Two-Spirits now lead entry into biggest Pow Wow
- by Brian Eckberg
Two-Spirit Columnist
All Nations Two-Spirit Society
The Two-Spirit journey for acceptance within Indigenous nations has been long and slow. But what the Southwest Two-Spirit Society (SWTSS) has achieved at North America’s biggest Pow Wow over the past eight years inspires other IndigiQueer groups all across the continent.
When SWTSS was established in 2017, the Gathering Of Nations (GON) Pow Wow in Albuquerque, NM., had been running for 33 years. It had grown into the largest Pow Wow gathering in the Americas. While celebrating the hundreds of native tribes and their unique contributions to society, it also calcified into some rigid colonized rules. No one had previously approached the planning committee about Two-Spirit and queer Natives being a part of the gathering. And their leadership was largely uninterested in having them present.
Accusing an organization committed to celebrating Indian Pride as having a “colonized” mentality could quickly start a fight. But since European dominance over the land in the 19th and 20th centuries, most Indigenous people had lost their traditional religious practices and, with it, their embrace of queer members within their societies. By the time the 21st century arrived, most “Indians” were practicing Christians who condemned same-sex members.
It was in this environment that Alma Rosa Silva-Bañuelos (Mexica Azteca Chichimeca) and Trudie Jackson (Diné) set out to claim their space in the Sacred Circle at the Gathering Of Nations. Silva-Bañuelos explains: “We received an invitation to participate in 2018, but we were met with hesitation and resistance as we attempted to enter the arena.” While their small group was eventually allowed to enter the Grand Entry of the Pow Wow, each subsequent year presented new challenges as acceptance came slowly.
The Southwest Two-Spirit Society built the International Two-Spirit Eagle Staff in a closed ceremony guided by Two-Spirit elders in 2018. Since then, their strong medicine and growing contingent each year, led by the International Two-Spirit Eagle Staff, has become a permanent presence in the Grand Entry.
From that tumultuous beginning, the SWTSS has gone on to establish a formal relationship with the leaders of the Gathering Of Nations Pow Wow. Finally, in 2024, the group was given the honor of entering behind the Gathering Of Nations Eagle Staff, with the International Two-Spirit Eagle Staff at the top of the procession.
The SWTSS Grand Entry has had an enormous ripple effect across Turtle Island (North America). Out-of-state members of the group were inspired to return home to establish Two-Spirit organizations of their own, like Uniting Resilience in South Dakota and the All Nations Two-Spirit Society in Oklahoma.
Jackson was asked what makes her most proud of this legacy, and she responded, “It’s the love from the Two-Spirit relatives, their eyes gleaming with pride and amazement.”
For so many attendees, it is an enormous moment to recognize that they finally belong, even to the largest of Pow Wows.
This year’s Gathering Of Nations Pow Wow will mark SWTSS’s 8th event, with dozens of Two-Spirit elders and relatives from all across the continent entering in unison from a position of honor. Two-Spirit people are encouraged to join the group at Expo New Mexico, April 24-26, 2025. The weekend will begin with a water ceremony on Thursday, the Grand Entry on Friday and a dinner & awards banquet on Saturday.
You can contact Alma Rosa and Trudie for more info at swtwospiritsociety@gmail.com. We would love to see you there.
Thanks for reading. Wado!
Brian Eckberg (English name)
Wayani (Cherokee name)
ᏩᏯᏂ (Cherokee syllabary)
He/They
All Nations Two-Spirit Society
The Gayly 07/18/2025 @ 10:52 a.m. CST.