Dr. Lana Whiskeyjack began her doctoral studies after working on a sexual health project in her community with Dr. Dionne Gesink. As a community member interviewing and getting consent around sexual health, gender and sexual violence, Lana began by talking to the grandmothers she knew. The grandmothers wanted to contribute to research that would share knowledge and create change. One of the biggest barriers was that people were afraid of what the research was for. We do not want research that emphasizes deficits but research that lifts community knowledge, is guided by community, and shares knowledge in a good way that benefits our communities.
As a parent of a child going through rites of passage, Lana has been discussing inclusive rites of passage with Dr. James Makokis and Anthony Johnson. Lana and her kinship relations recognized a need to create space for more families to come in and support diverse genders and sexualities to go through rites of passage. We often do not have strong community supports; we want to build and strengthen these. We would like to invite people who can commit to attending and learning Indigenous ways of knowing and supporting Indigenous LGBTQ+ youth through rites of passage to join us.
Exploring how we can create inclusive rites of passage together as a research project provides funding to support this initiative led and guided by Indigenous people, where we can do this in ceremony and connecting to the land. We can then share what we have learned with others who are interested in inclusive rites of passage.
It is important for us to share why this is a research project and what that entails to anyone interested in participating so you know what you are signing up for. If you decide to participate, you can decide how much you want to share and how, like your name or photos of you or your artwork or if you'd like to stay anonymous.
The multiplicity and diversity of Indigenous genders and sexualities has been intentionally disrupted and violently targeted by historic and ongoing colonization and epistemicide. This has profoundly negatively impacted the health and well-being of Two-Spirit, Indigiqueer, and Indigenous gender- and sexuality-diverse peoples today. Although Indigenous understandings of gender, sexuality, and health have endured, they are not well-known, as much Indigenous Knowledge and sacred information was forced underground by legislation, persecution, and policing. Connecting Indigenous gender and/or sexuality-diverse youth and their family relations to cultural knowledge, traditions, language, and concepts of gender and sexual health can promote resilience and well-being for youth. This project builds upon a year of relationship-building to co-design and pilot inclusive rites of passage for gender and/or sexuality-diverse Indigenous youth. The rites of passage will be grounded in ceremony; land- and language-based cultural teachings; and transformative arts-based activities including beading and digital storytelling to promote resilience, personal agency, and autonomy for gender and/or sexuality-diverse Indigenous youth. Knowledge will be co-generated and transferred through our gatherings, sharing circles, and arts-based activities.