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 focus on nourishing Native Sovereignty and Two-Spirit leadership 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 in collaboration with Two Feathers NAFS and the Wiyot Tribe.
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"
Upcoming Events:
Photo of one of our Queer Humboldt youth leaders at the Two-Spirit Youth Drop In Art Group. This group is lead by Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer youth and is for Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer youth.
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, 2022 at HUUF in Bayside.
Two-Spirit people have always been here and Two-Spirit activism has been an ongoing presence across time, but this talk ignited what has become a Two-Spirit resurgence here on the redwood coast. Since this talk, the movement that has grown, and grown, and grown.
One year after this talk, Queer Humboldt partnered with Two-Feathers to host the first regional Two-Spirit conference. One year later, the Wiyot Tribe joined as a cohost for the second annual conference, making it an official Wiyot event. This first Two-Spirit Teachings talk was a pivotal moment and, thanks to Access Humboldt recording it, is a lasting educational resource for our community and beyond.
Photo from the June, 2022 Two-Feathers Rainbow Extravaganza.
