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Our Children Our Way Honours Lives Lost on the Transgender Day of Remembrance – November 20, 2024

News Release

Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation) Territory – Nov 20, 2024. Today, on Transgender Day of Remembrance, the Indigenous Child & Family Services Directors Our Children Our Way Society Secretariat joins communities across Turtle Island in honouring the lives of transgender people lost to violence and systemic oppression. Indigenous transgender, two-spirited and Indigiqueer people face a unique and heightened level of risk due to the intersecting impacts of colonialism, systemic racism, and transphobia.

The legacy of colonial policies—including residential schools, the Sixties Scoop, and the ongoing overinvolvement of provincial child welfare systems in the lives of Indigenous people—has contributed to the erasure and marginalization of diverse gender identities within Indigenous communities. This erasure compounds existing vulnerabilities, including disproportionate rates of violence, poverty, homelessness, deaths related to toxic drug poisoning and barriers to accessing culturally safe healthcare and social supports.

Transgender Day of Remembrance serves as a stark reminder of the need to decolonize approaches to advocacy and care ensuring that Indigenous transgender, two-spirited and Indigiqueer people are thriving in their identities.

“Indigenous communities across Turtle Island have long embraced and nurtured gender diversity, respecting these sacred individuals as healers, helpers and/or medicine people. Our Two Spirited were honoured for their ability to move within and between their male and female energies/selves and to see the world through both perspectives. Colonial imposition, including the christianisation of our people through residential schools, has resulted in deep disruption to the ways in which we held sacred our Indigenous transgender, two-spirited and Indigiqueer relatives.” Cindy Ghostkeeper, Executive Director, Nezul Be Hunuyeh Child & Family Services.

Together, let us honour those we have lost, celebrate the resilience of transgender, two-spirited, and Indigiqueer children, youth, young adults and families and commit to building a future where every person is valued, respected, and loved.

Celebrating transgender, two-spirit and Indigiqueer Brilliance

On this Transgender Day of Remembrance, Our Children Our Way also takes this opportunity to celebrate the incredible contributions of Indigiqueer artists, whose creativity and cultural expression illuminate the vibrancy and resilience of Indigenous communities. Through their work in visual arts, music, storytelling, and beyond, these artists challenge colonial narratives, inspire new understandings of identity, and offer unique gifts to the world. Their brilliance reflects the strength of self and community and the beauty of living authentically.

Moosehide Campaign: Storytelling Through Drag with Anita Landback

Additional Resources:

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For further comment, please contact: Mary Teegee – Maaxswxw Gibuu, Chair

Our Children Our Way Society, Phone: 250-612-8710

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