Ogokwe

1
Ogokwe Ogokwe-nini

• Ontario Aboriginal HIV/AIDS Strategy, 2007

2
The West finds the Americas

• A totally different way of life existed
• All were included, honoured and respected
• Sex, sexuality, identity and spirituality
  combined to form
• who a person was
• how they fit into the physical world
• how they related to the spiritual world.

3
When Europe Hit Our Shores

• When the first Europeans got lost and washed up
  onto our shores, they were nursed back to health,
  usually by the Two-Spirited People
• Chiefs rarely were the first face that outsiders
  would see
• It is estimated that 90 of Indigenous
  populations were wiped out by disease.

4
A European Response
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Two-Spirited PeopleGo Underground

• Elders, Medicine People including Two-Spirited
  People were forced to hide
• Some tribes were wiped out of existence
• Governments form and introduce Treaties
• Medicines and Ritual were outlawed and became
  income for the visitors
• The 60s Scoop, Residential School and the White
  Paper of 69 are the new landscape

6
Hollywood Indian?

• Through observation and imitation, we became our
  own worst enemies
• Sex became a bad word
• Same-sex was equated to sexual abuse at the hands
  of priests and nuns in Residential Schools
• Our sacred Two-Spirited Teachings were also put
  away for safe-keeping.

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Sex
Sexuality
Identity
Spirituality
Whats the difference?
8
The Sex Medicine Wheel
SEX Your sex is based on your sex
organs Male Female Neuter Inter-sex
SPIRIT
BODY
E
MIND
EMOTION
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SPIRIT
BODY
MIND
EMOTION
S
SEXUALITY Only you know how you feel inside.
Only you know if you relate better to guys or
better to girls. Maybe you can relate to girls
just as easily as you can relate to guys. Your
insides may not match your sex organs.
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IDENTITY As you grow and understand things about
yourself, you develop your own identity. You
know what is true for you. In late childhood and
early adulthood, the teen years, how others see
you plays a big part in how you see yourself, how
you WANT to see yourself, and how you WANT others
to see you.
SPIRIT
BODY
MIND
W
EMOTION
11
SPIRITUALITY What your traditional role is in
the community, at ceremony, how you do rituals,
what relationship you have with your Higher Power
and your closeness to you Higher Power have
traditionally been different depending on whether
you are male, female or Two-Spirited.
Two-Spirited people have special roles.
SPIRIT
BODY
MIND
EMOTION
12
The Nature of Sexuality

• In nature, there are four main types of common
  sexuality
• Homosexual
• Bi-sexual
• Heterosexual
• Asexual
• These deal with natural attraction

13
The Complete Sexes

• In nature, there are four main sexes
• Female
• Male
• Neuter
• Inter-sex
• These deal strictly with biology

14
The Sex Continuum

• Neuter (Male Essence)
• Asexual (Biological Male)
• Common Male (Heterosexual)
• Bi-sexual (Biological Male)
• Homosexual (Biological Male)
• Inter-sex (Predominantly Male
  Genitalia)
• Transitional Inter-sex (Natural or
  Medical)
• Inter-sex (Predominantly
  Female Genitalia)
• Homosexual (Biological Female)
• Bi-sexual (Biological Female)
• Common Female (Heterosexual)
• Asexual (Biological Female)
• Neuter (Female Essence)

Mind
Spirit
Body
Emotion
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Human Sexuality

• Depending on the tribe, any or all of these
  thirteen types of sexuality existed. All tribes
  recognized the existence of persons other sexed
  than male or female
• Most tribes honoured other-sexed people while a
  few tribes were afraid of them
• Sometimes banishing them or, after Contact, even
  killing them

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Ojibway Views on Other-sexed

• In our language, persons who were known to be
  other-sexed were regarded to have a special
  closeness to the Great Mystery
• Ogokwe Wise Woman
• or Ogokwe-nini Wise Woman Man
• This acknowledges advanced balance between male
  and female essences housed in one body.

17
Return of the Teachings

• Two-Spirited People are traditionally the
  counsellors
• We are the mediators and marriage counsellors
• We are the visionaries and prophets
• We guide new directions of traditions and ritual
• We are the craftspeople, warriors, and helpers

18
Return of the Teachings

• We look after the dead and dying
• We are charged with conducting the rituals and
  ceremony around entering the Spirit World after
  our time in this physical realm is over
• We do the things that are too sacred for others
  to do (Center pole at Sundance)
• We do those things that most people will not or
  cannot do

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Return to the Teachings

• Sometimes we perform our traditions and rituals
  differently, often backwards compared to most
  spiritual practices
• We challenge tradition and force our People out
  of their comfort zones to ensure we adapt as a
  People
• We are often resisted
• We are usually listened to