWART Volume 4, No. 3, Pp. 36I-446, I map Transmitted September 1939 Issued June 6, 1941. As stated in the introduction, this study is intended to show the presence or absence of certain elements of culture in representative bands of the Northern Paiute. Information from two neighboring peoples, the Achomawi and the Washo, is also included for the purpose of comparison. The Northern Paiute of Owens Valley are not included because of Steward's studies of them. Although some of the groups included here-notably the Hunipui, Walpapi, Wada, Yahuskin, Koa'agai, and Tago -have been called Snake and Bannock and have had a "Plains type" of culture attributed to them, conclusive evidence is now on record to show that these bands are typically Northern Paiute. [Ts] Tasiget-tuviwarai, "between dwellers", occupied Winnemucca and Spanish Spring valleys NE of Reno, Nevada, and small section of Truckee River E of Reno; [K1] - Kuyui-dὄkadὄ "Chamistes cujus eaters", lived on the shores of lower Truckee River and Pyramid and Winnemucca lakes. Much of their original territory is now included in Pyramid Lake Reservation, administrative center for which is Nixon, Nevada [K2] Kuyui-dὄkadὄ (same as K1 different people interviewed); [Ku] Kuipa-d6kado, "ground-squirrel eaters", lived on the lower Humboldt River and near Humboldt Sink. In 1936 several lived in the Indian Colony at Lovelock, Nevada; [To] Toe-dὄkadb, "tule eaters", possessed Carson Sink, Carson Lake, and lower Carson River; now found on Stillwater Reservation and at Fallon, Nevada, Indian Colony; [T6] Tὄvusi-dὄkadὄ, "grass-nut eaters", in Smith and Mason valleys and upper Walker River in SW Nevada; [Pa] Pakwi-dὄkadὄ, "chub eaters", on the S shores of Walker Lake, in Soda Spring Valley, and at Hawthorne, Nevada; [Wa] Washo (non-Paiute). Washo territory was mostly in the Sierra Nevada Mountains surrounding Lake Tahoe. The valleys just at the eastern foot of the mountains-Truckee Meadows, Washo Lake Valley, Carson Valley, and others served as winter homes. The territory extended from the southwestern shores of Honey Lake in the N to the North Fork of Walker River in the S. Gardnerville, Carson City, and Reno, in Nevada, are the present Washo centers; [Sa] Sawa’waktὄdὄ-tuviwarai, "sage brush mountain dwellers", lived along the middle Humboldt River near the present town of Winnemucca, Nevada, where they still have a rather large colony.
The following is the only section that mentions Oregon: [Tg] Tago-tὄka, on Owyhee River in the SW corner of Idaho and the SE corner of Oregon; are now at Duck Valley Reservation; [Wd] Wada-dokado, "wada-seed eaters", centering near Malheur Lake, Oregon. The area claimed by this band extended N to the headwaters of Silver River and E to include most of Malheur River. They formed the largest band on the old Malheur Reservation, which was taken from them after the Bannock War. At present they are located in the Indian Colony at Burns, Oregon; [Ki] Kidὒ-dὄkadὄ, "woodchuck eaters", occupying Surprise Valley, California, and adjacent territory in southern Oregon and northwestern Nevada, were interviewed at Fort Bidwell, California.
The paper continues: [AE] Achomawi (non-Paiute). Claiming the western slopes of Warner Range, the Achomawi were neighbors of the Kidu Paiute. Their principal area consists of the upper Pit River drainage, and there is still a rather larger colony in the vicinity of Alturas, California.
1960
Gay press The Mattachine Review [Mattachine Society formed in 1953 and chartered a non-profit, non-partisan educational, research and a social service corporation in California, founded in the public interest for purpose of providing true and accurate information leading to solution of sex behavior problem, particularly those of the homosexual adult] published the article in the January and February 1960 featured an article by Omer C, Stewart, PHD., Anthropologist “Homosexuality Among the American Indians and Other Native Peoples of the World.
In the article it first states what berdache and transvestite are, saying they, “are so often used as synonyms and are interchangeable.” On page 12 of the January article, he clarifies this thought by saying, “Berdache was known in European languages and could be traced back from the English usually spelled berdache, but sometimes berdash (which was the French spelling), to a similar word in Italian. The word in Arabic is bardaj, which comes from the Persian word barah. In spite of the slight difference in spelling, the meaning in earlier times was uniform from England to Persia, and the word berdache was used to indicate a ‘male prostitute’ or a ‘kept boy’. In the reports of early travelers, especially Frenchmen, the word was used to designate ‘male concubines’ or ‘male prostitutes’ and was consistent with the ancient European and Near Eastern usage. French travelers gave rather complete accounts of berdachism among tribes they visited in the New World.” Continuing page 13, “transvestism” is the custom of a person wearing the dress of the opposite sex. This custom has been widely observed in the New World, and in the Old, but does not in itself indicate that the transvestite is a lover or concubine in the actual sense of a member of the same sex. Transvestism, however, has been frequently confused and used interchangeably with berdache in recent anthropological writing. Angelino and Shedd in their paper to the American Anthropological Association regretted the looseness in the use of the two words. That suggested that berdache should be used in exclusively those cases where there is evidence of homosexual love and sex relations, whether the phenomenon was accompanied by change in costume or not. Transvestite should be used whenever a person habitually wears the costume and carries on the duties of the opposite sex but refrains from homosexual relations. Such transvestites have been known. Restricting the use of these words seems to be to me entirely proper. Where there is no evidence of sex relations accompanying the wearing of clothes of the opposite sex the word transvestite alone should be used. Berdache should always carry with it the implication of sex relations between members of the same sex. If the berdache is also a transvestite, the two words could be used to designate this.”
