The 2S Sub-Working Group

“Are Two-Spirit[ed people] understood as only marginalized or are they also understood as leaders, role models and gifted with Indigenous Teachings?
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The 2S Sub-Working Group recognizes that the absence of an intersectional lens has excluded the 2SLGBTQQIA+ community members from national inquiries and commissions such as the

NIMMIWG and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.40 Further, colonialism has entailed the imposition of Western gender norms through the Indian Act, residential schools and other colonial systems. The 2S Sub-Working Group identified a need to develop a Two-Spirit specific gender-based analysis tool to ensure that the realities of our Two-Spirit and Indiqueer relatives are reflected and fully incorporated into this action plan and to address the exclusion as a missed opportunity to describe the imposition of binary gender identities onto Indigenous people.

Sylvia Maracle

Sylvia Maracle (Skonaganleh:ra), a Two-Spirit Mohawk from the Wolf Clan in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territories, has dedicated her career to Indigenous support through her longstanding involvement with Friendship Centres, notably serving as Executive Director for 41 years. She has held leadership roles in various organizations, including Native Child and Family Services of Toronto and the Native Women’s Resource Centre of Toronto, and has been actively involved in anti-violence and housing strategies within Ontario. Maracle has contributed to national initiatives like the Aboriginal Headstart Program and was a founding co-chair of 2 Spirits in Motion, advocating for 2SLGBTQ+ Indigenous communities. Her efforts have been recognized with honorary Doctor of Laws degrees from several universities. Maracle emphasizes the importance of authentic representation, governance changes, and policy support for the 2SLGBTQQIA+ community, driven by a vision of reclaiming space and advancing their rights and well-being.

Albert Beck

Albert has spent the past twenty-five years applying his expertise in health, social policy, and human rights to address Indigenous issues in Canada. His work spans frontline services, program and policy development, research, advisory roles, public education, and administration. He has spearheaded national initiatives focused on HIV/AIDS, the 2S-LGBTTQQIAAP community, gender-based violence, and the Sixties Scoop. Albert is deeply involved in developing the MMIWG National Action Plan, emphasizing the inclusion of the 2SLGBTQQIA+ community. He advocates for systemic changes to protect these communities, emphasizing their essential roles in ceremonies, decision-making, and cultural preservation. Albert's efforts aim to halt the violence against 2SLGBTQQIA+ individuals and ensure their voices are heard, advocating for a future where their contributions and rights are fully recognized and respected.

Ma-Nee Chacaby

Ma-Nee Chacaby is a two-spirit Ojibway/Cree Elder with extensive experience in alcoholism counselling and early childhood development. She has devoted decades to community service, including counselling at-risk youth, providing end-of-life care for people with HIV, and teaching Indigenous traditions in various settings. Chacaby is renowned for her work in Indigenous communities, promoting pride in two-spirited identity and educating on the value of two-spiritedness pre-Christianity. An accomplished artist, her work spans visual arts, storytelling, drumming, and crafts, often reflecting her dreams, visions, and emotions. Raised with deep respect for two-spirit traditions, she was taught ceremonies and healing practices from a young age, anticipating a future rich in ceremonial and traditional roles. Despite challenges, including discrimination at residential school, Chacaby remains a dedicated educator and advocate for two-spirit understanding and acceptance.

Albert McLeod

Albert McLeod, a Status Indian with roots in Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation and the Métis community of Norway House, Manitoba, has a family history intertwined with the fur trade and the Hudson’s Bay Company. After growing up in Cormorant and The Pas, he moved to Vancouver in 1979, where he joined Canada's first Two-Spirit organization, the Greater Vancouver Native Cultural Society. McLeod later helped organize Winnipeg's first Two-Spirit group, the Nichiwakan Native Gay Society, and participated in the inaugural international Two-Spirit gathering in 1988, attending nineteen out of thirty-two such gatherings since. With over thirty years as a human rights and HIV/AIDS activist, he co-founded the Two-Spirited People of Manitoba and served as director of the Manitoba Aboriginal AIDS Task Force. In 2018, the University of Winnipeg awarded him an Honorary Doctorate of Laws. Now based in Winnipeg, McLeod works as a consultant focusing on Indigenous knowledge, cultural reclamation, and cross-cultural training. He reflects on the challenges faced by Two-Spirit people during his youth and his commitment to contributing to a National Action Plan, emphasizing the importance of survival and advocacy for future generations.

