GLBTQ’s November Curriculum for Your School: “Two-Spirited,” a Spiritual Bridge” Between Genders

Courtesy of our good friend, Linda Harvey of Mission America

Here’s what the Washington State “Safe Schools Coalition” has in mind for classrooms during November: presenting homosexuality as something revered among Native American Indians. (Happy Thanksgiving…) Please let us know if you encounter this sort of material in your child’s school.

PS – If you find this material disturbing (and you should), you can see the complete agenda at their site, including:

• Lesson Plans for K-12
• Books, videos, etc.
• Resources for teachers (click on subjects listed on the right: Coaches & PE, Drama, Health, History & Civics, Journalism/Media, Music, or Rural)

Dear Safe Schools Coalition members and friends,

Teachers who are planning your lessons for November may find it helpful to integrate some of the following, to infuse LGBTQ/2-spirit* cultural awareness into the every day life of your classroom. Especially those teaching history, civics, social studies, home and family life, or language arts.

1. Important dates to acknowledge in LGBTQ history for November and days of national recognition
2. Indigenous viewpoints on Thanksgiving
3. Two-spirit/GLBTQ* indigenous people to honor in the name of National American Indian Heritage Month

* LGBTQ = Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning and Queer.
** Two-spirit = a term of honor to describe a Native American or other Indigenous LGBTQ person, implying their special role as a spiritual bridge among genders. Usually the term is not chosen by an individual to describe him or herself (which would seem self-aggrandizing to many in Indian Country). More often it is a designation of respect conferred upon an individual by an elder.

Links to web sites by and for and about two-spirit/GLBT indigenous people

• Two-Spirited People of the 1st Nations (Toronto), especially, scroll down on the right-hand side to “What Health Care Providers Can Learn: A History of 2 Spirited People” and also to the last item “We are Part of a Tradition”
• Bay Area American Indian Two Spirits
• Minnesota Two Spirits
• Montana Two Spirit Society
• Northwest Two-Spirit Society (Seattle)
• Queers for Reconciliation (Australia)
• Tulsa Two Spirits Society
• The Two Spirit Society of Denver
• Two Spirited People of the First Nations (Ontario)
• Two-spirit Honor Project, exploring how native culture and spirituality impact coping and health among urban two-spirit natives: 1-866-685-0164

Study sites include:

• National Native American AIDS Prevention Center (NNAAPC), San Francisco/Oakland
• United American Indian Involvement (UAII), Los Angeles
• Indigenous People’s Task Force (IPTF), Minneapolis/St. Paul
• American Indian Community House (AICH), New York City
• University of Washington School of Social Work, Seattle
• The Two-Spirit Tradition in Native American Experience