Further on: “The inconsistent and rather fuzzy use of the word’s transvestite and berdache has probably grown out of the fact that anthropologists and travelers were frequently uncertain whether the man dressed as a woman did in fact indulge in homosexual love. The anthropologists, however, usually accepted the probability that such persons did perform the sex acts typical of male homosexuals when they took on the costume and assumed the activities of females. Although the accounts do not always make this explicit, there are frequently phrases like the “berdache married another male” or “the berdache lived with other men”. These imply that berdaches and their companions were indulging in homosexual activities. What has been said about inexactness in the use of berdache and transvestite for males also applies to females, although here again the cases reported of female transvestism or female berdachism are much less numerous than for male. It should be further pointed out that in many cases the berdache may also undertake heterosexual activities.”
In the continuation of the story in the February issue on page 14, “Julian H. Steward, another Anthropologist doing field work for the Culture Element Survey, recorded berdachism as present among…the Modoc and Klamath of south-central Oregon.” Continuation on the same page, “It must be recognized, of course, that all of these Indians had been acquainted with Christian American values for many years, and probably were rather embarrassed by the questions concerning berdachism which they knew was disapproved by American culture. The fact that they could talk of western North America indicates the strength of this custom and the ability of the anthropologists to elicit responses to ‘delicate questions’.
And the final portion related to Oregon: “Before leaving the subject of the American Indian berdachism it should be pointed out that in many cases that have been recorded, especially…the Klamath Indians of Oregon…there is a clear indication that berdaches were frequently shamans, or medicine men. The shaman in America among the hunting and gathering tribes was frequently one of the most honored and most powerful individuals of the tribe. He was feared because of his contact with the supernatural, and his ability to control supernatural powers. This fact would strongly support the conclusion that berdachism was not only tolerated in most of the New World, but was actually a source of honor, power and wealth. Knowing that shamans who were frequently the most honored individuals of the tribe were also berdaches makes it difficult to interpret the instances where berdachism was reported as disapproved. Homosexuality was so generally accepted by American Indians without disapproval, or was actually approved, that the instances in the records of its disapproval can be suspected of resulting from influence from the Christian churches. Christian values have been accepted for so long that their origin is not understood.”
1963
In Verne Ray’s book published in 1963, Primitive Pragmatists: The Modoc Indians page 43, he states: “Only one woman-man was reported to have practiced as a “shaman” among the Modoc, and his/her status as healer does not seem to have been related to gender ambivalence.”
1966-1967 Jerry Farris from the Klamath Falls Tribe moved to Portland in the mid-60s and began performing at The Pied Piper 1217 SW Stark Street and Club Northwest 217 NW 4th under a female impersonation name of Tina Sandel.
1969 Walter W Cole befriends Jerry and begins to perform drag as well. Within a few months, they are performing around the corner at the Demas Tavern that Walter owned they started doing 15-minute sets on a 4 x 8 table top then soon the show expanded to include Walter’s partner Roc Neuhart and the “Trio” was born. Within two years the Demas Tavern become a well-known drag venue. In 1973 it changes its name to Darcelle XV Showplace which is still active today. Jerry/Tina was known to perform Tina Turner songs and many have said, “It was like having Tina herself in the room, the energy was electric.” Jerry/Tina’s final stage performance was on November 16, 2002 at Walter/Darcelle’s 72nd birthday show. On June 13, 2003, he passed away. In 2019, the venue became the 22nd LGBTQ property registered on the National Register of Historic Places and the first in Oregon.
1971 The Fountain newspaper (gay published in Portland, Oregon). The notice does not mention anything about being gay, but it was placed in the gay newspaper and that should be noted. April 2-9, 1971.
1932
Paper written Ethnography of the Surprise Valley Paiute. Creator Isabel Truesdell Kelly printed under University of California Publications. On page 157, under Social Aspects Kinship and status terms:
Status terms were recorded as follows: dὒ’ba’s; sterile person of either sex; berdachę
A berdache and a sterile individual were called by the same term. Minnie Anderson had never heard of the former; she said, “It would be bad luck for a man to wear women’s clothing.” Piudy knew of a woman who acted like a man; “she killed deer and stayed with the men all the time.” Hermaphrodites affected the clothing of the opposite sex; they were never shamans and never tried to marry. No cure was known; “the Klamath could cure them but not we.”
