Between worlds: The many natures of a Two-Spirit Priest

 - by Brian Eckberg
   Two-Spirit Columnist
   Two-Spirit Nation

Fr. Joshua Shawnee arranges the images of Indigenous saints across the altar for our view. The work is nearing completion for the July 13 consecration of the Native Saints Chapel at The Parish Church of St. Jerome in Tulsa, OK.

“It’s been nearly 4 years in the making,” he tells me. Shawnee’s vision for representation drives much of his work. But it’s also a reflection of the dualities he navigates each day: spirituality, race, gender and nationality.

There is an ancient understanding of Two-Spirit people as peacemakers and healers, those who can balance the worlds of gender within their tribes. Author & historian Will Roscoe notes: “Two-Spirit roles were one of the most widely shared features of North American societies. They have been documented in every region of the continent.”

That is until Christian colonization largely drove this understanding into hiding and nearly to erasure.

Fr. Joshua recalls his childhood in family events at the Shawnee Nation’s ceremonial grounds, as well as from a mixture of Pentecostal, Catholic and Baptist churches. In college, at Phillips Theological Seminary, he wrote his graduate thesis on Two-Spirit & IndigiQueer elders. He lives between the worlds of spirituality and reveres both, and comes from the blood of Anglo-Americans, but also of Native tribes, living between races.

Fr. Joshua identifies as a queer Two-Spirit person between the worlds of gender. He is an American but also a citizen of the Cherokee and Shawnee nations (and Delaware lineage), living between nationalities.

In an era of conservative leadership that dictates only a single, binary identity of each trait, it’s incredibly rare to meet a medicine person who lives among and identifies with all. I was curious how he lives in this delicate balance.

“Anyone who even does a cursory reading of Indigenous history can see that religion was used to subjugate Indigenous and queer people,” says Fr. Joshua. “As Two-Spirit people, we have a sacred duty to be peacemakers.” In this way, he recognizes the divisions yet navigates between them with credibility.

In 2023, Fr. Joshua and the congregants of St. Jerome threw open the doors to the cast and crew of HBO’s We’re Here, providing them with a location to celebrate drag in the sanctuary. He administered blessings to performers Sasha Velour, Latrice Royale and Priyanka, who were moved by the heartfelt welcome they received.

“When I stepped in that church, I just felt that welcome feeling over me. I can’t even. You saw it. It’s so affirming to hear [Fr. Joshua Shawnee] say, “You’re welcome, and your drag is a ministry,” explained Royale. Their experience at St. Jerome’s is captured in Season 4 of the series, streaming now on Max.

The Parish Church of St. Jerome is an inclusive, independent Catholic community that offers the Sacraments of Faith to everyone. As Fr. Joshua reminds me, “Catholic means Everyone.”  The term itself is defined as “universal.” 

On this day, his vocation of representation and inclusion is focused on saints who represent multiple identities without having to choose between them. Local iconographer Allen Cutler was commissioned to create the Native Saints Chapel images of Our Lady of Guadalupe (Nahua), St. David Oakerhater (Cheyenne), St. Black Elk (Oglala Lakota) and St. Kateri Tekakwitha (Mohawk/Algonquin), along with Indigenous depictions of the Holy Trinity and Jesus.

Beginning this July, Fr. Joshua hopes that visitors to the chapel will see these icons as representations of inclusivity. “Everyone belongs.” It’s a mission that he was seemingly preordained to follow. His Shawnee name, given to him as a child, is “Walks Two Roads.” But this priest walks many more than just two.

Fr. Joshua Shawnee and his husband Kyle live adjacent to The Parish Church of St. Jerome in Tulsa, OK. For more information about this ministry, visit www.saintjerometulsa.org.

Thanks for reading. Wado!

Brian Eckberg (English name)
Wayani (Cherokee name)
ᏩᏯᏂ (Cherokee syllabary)
He/They
All Nations Two-Spirit Society
www.antss.co

The Gayly 07/22/2025 @ 8:49 a.m. CST.