Living the Spirit
Description
A groundbreaking collection of essays and stories by, about, and selected by gay American Indians from over twenty North American tribes.
From the preface by Randy Burns (Northern Paiute):
Gay American Indians are active members of both the American Indian and gay communities. But our voices have not been heard. To end this silence, GAI is publishing Living the Spirit: A Gay American Indian Anthology.
Living the Spirit honors the past and present life of gay American Indians. This book is not just about gay American Indians, it is by gay Indians. Over twenty different American Indian writers, men and women, represent tribes from every part of North America.
Living the Spirit tells our story---the story of our history and traditions, as well as the realities and challenges of the present.
As Paula Gunn Allen writes, "Some like Indians endure." The themes of change and continuity are a part of every contribution in this book---in the contemporary coyote tales by Daniel-Harry Steward and Beth Brant---in the reservation experiences of Jerry, a Hupa Indian---in the painful memories of cruelty and injustice that Beth Brant, Chrystos, and others evoke. Our pain, but also our joy, our love, and our sexuality, are all here, in these pages.
M. Owlfeather writes, "If traditions have been lost, then new ones should be borrowed from other tribes," and he uses the example of the Indian pow-wow---Indian, yet contemporary and pantribal.
One of our traditional roles was that of the "go-between"---individuals who could help different groups communicate with each other. This is the role GAI hopes to play today. We are advocates for not only gay but American Indian concerns, as well. We are turning double oppression into double continuity---the chance to build bridges between communities, to create a place for gay Indians in both of the worlds we live in, to honor our past and secure our future.
Published by Stonewall Inn Editions in partnership with St. Martin's Press, 1988.
More details
Person
Coordinating editor Will Roscoe has been active in the the gay movement since 1975, when he helped found Lambda, the first LGBT organization in Montana. He worked with Harvey Milk in the "No on 6" campaign against the Briggs Initiative and worked closely with the group Gay American Indians (GAI) on issues around the meaning of the term "berdache". His first book, The Zuni Man-Woman, won the Lambda Literary Award for gay men's nonfiction and the Margaret Mead Award. In 2003, he received a Monette-Horwitz Achievement Award for research and scholarship combating homophobia.
Contributors & Co-editors:
Paula Gunn Allen (Laguna Pueblo/Sioux)
Beth Brant (Bay of Quinte Mohawk)
Chrystos (Menominee)
Ben the Dancer (Yankton Sioux)
Janice Gould (Maidu)
Nola M. Hadley (Appalachian/Cherokee)
Maurice Kenny (Mohawk)
Richard La Fortune (Yupik Eskimo)
Carole LaFavor (Ojibwa)
Daniel Little Hawk (Lakota/Southern Cheyenne/Aztec)
Joe Dale Tate Nevaquaya (Comanche/Yuchi)
Lawrence William O'Connor (Winnebago)
Debra S. O'Gara (Tlingit)
M. Owlfeather (Shoshone-Metis/Cree)
Erna Pahe (Navajo)
Kieran Prather/Jerry (Hupa)
Tala Sanning (Oglala Sioux)
Daniel-Harry Steward (Wintu)
Midnight Sun (Anishnawbe)
Mary TallMountain (Koyukon-Athabascan)
Anne Waters (Seminole/Choctaw/Chickasaw/Cherokee)
Content
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgements
Preface; by Randy Burns (Northern Paiute)
I. ARTISTS, HEALERS, AND PROVIDERS: THE BERDACHE HERITAGE
Some Like Indians Endure; by Paula Gunn Allen (Laguna Pueblo/Sioux)
Tinselled Bucks: A Historical Study in Indian Homosexuality; by Maurice Kenny (Mohawk)
Sex/Gender Systems in Native North America; by Midnight Sun (Anishnawbe)
Strange Country This: Images of Berdaches and Warrior Women; by Will Roscoe
Ever Since the World Began: Berdache Myths and Tales
II. GAY AMERICAN INDIANS TODAY: LIVING THE SPIRIT
Children of Grandmother Moon; by M. Owlfeather (Shoshone-Metis/Cree)
Speaking Up; by Erna Pahe (Navajo)
Grandpa's Little Girl; by Debra S. O'Gara (Tlingit)
Becoming Indian; by Kieran Prather/Jerry (Hupa)
A National Disgrace; by Lawrence William O'Connor (Winnebago)
Gay American Indians; by Ben the Dancer (Yankton Sioux)
Selections from Raven's Road; by Paula Gunn Allen (Laguna Pueblo/Sioux)
Winkte
Pima
United; by Maurice Kenny (Mohawk)
Coyote and Tehoma; by Daniel-Harry Steward (Wintu)
Coyote Learns a New Trick
A Long Story
Her Name is Hellen; by Beth Brant (Bay of Quinte Mohawk)
Today Was a Bad Day Like TB
Savage Eloquence; by Chrystos (Menominee)
Homelands and Family
Journeys of the Mind
Wewoka Oklahoma--Summer '85; by Anne Waters (Seminole/Choctaw/Chickasaw/Cherokee)
Understanding Grandfather; by Daniel Little Hawk (Lakota/Southern Cheyenne/Aztec)
A Freedom Song; by Tala Sanning (Oglala Sioux)
Charleen Just Never Came Back; by Mary TallMountain (Koyukon-Athabascan)
O Mother Earth; by Lawrence William O'Connor (Winnebago)
"My ephemeral beauty..." by Midnight Sun (Anishnawbe)
"Your body..." by Nola M. Hadley (Appalachian/Cherokee)
My Rug Maker Fine; by Ben the Dancer (Yankton Sioux)
"Stepping softly..." Carole LaFavor (Ojibwa)
Horseshoes; by Joe Dale Tate Nevaquaya (Comanche/Yuchi)
"Our lives go on..." by Janice Gould (Maidu)
"I have picked a bouquet..." by Richard La Fortune (Yupik Eskimo)
III. RESOURCES
Contacts and Resources
North American Tribes with Berdache and Alternative Gender Roles
Contributor Notes
Sources and Suggested Reading