1934-1937
In 1934 Barnett, H. G. Culture spent a summer collecting data from various tribes on the coast of Oregon and Washington. The tribes in Oregon were Chetko, Coos, Tillamook, Galice Creek, Tututni, Siuslaw, Sixes, and Alsea. He published his findings in 1937 under the title of Element Distributions: VII Oregon Coast ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS. Volume 1, No. 3, pp. 15 5-204. Under his graph entitled “CULTURE ELEMENT DISTRIBUTION LIST” he used symbols as outlined below Left. His listings are extensive from structures, fishing, hunting, clothing men/women, weapons, money and wealth, etc. He detailed each corresponding findings with each tribe. Under SOCIAL STATUS listing on page 185 under No. 1381 there is Berdaches (transvestites) and under that Female. And then under SHAMANISM NO. 1598 Berdaches esteemed as Shamans.
ELEMENTS DENIED BY ALL INFORMANTS: (page 421) BERDACHES OR TRANSVESTITES Men: is shaman; social restrictions; regarded disapprovingly. Women: social restrictions; regarded disapprovingly.
Also, under ETHNOGRAPHIC NOTES ON THE ELEMENT LIST (K indicates Kuyui-dὄkadὄ band; the asterisk may occur in the list under Kl or K2.) for backup and references, the paper included the following:
BERDACHES OR TRANSVESTITES
2090. Thὒasa designated any sterile person as well as the sexually abnormal usually considered transvestites.
Kl: "Charlie Lowry is tὒvasa. He can't make babies. His wife has four children and Charlie supports them because he loves babies, but someone else made them.” (DG). To: No tὒvasa “because our Indians were good and taught their children right" (MN). MN once saw a Kuyui man at Virginia City who wore dresses, did washing, and so on. Ki: JB knew of a Paiute man who wore dresses, did bead work, and so on, but he did not live in Fort Bidwell.
2091. K2: See note 2090.
2091, 2092. Paviotso: + (Curtis, 80).
2100. GN: Women tὒvasa “never menstruate or have babies" (Ku).
2110. Kl: To test a boy to see if he is really tὒvasa, place him on a piece of paper or on some dry grass. On one side put a bow and some arrows, on the other put buckskin, awl, basketry (cloth, scissors, and thread), then set on fire paper or grass. Frightened child will pick up objects from one side as he saves himself. If he takes the bow and arrows, he is normal; if he takes the objects associated with women, he is tὒvasa and will be funny and never make babies. The young man at Nixon who is said to be a berdache was submitted to the test and took the women's things. He isn't married (DG).
[obtained from ucar004-004.pdf (berkeley.edu)
https://digitalassets.lib.berkeley.edu/anthpubs/ucb/text/ucar004-004.pdf
1951
Clellan S. Ford and Frank A. Beach, publish a book Patterns of Sexual Behavior (N.Y.: Harper & Row, 1951), p. 136-40. It devotes one chapter to male and female homosexual activity. The authors collected information on homosexuality in seventy-six societies and found that male homosexual activities were regarded favorably in forty-nine (sixty-four percent). Among these favorably inclined cultures are the following American Indian groups: Creek, Crow, Hopi, Mandan, Maricopa, Menomini, Natchez, Navaho, Omaha, Oto, Papago, Ponca, Quinault, Seminole, Tubatulabal, Yuma, Yurok, and Zuni. In addition, the Chiricahua, Crow, Ojibwa, and Yuma were found to approve female homosexual relations. Against this, only four Indian tribes were found to disapprove of male homosexual relations: the Chiricahua (which, as mentioned, approve Lesbian relations), Ojibwa (which likewise approve Lesbianism), Klamath, and Pima.
Ford and Beach's book was quickly taken up by the American homosexual emancipation movement, which used its cross-cultural research and conclusions to place the anti-homosexuality of contemporary Western society in a socially and historically relative perspective.
1953
A paper written after the subject was presented at the 52nd Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, December 29, 1953, which was then published in 1955 by Henry Angelino and Charles Shedd entitled American Anthropologist, Vol 5. No 1, Pat 1 page 121-126 “A Note on Berdache.” No Oregon tribe is discussed but they discuss the words and means of berdache and transvestite in the Native American community.
1959
Gay Press Tangent Newspaper October 1, 1959
[The Tangent Group is the registered d.b.a. of the Homosexual Information Center [HIC], one of the nation’s oldest ongoing organizations dedicated to LGBT rights.]
1972 An article published in The Oregon Liberator (Salem) newspaper June 1972.
1975
Randy Burns (Northern Paiute) and Barbara May Cameron (Hunkpapa Lakota) founded Gay American Indians (GAI) a gay rights organization in San Francisco in 1975. It was the first association for queer Native Americans in the United States. It initially began as a social group, GAI became involved in AIDS and Two-Spirit activism. [This is notable for Oregon as Randy was from the Northern Paiute tribe].
