Two-Spirit Era

Gay Natives Organize 1975-1985

The Two-Spirit Era had its beginnings in 1975, when Barbara Cameron (Hunkpapa Lakota) and Randy Burns (Northern Paiute) founded the first-ever queer organization of First Nation people: Gay American Indians (GAI). Based in San Francisco, Cameron and Burns were seeking to create a sanctuary for gay/lesbian Native Americans, who were targeted by both the racism within mainstream queer organizations and the religious homophobia within their own colonized Indigenous communities. GAI started as a social group, but soon began assisting members in finding community services (housing, jobs, health care) and lobbying for greater acceptance among other San Francisco non-Native queer groups. In 1985, the organization celebrated their tenth anniversary, with nearly 600 nationwide members.

Unearthing Our History

Barbara Cameron, 1996

“To know and understand that being lesbian or gay is an Indian tradition.”
— Barbara Cameron

Gatherings & A New Name

By 1987, two more Native gay/lesbian organizations had begun in Winnipeg (later named Two-Spirited People Of Manitoba) and Minneapolis (American Indian Gays and Lesbians or AIGL). Led by activists like Richard LaFortune (Yupik), AIGL hosted the first international gathering of gay & lesbian Natives. They called it The Basket and The Bow: A Gathering of Lesbian and Gay Native Americans. This first gathering drew more than 60 participants from Canada and the US. By 1990, in an effort to have a more inclusive title, the gathering was known as the Third Annual Inter-tribal Native American, First Nations, Gay and Lesbian American Conference. Held just outside of Winnipeg, Manitoba near the town of Beausejour, it was there that Myra Laramee (Fisher River Cree) first proposed the term “Two-Spirit”, recalling that the phrase came to her in a dream. Alongside activists like Albert McLeod (Nisichawayasihk Cree & Métis) and Beverly Little Thunder (Standing Rock Lakota), a series of five conferences at the gathering led to the reception and acceptance of “Two-Spirit.”

Beausejour, MB, 1990
Dr. Myra Laramee, Beverly Little Thunder and Barbara Bruce, pictured at the International Gathering

“It is sacred and is more than just words – it is a spirit/heart language. When Two-Spirit is used, it invokes our sacredness and reminds us that we have always been here and we will always be here. As a result, with Two-Spirit comes a great responsibility, to those who use it, as we walk and work in sacred way with and for our people.”
— Dr. Myra Laramee

Two-Spirits Across Turtle Island

As “Two-Spirit” gained popularity within Indigenous communities, other groups emerged and became national models for leadership, like Montana Two-Spirit Society in 1996 and Bay Area American Indian Two-Spirits (BAAITS) in 1999. BAAITS would later hold the first-ever Native American Two-Spirit Pow Wow in 2012, which is still the largest every year, drawing more than 5,000 relatives. BAAITS organizers Angel/Tlahuizpapalotil Fabian (Ben Zaa/Zapotec) and Miko Thomas (Chickasaw) are also a part of the development of the All Nations Two-Spirit Society in Oklahoma, which began in 2023. Today, the original Two-Spirit conference continues annually as the International Two-Spirit Gathering. But while many embrace the term for its Pan-Indigenous solidarity, “Two-Spirit” is not accepted or used by everyone. Many queer Indigenous people do not identify as having both a male and female spirit within themselves. As an umbrella term, “Two-Spirit” has come to be associated with all Native 2SLGBTQIA+ people. And whether they identify as “Two-Spirit”, “IndigiQueer” or neither, queer Natives are welcomed into Two-Spirit societies today.

International Two-Spirit Gathering Locations:

Two-Spirit Leadership

The late Marlin Fixico (Southern Cheyenne) spoke at the 2022 BAAITS Pow Wow, of being a part of the “first generation of Two-Spirit Elders.” They are essential leaders to the Two-Spirit movement and have helped contribute to the Oklahoma-based All Nations Two-Spirit Society’s understanding of our history: