An image from the BAAITS 2020 Two-Spirit Powwow
On February 11, 2012, the Bay Area American Indian Two-Spirits organization (BAAITS) held the first ever Native American Two-Spirit Powwow. A powwow is a cultural celebration that includes traditions like singing, dancing, and drumming. The team behind the first BAAITS Powwow sought to de-gender these traditions and bring Two-Spirit people, those who do not identify within the gender binary, together from tribes across North and Central America.
They did all of that and more.
Still going strong, this year will mark the BAAITS Two-Spirit Powwow’s tenth anniversary. Throughout the past decade, it has engaged tens of thousands of Two-Spirit people and allies, and it has helped launch a growing movement to increase the acceptance and visibility of Two-Spirit people.
“It’s pretty amazing to see Two-Spirit leadership, visibility and vision and what we can do,” said BAAITS interim Executive Director Amelia Vigil.
“We started it so small,” added Board Treasurer Miko Thomas, who is also one of the Powwow’s founders. “…Our goal was to put on a powwow as a means of giving back to our own community and little did we know it would grow into a movement in other parts of Canada and the US. We went from being the only public Two-Spirit Powwow to being the first and oldest. There is so much gratitude in that.”
Two-Spirit is an umbrella, pan-tribal term that describes Native American and First Nation people who identify with a type of third gender. Some may also use it to mean LGBTQ+. The term was created in 1990 at a Native American LGBTQ conference, though most tribes also maintain their own terms to describe different sexual and gender identities.
Not all LGBTQ Native American and First Nation people identify as Two-Spirit, but Vigil emphasized that BAAITS welcomes anyone, no matter the label they choose.
BAAITS, a 100% volunteer organization, was founded to be a space for Two-Spirit people to gather in community, celebrate who they are, and participate in cultural experiences.
“If your community is rejecting you because homophobia is rampant like a disease…We have a cure and the cure is human connection,” Vigil said.
In many Native American tribes, Two-Spirit people were once considered healers, and many still hold sacred positions in their tribes today. One of the many atrocities of colonialism, however, was that in colonists forcing Christianity onto Native American communities, they also began to prohibit them from subverting European gender norms. These actions caused strong anti-LGBTQ sentiment to spread through tribes, and in some communities, that sentiment remains today.
“Within the Native American/First Nation community, we’re combatting homophobia,” said Vigil, “Heavily combatting transphobia, and taking great effort to remain respectful to powwow traditions.”
As such, the mission of BAAITS, which has existed for over two decades, is to “restore and recover the role of Two-Spirit people.”
The 10th annual BAAITS Two-Spirit Powwow will take place virtually on February 6th. The virtual format has also allowed BAAITS to host a week of events leading up to the Powwow, itself. Starting February 2, there will be panels, workshops, and the like.
The anniversary, Vigil said, has allowed the BAAITS team to reflect on the role the Powwow has played in increasing the acceptance and visibility of Two-Spirit people. More Two-Spirit powwows are now taking place around the country, Vigil said. More powwows are inviting those who hold Two-Spirit identities to participate. More powwows are flying the rainbow flag.
Vigil is especially proud that, despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, the Powwow committee found a way to host the Powwow and bring some much needed joy to those who participate.
“I’m really looking forward to the fact that we as a community said we’re not going to cancel this….We’re going to move forward and we’re going to be adaptable, as our people, as our communities have been and continue to be,” Vigil said.
Board Secretary Roger Kuhn, who has also been a Powwow committee member for nine years, agreed.
“Seeing the BAAITS Two-Spirit powwow reach this anniversary milestone reminds me how much our community is in need of being together to celebrate our culture and our traditions,” Kuhn said. “This is less about 10 years of an event, and more about 10 years of love.”