An interview with Randy by The Bay Area Reporter [ https://www.ebar.com/story.php?245430] he states, "We did our own tribal research," Burns said, "A lot of the stories were shared by gay elders. And they would whisper.”
"Many of the gay men, the elders back then, the only outlet back then was the gay bars," Burns added. The barstool storytellers were mostly people of Burns' parents' generation who had moved to San Francisco during the controversial Relocation Program, a 1956 law that incentivized Native Americans to leave their lands and move to cities, including San Francisco. It was part of the overall "termination policy" of the 1940s to 1950s, which included several laws aimed at ending tribal sovereignty and assimilating the Native Americans.
Their knowledge was precious. Burns' own parents, along with many Natives in their generation, had been to boarding schools where Native children were punished for speaking their language or practicing their religions.
"There's a lot of PTSD from the boarding schools," he said, referring to post-traumatic stress disorder, "They took away tribal language, it was forbidden. You didn't have the right to be Native. Everything Native was washed out."
GAI members would eventually compile their knowledge, gained through oral history and archival research, in the GAI History Project. They published the result in the Journal of Homosexuality in 1987, along with a list of 135 tribes and their words for two-spirit people. But even as GAI members were reclaiming their history, they were fighting in the present against both a gay culture and a Native community that often insisted they didn't exist.
1970-80s ANTHONY HUDSON (Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, Siletz) [per an interview in the Willamette Week newspaper 2022) “Age: “Carla’s somewhere between 12 and 10,000 years old, but I’m notoriously private about my age.”…grew up in Keizer, or, as they dub it, “the meth-y tumor attached to Salem.” It was upon moving to Portland 15 years ago (2007) that Hudson’s artistry began to take shape. Since 2015, Hudson has, as drag clown Carla Rossi, hosted Queer Horror, an LGBTQ+ horror film screening series at the Hollywood Theatre, but their artistry’s influence extends far beyond the theater.” [https://www.wweek.com/arts/2022/12/06/anthony-hudsoncarla-rossi-keeps-rising-higher/] Per their website http://www.thecarlarossi.com/bio “...is an artist and writer sometimes better known as Portland's premiere drag clown CARLA ROSSI. Together they host and program Queer Horror—the only LGBTQ horror film and performance series in the country—at the historic Hollywood Theatre. Anthony has received project support and fellowships from the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, the NEA, NPN, Native Arts and Cultures Foundation, First Peoples Fund, Oregon Arts Commission, Oregon Community Foundation, USArtists International, Ucross Foundation, Caldera Arts Center, and more; Anthony's performances have been featured at the New York Theatre Workshop, La Mama, PICA's TBA Festival, Portland and Seattle Art Museums, Portland Center Stage, and have toured internationally. Anthony also co-hosts the queer feminist horror podcast Gaylords of Darkness weekly with writer Stacie Ponder. Anthony is currently adapting their award-winning solo show Looking for Tiger Lily into a book.”
1980 Ad in a gay newspaper with just the word AMERICAN INDIAN – Morgan’s Alley – Portland.
1984
GAI (Gay American Indians) begins the GAI History Project which mission was to collect the oral records and traditions of queerness in Indigenous tribes. [This is notable for Oregon as Randy was from the Northern Paiute tribe].
1985
Will Roscoe wrote an article in The Advocate magazine (a national gay publication) entitled Gay American Indians: Creating an identity from past traditions (issue 432, pages 45-48) he also stated in theBibliography of Berdache and Alternative Gender Roles Among North American Indians an index whereby he cites the following:
1985 Will Roscoe reported to The Eagle Newsmagazine (gay newspaper printed out of Portland, Oregon) the following article:
1988
Living The Spirit – A Gay American Indian Anthology compiled by Gay American Indians and Will Roscoe – coordinating Editor. Part One “The Berdache Heritage” Artists, Healers, and Providers.
In the book on Pages 219 and 200 has a section on TRIBES WITH BERDACHE ROLES:
1991 Wedding of two women in Alternative Connection newspaper October 1991 [see article below Left] and also in 1991 – Oregon Council for the Humanities publishes the book “The First Oregonians” – An Illustrated Collection of Essays on Traditional Lifeways, Federal-Indian Relations, and the State’s Native People today. The book appears to be written by those from tribes with knowledge like Flow Pepper (mother of Native American Jazz Artist, Jim Pepper amongst others. However, no portion of the book deals with the two-spirit gifts.
1993 May issue article by Cayene Woods “Gay American Indians” page 17 obtained from Brenna Larson sca@wesleyan.edu. There are several articles within this one issue. https://archives.wesleyan.edu/repositories/sca/archival_objects/the_lavender_network_eugene_or_1
A third article, though not about LGBTQ shows how the gay newspaper (Lavender Network) was reporting on Native American stories. See Below Left and another article about Naomi Littlebear Morena see below Right.
