Powwow in Saskatoon celebrates 2SLGBTQ+ community before Two-Spirit Awareness Day

Darla Ponace · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 20, 2025 8:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 9 minutes ago

Two-spirit Indigenous radical are embracing who they are culturally and traditionally arsenic a day of consciousness meant to observe them approaches.

The Two-Spirit successful Motion Society (2SIMS) held its second yearly powwow to honour 2SLGBTQ+ radical connected March 15 and 16 successful Saskatoon. Organizers said it was a success, with radical gathering from acold and wide.

Warren Isbister-Bear, a subordinate of Ahtakakoop First Nation, is the Saskatchewan typical for 2SIMS. He said it was an astonishing crook retired of supporters, dancers and drum groups.

"Last twelvemonth we had 1 drum radical amusement up," Isbister-Bear said. "[This year] we were expecting possibly 10, and to spot upwards of 12 drum groups amusement up today, it's truthful empowering."

Warren's hubby Osemis Isbister-Bear, a subordinate of the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation, was 1 of the caput dancers astatine the powwow. He said helium was overwhelmed by emotion astatine 1 point.

"I felt truly touched," helium said. "Our radical are precise loving and caring, kind, and they enactment two-spirit radical to beryllium their authentic selves."

Last twelvemonth the mates was initiated into the powwow circle and accidental they felt truthful welcomed by everyone. They travelled to 20 powwows all-across Turtle Island (Canada and the U.S.).

Warren and Osemis person been married for 10 years now. They said it is encouraging to spot these events happening much frequently and the attendees embracing the 2SLGBTQ+ community.

"We're each kin related," Warren said. "It's the aforesaid arsenic each different powwow, but you're conscionable going to beryllium dancing with men and women, two-spirit people, trans radical successful the aforesaid category."

Osemis encouraged anyone funny to travel retired to immoderate two-spirit powwow.

"Everyone's invited into this space," said Warren. "We're conscionable trying to make a safe, inclusive space, close down to our pipes. We rise the tube each time and it's a gender-neutral pipe."

'We travel protocol the aforesaid arsenic anybody else'

Gayle Pruden is simply a two-spirit cognition keeper primitively from Pinaymootang First federation who present lives successful Winnipeg and works with 2SIMS. Everyone astatine the events refers to her arsenic Kokum Gayle.

"I emotion coming to events similar this," Pruden said. "I spell anyplace wherever I'm needed, particularly to travel and enactment the two-spirit youth.

"In my days successful the precocious '80s, we had thing similar this. We didn't adjacent person quality rights."

Pruden said it means truthful overmuch to spot powwows and different events celebrating two-spirit people.

"We're not immoderate different," Pruden said. "We travel protocol the aforesaid arsenic anybody else."

Pruden recounted an incidental astatine an lawsuit she was speaking at, wherever a two-spirit younker was asked to permission due to the fact that they weren't dancing successful their gendered category.

"That shouldn't beryllium thing large due to the fact that we're each from the aforesaid Mother Earth," Pruden said. "Creator is the 1 who enactment america here. There's nary request to justice anybody for the mode they take to live."

Pruden said she hopes everyone volition unrecorded successful harmony  in the future.

"Walking this reddish road, cipher says it's easy. Life is not easy, but it's up to you however you privation to unrecorded your life."