John R. Sylliboy

John R. Sylliboy is a L’nu (Mi’kmaq) from Nova Scotia's Millbrook Mi’kmaw Community, working in social and cultural development, health, education policy, and community development for Atlantic Indigenous communities, focusing on Two-Spirits and Indigenous LGBTQIA+ groups. He is involved in regional and national projects, advocating for Indigenous perspectives in health and research. John consults on First Nations educational governance, incorporating Two-Eyed Seeing in education and research, and addressing youth and Two-Spirits' health and educational needs. He has contributed to curriculum development and cultural safety training at several universities. As a co-founder of the Wabanaki Two-Spirit Alliance, he supports Two-Spirit awareness in Mi’kma’ki and Canada. John is pursuing doctoral studies at McGill University, researching gender, sexuality, and 2SLGBTQIA+, aiming to enhance cultural identity and language revitalization among Mi’kmaq and Indigenous youth.

Alexa Keleutak

Alexa is Inuk from Quaqtaq, Quebec. She is an active Youth Board Member of Southern Quebec Inuit Women’s Association and holds a degree in Restaurant Management. “I accepted doing this work, helping represent Inuit LGBTQQIA as part of community independence process. Even though I came out my personal journey has not been easy. Direct participation will mean that it may be easier for someone else in the future to come out. Alexa Keleutak Percy Lezard 86 For others, this work I am helping with will be a steppingstone for them to start their journey. It will give them a path, one that will have programs and services to support them. That will change the world for LGBTQQIA Inuit. We do exist and need to support other young Inuit and older Inuit on their journey. I hope this change happens in my generation. It will be hard to convince the conservative Inuit population that there are more than two genders. Understanding and acceptance will grow.”

Jordy Ironstar

Jordy Ironstar is a Two Spirit Nakoda Oyadé and member of Céga Kįnna First Nation, Saskatchewan. Jordy serves as the Two Spirit Ambassador for FCP, co-chair of All Nations Hope Network (ANHN), and a member of the MMIWG2SLGBTQQIA+ National Action Committee. Jordy is passionate about with/for their Queer and Indigenous kin across Turtle Island.

Martin Morberg

Martin Morberg is a Two-Spirit Northern Tutchone and Tlingit man from the remote community of Mayo, Yukon Territory. He is a member of the Na Cho Nyak Dun First Nation. “It’s my goal to empower the lives and voices of Two-Spirit and Indigenous people affected by HIV and addictions while contributing to the visibility of these communities.” Much of Martin’s work and activism is rooted in community and grassroots initiatives and he acknowledges that many Indigenous leaders and community members have guided and supported him in growing into the activist he is today. He hopes to pay this knowledge and support forward to Indigenous communities and Two-Spirit people and contribute to the meaningful work and reclamation of Two-Spirit culture and identity. Martin is the Two-Spirit Program Coordinator at the Community-Based Research Centre.

Methadology

American civil rights advocate Kimberlé Crenshaw first used the term “intersectionality” in the late 1980s. While there are different definitions of “intersectionality,” for Indigenous Peoples, definitions have evolved to reflect their unique learnings and experiences. In its broadest terms, intersectionality takes into account the impact of diverse factors such as race, class, sex, gender, residency, geography, ability and age as they apply to an individual or group. It also helps to develop a broader understanding of complex systems of discrimination and disadvantage. This understanding can support the development of policies tailored to the needs of those who experience discrimination. 
The combination of different systems of oppression against Indigenous women and girls, including the particular issues faced by 2SLGBTQQIA+ people in some Indigenous communities, can show us how systems, institutions, and individual actions further target individuals in other areas, including homelessness, poverty, and other circumstances that increase the dangers they may face.37 The relationship between Intersectionality and Indigeneity has also been documented by Sarah Hunt (Kwagiulth, Kwakwaka’wakw Nation) in a dialogue held in April 2012, on Coast Salish Territories. Hunt documents that Indigenous knowledge allows for diverse forms of knowledge to be valued, including the wisdom of elders, dreams and spiritual guides; relations that extend beyond humans to include other animals, the land, water and all living things. Indigenous languages are embedded with concepts reflecting the interconnectedness of all things. Some of these concepts translated into English include ‘all my relations’, ‘weaving the strands, and a web of community relations’.