1993 Patti Davis Lavender Network newspaper GAI - 'Two-Spirit People: Reclaiming the Past/Protecting the Future’, part of the article is included here: “I called Randy Burns, one of the founders of the Gay American Indians (GAI), what input he could give me. Randy was very forthright and extremely helpful, providing me with answers to my questions on the subject of American Indians and AIDS and also with information on other subjects I was researching. After our conversation (it was much more than just an interview) I discovered that what I wished to write on was about GAI and the importance of the work that they do along with the support and services they help facilitate. I believe that GAI has a strong link to educational concerns for American Indians in their work to combat the AIDS epidemic and also in their projects to aid in the reclaiming and revival of the berdache tradition of the American Indian peoples.
GAI was founded in 1975 by Randy Burns (Northern Paiute) and Barbara Cameron (Lakota Sioux). It was the first Gay American Indian organization in the United States. The original intention was to create a social club to help urban Indians with their needs and to serve their interests as part of the Gay American Indian community. The club was established as a place to share common identity, utilize emotional support, and share heritages. Before long the club found itself doing social work, referrals, and assisting in legal problems They were out in front in organizing events for the recent 500 Years of Resistance during the 1992 Columbus Quincentennial. Their part in the Indian community, especially for Gay American Indians just seemed to grow and grow. One of their earliest achievements was the creation of the GAI History Project; to organize and facilitate information on the "berdache" tradition, and they have gone on to devote much of their current time in fighting the AIDS epidemic which is beginning to devastate the Indian community. They also have many other important projects in the works, such as the establishment of the Indian Center for All Nations (ICAN).
Today GAI has grown from a social club to an organization with over 1,000 members (both Indian and non-Indian, with many coming from reservations) on their mailing list and 200 locally.
One of the most extensive and ambitious projects that GAI has undertaken is the establishment of the Gay American Indian History Project* to collect and organize materials on the American Indian tradition known as "berdache". Before discussing the importance and scope of this project I feel it necessary to explain the term and the tradition and what it means to the Gay American Indian community.
“Berdache" is a term used mostly by anthropologists and historians to describe a role found in traditional Indian society of those people who did not seem to follow the established male and female gender-based roles. Often these people were recognized as special, performing the roles of shamans and healers and doing other ritual and sacred duties. They were recognized as special because they combined more than the spirit and thus more able to bridge both the physical and spiritual worlds.
Even if they were not accorded a sacred or respected role among their communities they were not ostracized or condemned. It was understood that such people did not choose to be different but were chosen to be so by a higher power. Unfortunately, the term "berdache" is not an especially flattering or even a truthful definition of the role it was used to designate. The term in English comes from the French word "bardesh" which derived from the Italian "berdascia". That term derived from the Arabic "barday'' which derived from the Persian "barah". The consistent meaning was a "kept boy", "male prostitute" or “II catamite". The term was first applied by French travelers and explorers to describe “What they saw as heterosexual behavior within the Indian tribes, with special reference to transvestism or cross-dressing,” (Angelino, 121-22).
While homosexual behavior and cross-gender dressing may have indeed been present, the Indian "berdache" was not primarily a sexual role or a frivolous one.
As mentioned, it was often a very spiritual path with the seriousness and responsibilities that such roles carry. In many tribes it was not viewed as a cross-gender role but as a "third gender", neither male or female. It is therefore understandable that the term "berdache" is not one that Indians like or use. It also should be noted that of the 135 North American Indian tribes which have such a role, over half have specific tribal words to name it. Most terms refer to the male role (this is also true of the term “berdache” but there is also a similar female role which sometimes uses the same and sometimes a different designator. Gay American Indians, in seeking a more truthful, non-western term, "two-spirit people" to be used in a pan-Indian sense, one which encompasses today's Gay American Indians with their historic counterparts. It is especially important for contemporary Gay Indians to connect with this past because the tradition has been so suppressed and forgotten that homophobia is a major problem within the Indian communities, especially on the reservations. While not every Gay Indian would necessarily be considered a "berdache" the revival of the tradition and the educating of all that the tradition was an honorable, even revered one, is important in fighting that oppression. For the Gay Indian youth (a group with one of the highest suicide rates) that importance is crucial in the development of self-pride and worth.
The Gay American Indian History Project was formed in 1984 to collect and organize materials on the history of the “Two-Spirit People”, making such information accessible to the Indian community and also to scholars. Randy Burns told me that he had known of the role and that when he started doing research into it, the material just grew and grew. One person who was instrumental in helping accomplish this task is (currently teaching at San Francisco State University and Stanford), an anthropologist and historian, specializing in cross-gender studies. I interviewed Will (as he prefers to be called) and asked him how he came to be involved with GAI and the project. He told me that in 1984 he had been doing research for about two years on the "berdache" role and he wanted to make contact with some Native Americans, not for informants but in order to get feedback on his work. At the Gay Day that year he approached the GAI table and met Randy Burns. They talked and Randy later called him and invited him to a meeting where they talked further. During that conversation Will recalls telling Randy of a story he had heard of an Indian father who had discovered his son was involved in a homosexual relationship and had beaten him for it. Will wondered how that could be but Randy was not surprised - the respected tradition had been lost to White and Christian impositions and influences. From that meeting a collaboration was formed and Will Roscoe became editor of the bibliography the project wished to create. When funding for the History Project expired in 1985, Will Roscoe continued to develop the bibliography with GAI's input and it was subsequently published in the Journal of Homosexuality in 1987. This bibliography is entitled Bibliography of Berdache and Alternative Gender Roles Among North American Indians.
