North Coast Two-Spirit Project
The North Coast Two-Spirit Project (NC2SP) is a project of reconciliation.
Two-Spirit community members, Native community members, LGBTQ community members, settlers, and allies collaborate on this project with a common goal: creating brighter futures for our Two-Spirit and Indigenous queer relatives on the northwest coast of Turtle Island and beyond. We acknowledge that every member of our community has a role to play in healing the damage done by colonialism, and that we all benefit when Two-Spirit people thrive.
The work of NC2SP is done through centering, nourishing and uplifting Two-Spirit voices, engaging in policy advocacy, cultivating supportive environments for Two-Spirit and Indigenous queer youth and adults, facilitating affirming intergenerational knowledge transference, supporting Native cultural revitalization efforts, enhancing public education on who and what is Two-Spirit as well as LGBTQ+ vocabulary/key concepts, providing technical support for Native-led governments and organizations seeking to decolonize gender/sexual orientation in the context of Indigenous culture, and co-producing an annual North Coast Two-Spirit Conference.
We offer our thanks to Wiyot tribal leadership, Blue Lake Rancharia's Tribal Education Department, the KTJUSD Rainbow Task Force, Two-Feathers NAFS, the Two-Spirit Dry Lab, and countless community partners for breathing life into this project and being ongoing partners in the work.
Interested in getting involved?
Email NC2SP@QueerHumboldt.org
with the subject "Getting involved: North Coast Two-Spirit Project"
General information:
Learn more about Two-Spirit here and here
Learn about the Wiyot Tribe's commitment to Gou Rrugulu's:
http://www.wiyot.us/367/Gou-Rrugulus
Past Trainings, Media and Events:
On March 12th, 2024, Humboldt County Board of Supervisors became the first government entity in the USA to proclaim Two-Spirit Day of Appreciation and Celebration. The holiday is already recognized across various communities in Canada, including all of British Columbia.
Pictured below: Wiyot Tribal Administrator, Michelle Vassel, speaks at the County Supervisor's meeting 3/12/24, accepting the proclamation of Two-Spirit Day along with a Two-Spirit youth from Hoopa High.
Below that is another photo of community members with the proclamation after the historic proclamation.
On March 9th, 2024, we held a vigil in Old Town Eureka for Nex Benedict, the Oklahoma teenager who died following bullying in school that culminated in an assault in a school bathroom. Nex died the next day.
A video of the Eureka vigil can be viewed here:
In February, 2024, we traveled to SF for the Bay Area American Indian Two-Spirits (BAAITS) Powwow. We took high school students from Hoopa Valley High, Arcata High and Eureka High, as well as college students from Cal Poly Humboldt and a range of community members.
Here is a video about our experience:
(below) Photos from March 31st, 2023 -
Hoopa High students participate in the National March for Queer & Trans Youth Autonomy
Here is the video of Harlan Pruden and the Two-Spirit Dry Lab's talk from Friday, Oct, 21st at HUUF in Bayside.
Photo from the June, 2022 Two-Feathers Rainbow Extravaganza.
