Two spirits, 35 years: event celebrates term’s anniversary

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This article was published 19/11/2024 (319 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Canadian Museum for Human Rights, in collaboration with Day of Pink, hosts an event this afternoon commemorating the 35th anniversary of the term “two-spirit.”

It includes a première screening of a documentary, the launch of a two-spirit curriculum, and the unveiling of the world’s first Two-Spirit Pride Flag which promotes a concept, Day of Pink organizers say, symbolizing “diverse Indigenous gender identities and roles that colonialism sought to suppress through discriminatory policies.”

Coined at a Winnipeg conference in 1990, the word two-spirit is a translation of the Anishinaabemowin term niizh manidoowag, meaning someone who embodies both a masculine and feminine spirit.

While not universally accepted or used by Indigenous communities across North America, two-spirit has become a widely used umbrella term for Indigenous practices relating to gender non-conformity and third gender, documented as stretching back well before European colonialism.

Many queer Indigenous people today self-identify as two-spirit, and the Canadian government officially uses 2SLGBTQI+ (with 2S representing Two Spirit) as an alternative to LGBTTQ+.

The documentary to be shown at this event, filmed in Winnipeg, addresses the impacts of the Indian residential school system on two-spirit survivors and communities.

The Two-Spirit Pride Flag, designed by Patrick Hunter, features eagle feathers symbolizing masculine and feminine spirits, a sun representing human potential, and circles symbolizing visibility and inclusion.

Organizers say their event is guided by both regional and international human-rights discourses, including the Path to Reconciliation Act, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action, and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).

The 35th anniversary celebration of Two-Spirit is part of the Day of Pink, a global campaign against bullying and discrimination, and is aimed at educators and students as well as the general public.

conrad.sweatman@freepress.mb.ca