*now known as Mutual Aid & Resources - Queer Cultural Center https://queerculturalcenter.org/mutual-aid-resources/.
2000 Just Out newspaper, June 16, 2000 “Family Pride - The Class of 2000” honoring those in the community who serve. Doug Stauffer was highlighted, “Since learning of his native blood, Stauffer has been a registered member of his tribe and begun attending a sweat lodge He also is trying to figure where he fits into his culture as a gay man. As a twin spirit I may have to sit between the men and the women in the lodge,” he says quietly, adding that many ingenious people are afraid of gay men and lesbians, because of the Christian overlay of negativity….He is starting a group for gay and lesbian indigenous people. “I want to bring us together, to be more visible in native culture.” Referring to the two-spirit tradition, in which gay Native Americans were revered and often became the shamans of the tribe, he adds, “I want to revive the old ways and the reverence for gays that the culture originally held.” The photo Below of Doug and the Bulletin announcement are both from the same article.
2008 “Ore. Tribe Approves Same-Sex Marriage”, was the headline in the Gay and Lesbian Times, No 1079, August 28, 2008, pages 18, 19. The reason why this is placed into this document is to show how the tribes in Oregon embrace the LGBTQ community.
In the article, it states, “Portland, Oregon. The Coquille Indian Tribe, based on the southern Oregon coast, recently adopted a law recognizing same-sex marriage, and its first such wedding is set for next spring. The article went on to say, “Native Americans are ‘sensitive to discrimination of any kind,” said Ken Tanner, chief of the Coquilles, “For our tribe, we want people to walk in the shoes of other people and learn to respect differences. Through that, we think we build a stronger community.”
The article stated, “The Coquilles are believed to be the first tribe to legalize same-sex marriage. Three years ago, a lesbian couple in Oklahoma tested a loophole in the Cherokee Nation’s law that defined marriage as between two people enrolled in the tribe.”
The first couple to get married under the new law is expected to be Jemo and Kitzen Branting (Doyle).
Other news outlets picked up on the story: https://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/story?id=5659821
https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2009/05/coquille_samesex_marriage_law.html
https://boston.edgemedianetwork.com/story.php?79241
2009 The Two Spirit Recourse Directory
[https://uwm.edu/lgbtrc/wp-content/uploads/sites/162/2014/09/two-spirit-resource-directory-jan-2013.pdf#:~:text=TWO-SPIRIT%20GROUPS%20of%20the%20UNITED%20STATES%20Bay%20Area,Central%20Oklahoma%20Two%20Spirit%20Society%20%28Oklahoma%20City%2C%20OK%29]
Under TWO-SPIRIT GROUPS of the UNITED STATES, Portland Two Spirit Society (Portland, OR) Contact: portlandtwospiritsociety@gmail.com.
2012 Frank Roa was honored the Queer Hero NW in 2012 by GLPAN [Gay & Lesbian Archives of the Pacific Northwest] which states on their website: GLAPN and Portland's Q Center began Queer Heroes NW in 2012, as a way to make some friends, honor service and accomplishment in our community – and teach a little history.
Queer Heroes NW We honor a Queer Hero for every day in June, as part of our celebration of Pride, on our website and social media. We looked for some combination of risk, sacrifice, service, example and inspiration from individuals, living or dead, who had somehow helped make the world an easier place to be queer. See below Left. https://www.glapn.org/6303frankroa.html
2013 Per Portland Two Spirit named Queer Hero — Transfaith Portland Two Spirit Society founder, Amanda Brings Plenty-Wright, was named a 2013 Queer Hero by Heroes NW, a collaboration between Q Center and the Gay & Lesbian Archives of the Pacific Northwest (GLAPN). This statement was released recognizing Brings Plenty-Wright's work. Amanda Brings Plenty-Wright (Klamath/Modoc) is the founder of the Portland Two-Spirit Society (PTSS). She is among native leaders nationally who are reviving the Two Spirit tradition. Amanda says although it was scary at first, overall she has found acceptance and respect while working against homophobia in the Native community.
PTSS was formed in May 2012 as a social group for Two Spirits, but has since taken on a cultural and educational role. The group recently joined forces with 2SY, the Two Spirit Youth group run by the Native American Rehabilitation Association, and is developing a youth curriculum and tool kit including coming out stories and cultural workshops. PTSS is available to speak to groups desiring more information about Two Spirit history and Two Spirit youth. [see photo below Middle]
2014 Per https://everydayfeminism.com/2014/10/indigenous-lgbtqia-two-spirit/ The website is just a portion of what Basic Rights of Oregon has done to identify Indigenous Peoples in the community:
We all struggle for similar things in our lives: acceptance, happiness, health…But these struggles can affect LGBTQIA+ people of color in varied and unique ways.
