Two mockumentaries and one documentary short highlight Two-Spirit perspectives
This is a fraught week in the United States, where I live. Thanksgiving is a holiday founded on a myth about how white colonial settlers in what is now called New England expressed gratitude for assistance with the harvest from local Indigenous tribes like the Wampanoag. This myth, and the way we celebrate it, is used to cover up the history of Indigenous genocide perpetrated by settlers of the United States, both when they first arrived on these shores and in the centuries since.
Instead of giving any more space to that myth – which exists in Canada as well – I wanted to dedicate this week’s newsletter to spotlighting queer, trans, and Two-Spirit short films created by Native American and First Nations directors, writers, and actors in Turtle Island (what settlers named North America). These films don’t touch on the fraught past of Thanksgiving, but rather on the presents and futures of Indigenous folks. For more perspectives on Thanksgiving itself, check out A Thanksgiving Message from Seven Amazing Native Americans, a piece by Matika Wilbur, one of the filmmakers featured this week.
“It sounds like a really good idea, because it means we wouldn’t have to be here anymore.”
Escape, written and directed by Youth of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, introduces us to Rachel and Adam, two teenagers living unhappily on the reservation in Towaoc, Colorado. Rachel is depressed and constantly bullied by both her elder sister and other kids at school; Adam, whose mother died years before, struggles with telling his dad about his sexuality when all his father seems to value about him is that he plays football. Rachel and Adam have each other, but that’s not always enough, and they hatch a plan that they hope will bring relief for them both.
This remarkable film was made by seventeen young filmmakers from the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, working with the nonprofit Films By Youth Inside to bring their vision to life. “We developed a lot of friendships making this,” said Makea Clark, who played Rachel. “We were able to open up our eyes on the situations we all struggle with.”
Escape
“We wanted a powwow that accepted everybody and was open to all people.”
Largest Two-Spirit Powwow in the Nation, produced and directed by Matika Wilbur (Swinomish & Tulalip Tribes), was filmed at the seventh annual San Francisco Two-Spirit Powwow, a space created for Two-Spirit, queer, and trans Native folks to both be together and give back to others. “It’s not just about LGBT people,” said event co-organizer Miko Thomas (Chikasaw Nation), “but it’s something that we as Two-Spirit people can give back to our community.”
Largest Two-Spirit Powwow in the Nation
“Basically the biggest part of the problem left, so now we’re just trying to fix everything.”
Reclamation, written and directed by Theo Jean Cuthand (Plains Creek & Little Pines First Nation), is a comedic mockumentary about a post-apocalyptic future in which all the white people flee to Mars and Indigenous folks have to clean up the Earth they left behind. Sounds melancholy, but it’s absolutely not – the unnamed Two-Spirit protagonists of the film discuss how they’re able to rid themselves of the boxes that colonizers had put them into, use Indigenous scientific knowledge to help reverse pollution and resource overextraction, and live more freely.
“I think a lot about Indigenous storytelling and grapple with questions about representing trauma versus representing joy,” said Cuthand in an interview with Video Database. “I think making work which sparks 2 Spirit/Indigiqueer Joy is really important to me.” Reclamation finds that space between recovery and happiness, showing us a future where land back means healing for all.
Reclamation
