“In my mind, this is the most two-spirit day of all,” said powwow organizer Jordy Ironstar.
Emerson Prosper says powwow has been part of their life “since I could walk” — grass and jingle dancing, with their family from One Arrow First Nation cheering them on.
On Friday, Prosper stood tall as they entered the circle of Saskatoon’s two-spirit powwow with multicoloured pigtails and a rainbow ribbon skirt, knowing they could wear their regalia, dance their steps, and be welcomed and celebrated exactly as they are.
“I’m a trans, two-spirit dancer (and) for me, being here means a lot, because I know we need more two-spirit representation in the powwow circle,” Prosper said.
But at another recent powwow, they were told to leave the circle. Prosper’s family was told that simply wearing their two-spirit regalia with jingles was “disrespectful.”
“That experience had a deep effect on my confidence as a two-spirit dancer,” they said.
Friday’s powwow, organized by the 2 Spirits in Motion Society, invited dancers to come together for ceremony, celebration and community in a whirl of orange shirts, ribbons, jingles, flags and rainbow regalia.
Often, powwows divide dancers into categories by gender, with some dances for men only and others for women only, and two-spirit people can be discouraged from dancing, wearing their regalia or participating at all.
“What I’ve grown up knowing of powwow is that our people our here to gather, to share our dances and our songs,” said Willow Bearhead, one of the head dancers on Friday. “And when we’re missing our two-spirit relatives, we’re missing their part of the powwow, when what we need is to be whole and share our medicines together.”
Bearhead usually dances traditional bustle, but in the days before Friday’s powwow, he was getting a different set of regalia ready as well — looking forward to dancing jingle for one of the specials.
“Growing up, I always gravitated towards the jingle category; that was what I saw myself doing,” said Bearhead. “And when my dad would do little powwow practices amongst the cousins, he noticed I was dancing jingle, but he never brought it to anyone’s attention — it was just normal.”
In Saskatchewan, some other powwows have made gestures toward becoming more welcoming of all dancers, but without two-spirit people leading these efforts, they haven’t always met the mark, Ironstar said.
“In previous attempts, I think they were intended to be inclusive but there was actually a lot of harm caused. People in the community just got up and left the powwow, because they didn’t feel represented or seen or heard.
“The difference, this time, is that it is for community members and by community members.”
2SiMS team member Angelina Perea, who served as project lead for the powwow, said young two-spirit people have been asking for spaces like this for a long time.
“This is welcome to everybody — we allow everybody to come into the circle,” Perea said. “Everybody is loved, everybody is important, and we all deserve to be able to dance the category that we want to dance, no matter what our gender is. You can show up as who you are, or who you want to be, and just be yourself.
“And to talk about being able to have and share and create a space where youth can go and do ceremony as they are, it’s so emotional — I could cry, I feel so happy.”
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