This video features several courageous indigenous LGBTQIA+/Two Spirit families and individuals sharing their personal stories of acceptance, family, trials, and triumphs. Check it out - https://youtu.be/geFgT-X7Ajc
2014/2015 There are some tribes in Oregon per NCAI Policy Research Center that are listed of the 24 tribes in the US whose laws now allow same-sex marriage within their jurisdictions [see below Right] Further in the document it states, “Many LGBT and Two Spirit Natives struggle to find safety: In one state survey, nearly 1 in 3 LGBT Natives (29.4 percent) reported experiencing hate violence—a higher rate than any other LGBT group (Frazer and Pruden, 2010, p.10). Research with Native lesbian, bisexual, and Two Spirit women revealed high prevalence of both sexual (85 percent) and physical (78 percent) assault (Lehavot et al., 2009).
2016 Per Oregonlive website: https://www.oregonlive.com/life-and-culture/g66l-2019/06/db5245ead89507/top-10-milestones-of-portlands-pride-celebration.html: The 2016 Portland Pride Parade came just one week after a gunman entered the gay Pulse nightclub in Orlando and opened fire, killing 49 people and injuring 53 more before he was fatally shot by police. It was an act of violence that served as a stark reminder that while significant gains have been made towards equality for gays and lesbians, intolerance remains.
Because of those worries, Portland Police increased security for the parade. But the crowds of supporters lining the parade route were among the biggest in history. It was also the longest parade to date, with 150 entries featuring about 8,000 marchers.
Pride was held on June 18–19, 2016 at Tom McCall Waterfront Park.
Per Debra Porta 4/30/2023, “The Portland Two Spirit Society was our Grand Marshal in 2016. There was an opening ceremony and land acknowledgement before the parade as well.”
Per Portland Monthly’s website: https://www.pdxmonthly.com/news-and-city-life/2019/04/one-indigenous-activist-is-making-a-place-for-two-spirit-people-in-portland
“So, Brings Plenty, who was studying for her master’s in public administration at Portland State, approached the organizing committee with three asks: a prayer at the next parade to “honor the indigenous lands” on which they were walking; to waive the parade entry fee for Portland’s five-year-old Two-Spirit Society; and to include a tipi in the festival area.
The committee granted her requests; then they asked her to be the 2016 Pride Parade’s Grand Marshal.
“That was the first time the Two Spirit folks in Portland were really seen and invited to the table,” says the soft-spoken, straight-talking Oglala Lakota Sioux tribe member, who has lived in Portland since 2011. And it was just the beginning of her fight, which today has rocketed her to a place in the national conversation about indigenous rights and gender.”
Per the Oregonlive.com website
[https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2016/06/portland_pride_2016_two_spirit.html] and Debra Porta of Pride it should be stated that “named Portland's Two Spirit Society this year's grand marshal.”
Photo from https://www.advocate.com/pride/2016/6/20/photos-orlando-remembered-portland-trans-pride#rebelltitem30
2019 OSU Queer Archives Oral History Collection, 2015-2020 (oregonstate.edu) http://scarc.library.oregonstate.edu/findingaids/index.php?p=collections/findingaid&id=2934&q=LGBTQ#id530865
Item 15: Event - Indigenous Trans and Two Spirit Stories of Resilience, November 20, 2019
(0:50:20) As part of Native Heritage Month as well as Trans Awareness Week, and in partnership with the Women, Gender, & Sexuality Studies and Queer Studies programs, the Native American Longhouse (NAL) Eena Haws hosted the event "Indigenous Trans and Two-Spirit Stories of Resilience." Leadership Liaison Kobe Natachu Taylor shared that the motivation behind the event was to create a space which centered queer, trans and Two-Spirit Indigenous people, and celebrated the resilience of Indigenous communities. It was also acknowledged that the event was occurring on Trans Day of Remembrance, the 50th anniversary of the Occupation of Alcatraz, and the 3rd anniversary of protest actions on Backwater Bridge during the Dakota Access Pipeline protests. Two-Spirit, queer and trans Indigenous people were invited to share their own stories, or to read the work of Two-Spirit, queer and trans Indigenous writers. The authors whose writing and poetry were shared include Janice Gould, Arielle Twist, Doe O’Brien, Malea Powell, Qwo-Li Driskill, Beth Brant, and the collective Queer Indigenous Gathering. The event speakers included Roman Cohen, Tiramisu Hall, Raven Waldron, Luhui Whitebear, Qwo-Li Driskill, and Kobe Natachu.
