• 2 years ago
"We're Native, we're queer, we're in drag."

Brut filmmaker Dallin Mello visits the first ever drag show on the Winnebago Tribal land in Nebraska, where an organization is showing off their Native two-spirit community.
Transcript
00:00We are here, we're native, we're queer, we're in drag.
00:10Today is the first ever drag show on Winnebago tribal land.
00:16We have a law that was passed that affects the lives of our transgender individuals in
00:23Nebraska.
00:24Happy Pride, y'all!
00:27And here we have a celebration where we want to say you can be who you are, we'll support
00:33you no matter what.
00:35We are providing this space for people who might otherwise self-harm or commit suicide,
00:44especially in our native country.
00:46We want you here, we want you to be a part of us.
00:49We'll make this place safe for you.
00:56Do you want the flag?
01:09We are waiting to start the second annual Sioux City Pride Parade.
01:18And our float is going to represent the Winnebago Two-Spirit.
01:21Look it's your mom!
01:22Not yet.
01:24Alright, well then let's start decorating.
01:27The Winnebago Two-Spirit is an organization in Winnebago, Nebraska that educates.
01:34Do we want it higher?
01:35I think it should be staggered around like how butterflies are.
01:38Yeah, I agree.
01:39Reactivates, gives visibility, and welcomes anybody to be a part of a Two-Spirit community.
01:47It's important for us to be out here because there's not a lot of native visibility when
01:51it comes to Two-Spirit.
01:52Like, if you look around, there's not a lot of diversity here.
01:56I was like, where are they?
01:58I looked and saw a big tipi moving.
02:00I was like, follow the tipi!
02:02It's a walk, not a run.
02:04Take your time.
02:05Make them watch, please.
02:06You know what I mean.
02:08Make them watch, baby.
02:10Happy Pride!
02:11So, if you are native and you belong to the LGBTQ, you can call yourself Two-Spirit.
02:19You don't have to be just one of the letters.
02:21You can be all of the letters.
02:22You can be none of the letters.
02:24A snack while you're standing there, right?
02:26It's however you want to define yourself.
02:34This is my grandmother, and this is her older brother, Wayne Tindall.
02:40Wayne was a gay man, and he ran for council and became the chief of the Omaha tribe that
02:48had a huge impact on my life, my family's life.
02:54That is a couple of the cast and myself, and I think all of these drag queens are going
03:00to be there at the Red and Wild show.
03:05So, Friday, we have our annual Pride event.
03:09In the evening time, we have our Red and Wild drag show.
03:14It is the first drag show on Winnebago land, and it's important that we do it now because
03:21of the legislature in Nebraska and across the country.
03:25The Nebraska legislature banning gender-affirming care for those ages 18 and younger.
03:30Trans kids who experience anxiety, it's not because of who they are.
03:34It's because of bullies like Senator Kathleen Kauff and the rest of you who are going along
03:38with her.
03:39Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has just signed a bill that would restrict drag performances.
03:44It's already a record year for states aiming to restrict transgender rights.
03:48That is trying to demonize or vilify or criminalize people who are trans drag entertainers.
03:59Oh, this one's a really good one.
04:01My name is Citrus.
04:04I would travel far away, hours away, and perform in, you know, big cities.
04:10And then I decided, hey, I need to start performing here.
04:12I want people to know that I'm here.
04:22I went over this with even more tape, and we taped it up even better.
04:26And the only way they could, like, try and destroy it is to cut it.
04:30Because of all the different religions here, people still have that, like, mindset, like,
04:34oh, my God, gay is wrong.
04:36Oh, my God, you have to be straight.
04:38Straight is right.
04:39They think it's not right or gross or something because, you know, of the colonial mindset.
04:46How is this flyer such an offense that you have to, like, physically, like, really try
04:52to rip these down?
04:53Like, that probably took a good five minutes out of your day.
05:01A lot of people who are drag queens are not Native.
05:05And that visibility, I wanted to give to everybody.
05:11We are providing this space for people who might otherwise self-harm or commit suicide,
05:19especially in our Native country.
05:22And to have that opportunity to say, hey, no, don't do that.
05:29That we want you here.
05:30We want you to be a part of us.
05:32Because, and we'll make this place safe for you.
05:40That is my biggest goal.
05:42I know a lot of people who committed suicide.
05:48I have siblings who committed suicide because of their orientation, because of their gender.
05:55And that is the biggest thing, really.
06:05In the Ho-Chunk culture, we did have a traditional third gender called Teja Chowinga, which means
06:11Blue Ocean Woman.
06:12The moon in the Ho-Chunk culture is feminine, and the sun is viewed as like a man.
06:17And if the moon will came to them and bless them, they would take on the role of a woman.
06:23They were honored and respected, traditionally.
06:26Christianity impacted our people from the beginning, from first contact, when there
06:34was that exploring in America.
06:37As Europeans came more and more, we get into our different eras.
06:42And one of the big ones, especially for Two-Spirit people, would be the boarding school era,
06:49where they removed children and they took them and abused them.
06:55And they shamed them about every single aspect of their being.
07:01Sexuality and orientation were amongst the biggest.
07:05Because Christianity uses those as tools to beat you down and then make you comply.
07:12Then when we came back and had to relearn our traditional ways, they still carried with
07:18them that huge amount of shame.
07:21But prior to that, I know my people were not ashamed whatsoever of anybody who was Two-Spirit.
07:30That's why I am trying to shake that shame.
07:37So he has two Progress pride flags, the Two-Spirit pride flag.
07:43I think he has the United States flag with the rainbow.
07:48A couple nights ago, some teenagers egged his house because of, we're assuming because
07:55of those flags and because of our flyers.
07:57So there's just a lot of microaggression going around.
08:01When people ask me, well, what's Two-Spirit?
08:03It's not a simple answer.
08:06It's so much more than what you realize because we don't have that European mindset.
08:12Other people view it, they view it from the colonial perspective and they try to put these
08:16labels on it and they'll say, oh, so Two-Spirit's trans or Two-Spirit's lesbian or Two-Spirit's
08:21this.
08:22And you're like, no, it could be all of those things or none of those things because it's
08:26an individual that would have done it or they're the ones that define it through themselves.
08:32So every Two-Spirit person is different.
08:40I hope that we can help our younger generation to realize that there is a space for them
08:48that they're loved and they're able to be nurtured and developed into better people.
08:53It feels nice knowing that we can express who we are.
08:58And I always say we because there's a bunch of people that I know who are Two-Spirit and
09:03who fear that they won't be accepted by their family.
09:06So they come here to be accepted by other people so that they can say that, oh, this
09:11is my family.
09:15We're all really good friends.
09:17So we just want to have that energy and give that out to everybody.
09:21Give that out to everybody, that love that we have in the drag community.
09:26Sometimes they're shady, but most of the time it comes with love.
09:29Number three, Isabella.
09:31Number four, I have number five.
09:36Let's give it up for Vanessa Divine.
09:47We are here.
09:48We're Native.
09:49We're queer.
09:50We're in drag.
09:51We're going to have fun and enjoy our being, our life.
09:56I hope that they see this as their beacon.
10:01I hope that they learn that there is a community here for them to love who they are.
10:20So I guess we're doing it next year.