Pullin, Z. (2014) Two Spirit: The Story of a Movement Unfolds. Native Peoples Magazine
This source is very reliable because it’s a primary source. The article is written by a Native American himself. Zachary Pullin describes his own struggle with his identity and then goes into informing what the term “two spirit” means and where it originated from. The purpose of having the term “two spirit”. “Zachary Pullin (Chippewa Cree) is the communications coordinator for the Krista Foundation for Global Citizenship, and a member of the Gender Justice League, Northwest Two Spirit Society and Native American Advisory Council for the Seattle Police Department. He lives in Seattle.” He offers good insight on the mind of a two-spirit Native, their struggles and what they have overcome.
MSU, (n.d) Ojibwe Indians. Michigan State University.
Picked this source to learn more about the Ojibwe tribe itself which is the tribe/ nation that originated the term “two-spirit”. We want the readers to have a deep understanding of what culture the term comes from. Not only that but to understanding the meaning behind it. That’s why the website would need a space where they describe the nation We trusted Michigan State University with providing this information because since it’s a University it’s more likely to provide accurate information. “The Chippewa Indians, also known as the Ojibway or Ojibwe, lived mainly in Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, and Ontario. They speak a form of the Algonquian language and were closely related to the Ottawa and Potawatomi,” states the article. This helps analyzing also how the term spread to different nations.
Naswood, E. (2012) Mending the Rainbow: Working with the Native. 13th National Indian
Nations Conference. Retrieved November 29, 2017.
Picked this site as a source, because the PDF PowerPoint file by the members of this conference can aid show how the terminology and language used to describe two spirit people can really how using the terminology is a form of decolonization. Because since the English language, which was brought upon the European colonizers limits how people across the spectrum can be addressed, using the Native terminology is a way to preserve the culture, which is what decolonization is all about. Depending on the tribe, those who are two spirited are described differently. In the Navajo nation, a person who identifies as male and female is called a nádleehí. While on the other hand, in the Tongva nation is called a Wehee’ahiiken Kuuyatz.
Brayboy, D. (2017) Two Spirits, One Heart, Five Genders. Indian Country Today. Retrieved
November 29, 2017
“The Jesuits and French explorers told stories of Native American men who had “Given to sin” and “Hunting Women” with wives and later, the British returned to England with similar accounts.” This was a small excerpt of the article, but what it describes how the idea of looking down on two spirit people comes from European ideologies. The phrases of “given into sin” shows how the Europeans pushed their beliefs of the Natives on them. So being a two spirit individual in a way is kind of decolonization in a way because being male or female was what it was ideal in the Old World but coming into the New World The colonizers still taught their ideologies were the correct ones.
Staff, M. (2014) What is Mindfulness? Mindful.org Retrieves November 29, 2017
“Mindfulness. It’s a pretty straightforward word. It suggests that the mind is fully attending to what’s happening, to what you’re doing, to the space you’re moving through. That might seem trivial, except for the annoying fact that we so often veer from the matter at hand. Our mind takes flight, we lose touch with our body, and pretty soon we’re engrossed in obsessive thoughts about something that just happened or fretting about the future. And that makes us anxious.” This article explains what mindfulness is and I chose it because it comes from the organization that is mindful. That guaranteed me the information was valuable. I believe we can incorporate mindfulness because it’s being aware and accepting things. I feel like that would help two spirit people decolonize because it would get these people in tune with who they are.
Hill, M. (2016) Revitalizing Indigenous language is key to decolonization. Ricochet. Retrieved
November 29, 2017
“Speaking our Indigenous languages together is a means to do undo settler colonial alienation from ourselves.” I chose this article because it stresses the importance of language for Native Americans. Maintaining language is one the biggest forms of decolonization because it may even be the way that some pray. But maintained the Native language of the tribe/nation is a form of decolonization in general not just two spirit individuals.
Queer indigenous studies critical interventions in theory, politics, and literature. (2011). Tucson: University of
Arizona Press.
This book explains the struggles that the two-spirit community have gone through. It delves deep into the world of two-spirit people and how they fight against their struggles. It goes back into the very first acts of homophobia. It explains that homophobia came from European religion.