2022 Historian and author Peter Boag has done extensive research on LGBTQ history and even in his book Re-Dressing – America’s Frontier Past [2011] or his other book, Same-Sex Affairs [Constructing and Controlling Homosexuality in the Pacific Northwest [2003] there is nothing on an Oregon Native American connection or stories with regard to the early LGBTQ Oregon history. Reaching out to Peter he stated, “As a white person, I have tried –as I have aged–to avoid writing about these issues, save for where I explore European responses to indigenous people and their culture in Re-Dressing America’s Frontier Past. I know that will be disappointing to you as I am not an authority on these matters.”
2022 Jack Malstrom shares Indigenous, Two-Spirit identity through the airwaves [July 10, 2022]
Advocacy and radio Today, 33-year-old Malstrom is the director of the Portland Two Spirit Society, a drag performer by the name of Gila Suspectum, a Two-Spirit and adoptee advocate, a prominent local DJ, and a radio host at KBOO, an independent member-supported, non-commercial, volunteer-powered community radio station in Portland.
While searching online for a next career move, Malstrom stumbled across KBOO and was drawn to the station’s free training for people interested in radio. Malstrom jumped at the opportunity. For eight years since, they have been on air co-hosting the Rose City Native Radio show, airing every Thursday from 6-7 p.m.
2022
Jerry Woods, aka Raven, in a sit-down interview on September 24, 2022, stated, “I have ½ of my mother and ½ of my father – with each half, I am whole – so being the way I am, I have their spirits which makes me a twin spirit or two spirits.” Raven has been performing as a female impersonator periodically at Darcelle XV Showplace for over thirty years.
2023
Ricky in a sit-down interview on March 3 described coming from the reservation into downtown Portland leaving the reservation due to his drug addiction and alcoholism.
2023 Per website: https://www.pathsremembered.org/about-us/ The Paths (Re)Membered Project centers the Two Spirit and LGBTQ+ community–its strengths, resiliencies, and histories—in our movement toward health equity. Through community engagement, research, and advocacy, we work toward a liberated 2SLGBTQ+ future, which includes the memories of Two Spirit ancestors, the wisdom of our elders, and the creativity of our young people.
The seven parts of our logo, designed by Lorenzo Yazzie, represent the seven generations which guide our work. The circle represents the unceasing ties between our Nations, art, medicines, and ceremonies, as well as our health as individuals and communities. It is with the memories of our ancestral pasts, where our Two Spirit people were highly regarded and integral to our villages, and the thoughts and dreams of our (Re)Membered futures, that we restore our places in the circle.
The Paths (Re)Membered Project at the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board is supported by funding from the Indian Health Service and the Minority HIV/AIDS Fund.
Their website provides many tools for educating about Indigenous/LGBTQ/Two Spirit.
2023 - Youth event only—grades 9-12. An evening of safety among peers.
Please share with anyone who could use this information.
““NAYA Family Center Presents: QUEER PROM! Queer/Trans Youth attending school in the Portland-Metro area, grades 9-12, are welcome. Come dressed in your best neon outfit, cause this year's theme is Glow In the Dark Enchanted Forest! Drag it up, grunge it down, whatever your heart desires. This is your night! All relationships and dates are welcome, including straight-appearing.” Visit http://eventbrite.com/.../portland-metro-queer-prom... to register.”
Per Portland Two Spirit Society
***This event is for YOUTH ONLY, grades 9-12***
Come dressed in your best neon outfit, cause this year's theme is Glow In the Dark Enchanted Forest! Drag it up, grunge it down, whatever your heart desires. This is your night!
There will be performances from Portland's Premier Drag Clown Carla Rossi and drag performer Gila Suspectum. Catering will be provided from Cooking with B Love, with an amazing array of finger foods including sliders, a nacho bar, etc. and mocktails to accompany your dish. Music will come from DJ A.Spen. There will also be a photographer on site. Everything is FREE to attendees.
Please bring your student ID and have it ready to show, or you may be turned away. This is for your safety, which is our highest priority.
Allies are welcome if they are invited by a Queer/Trans/Questioning friend or date. All relationships and dates are welcome, including straight-appearing. Biphobia is not tolerated in this space.
The event will take place in the Sunken Ballroom in the Mark building.
This is an alcohol and drug free event and paraphernalia will not be allowed on site. No bullying, harassment or hate speech of any kind will be tolerated. We are here to CELEBRATE YOU, the Queer/Trans Youth of the Portland-Metro area, so let's make sure everyone of all backgrounds are safe and welcomed.
Questions? Contact Silas Hoffer: silash@nayapdx.org
On LGBTQ+ History in Portland | The Official Guide to Portland (travelportland.com) it states, “Portland’s LGBTQ+ history likely goes back to the first human inhabitants of the area. According to the First Nations Two-Spirit Collective, native people have celebrated gender and sexual minorities for millennia. Explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark noted a number of encounters with such individuals in Oregon. While some tribes have struggled to keep these traditions alive in the face of colonial influences, the Portland Two-Spirit Society is evidence of the resurgence of Two-Spirit pride.” Updated May 4, 2023
Also check: Portland Two Spirit Society - EverybodyWiki Bios & Wiki