The UBC Equity & Inclusion Office, in partnership with the Indigenous Collegium, including the Xwi7xwa Library, presents a day to celebrate Coast Salish 2Spirit/Indigequeer identities, experiences, and artwork.
UBC will install a mosaic mural to honour and commemorate Coast Salish 2Spirit Pride – with a design created by Musqueam artists and community member, Mack Paul. Mack has generously offered to UBC, and to all Coast Salish 2Spirit/Indigequeer people, to recognize the land that the UBC Vancouver Campus is situated upon, and the historic role of 2Spirit/Indigequeer relatives in local cultures.
Welcome and Mosaic Workshop
Welcome: 9:30 – 10:00
Workshop: 10:00 – 12:00 (and until 15:30)
Location: Outside the Sacred Circle at UBC Longhouse
Join us in the morning for a traditional welcome and honouring of 2Spirit/Indigequeer relatives from the local Coast Wolf Pack performance group, followed by mini mosaic making and other art activities for all to engage.
Refreshment will be provided during the morning with lunch provided at 12:30pm in the Sty-Wet-Tan Great Hall at the UBC Longhouse.
Please be aware and follow UBC COVID-19 protocols.
Speakers Panel
From 1:30-3:00pm, register to attend the Coast Salish 2Spirit/Indigequeer speakers panel, where we will hear from four intergenerational relatives from the three Host Nations, about their experiences as Coast Salish 2Spirit/Indigequeer people, and how this is informed by the land, culture, and art making.
This session will be co-moderated by Corrina Sparrow, UBC PhD student with the Social Justice Institute, along with Richard Richardson with the UBC Indigenous Student Collegium.
Registration
From the Musqueam and Qualicum Pentlatch Nations, Corrina Sparrow is an experienced and published Two Spirit scholar and helper. They have been a social worker, and leader with Indigenous communities for over twenty years, mainly focusing in the areas of cultural revitalization, child and family support programming, health and wellness, community safety, and community development. Corrina currently studies at UBC, working on a PhD within the Social Justice Institute.
Corrina is a current SSHRC doctoral fellow, a recipient of the BC Network Environment for Indigenous Health Research doctoral scholarship, and a sessional graduate instructor of Indigenous Social Work at the University of Victoria. They are an Indigenous Advisory Committee member of the Indigenous Research Support Initiative here at UBC, and a member of the Two Spirit, Trans, Gender Inclusive Task Force with the UBC Equity and Inclusion Office. Corrina is also the elected Co-Chair and BC regional Board representative of the only national Two Spirit organization in Canada – the 2 Spirits in Motion Society, and most recently contributed to the MMIWG2S National Action Plan report, as a member of the national 2SLGBTQQIA+ sub-working group. They are one of the founding members of the Coast Salish Two Spirit Pride Collective in Vancouver, and they continue to work within Coast Salish and UBC communities to advocate for Two Spirit/Indigequeer wellbeing and safety, decolonizing policy and practice, and Indigenous cultural reclamation.
Richard Richardson is eagle clan and a member of the Haida nation, but had the privilege of growing up on Stó:lō territory. He is finishing his Bachelor's of kinesiology with a minor in Indigenous studies: as an Indigiqueer person, he looks to located Indigenous two-spirit, trans, and queer identities and knowledge within meanings of health and movement. He works at the Longhouse in various capacities, currently working with the Bridge Through Sport Program with xʷməθkʷəy̓əm and UBC.
Sempulyan (Stewart Gonzales)
I am Sempulyan also known as Stewart, I am a proud Two-Spirit man of Musqueam & Squamish ancestry, born and raised in North Vancouver. I am a father of 3 children, 11 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren. Been married to 3 women and 3 men, currently single.
I was born Two-Spirit or gay but has taken me many years to learn to accept and love myself.
Jade George
Tanuyap, Jade George kwi n sna iy ens wa Smenálh-tnáat. Tiná7 chan tl’a Átnach uxwu7mixw welh tiná7 chan tl’a Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, Sts’ailes, Hailzaqv iy T’kemlups imen.
Hello my name is Jade George, my ancestral name is Smanálh-tnáat. I’m from Tsleil-watuth nation, but I also have strong lineage Sḵwx̱wú7mesh hence the language I’ve learned to speak and teach within my community. As well as strong connection and lineage to the communities stated above. My pronouns are she/her and I identify as femme/queer/gay woman. I am also blessed to be 1/3 of Host Consulting inc. along with my amazing team.
Chase Gray
Chase Gray is a 2S, Abbotsford-based, xʷməθkʷəy̓əm and Tsimshian artist. He was born in Nanaimo BC, and moved to the mainland in early childhood. By 12 he was in the Git Hayetsk Dancers, where he learned to sing and dance many songs alongside members of his family. He credits Mike and Miquel Dangeli as his teachers, and Mike especially for continuing to offer him a space to learn more about Formline from him.
Mack Paul
Mack is from the Musqueam Nation, and works as a Musqueam 2S pride activist, and the protocol coordinator in the Musqueam Nation’s protocol and communication department. Mack is a self-taught 2Spirit artist, who has been working to develop 2Spirit community in the Greater Vancouver area for the past five years. A founding member of the Coast Salish Two Spirit collective, they also created the Coast Salish 2Spirit Pride symbol as an offering to other Coast Salish 2S relatives - so they can see their own identities and experiences of being 2Spirit/Indigequeer reflected back on Coast Salish lands.