If you recall Standing Rock, you’ll know that often pipelines are run through Native territory, ignoring all treaties and land rights that they have. You’ll also recall that these pipelines often leak, poisoning the water that serve the reservations and leading to sickness and death among the Native population. Line 3 is the latest of these poisonous pipelines, running across some of the most pristine lakes and wetlands in the region and some of the largest wild rice beds in the world. In Minnesota, new Line 3 would cross more than 200 water ecosystems and tunnel under 20 rivers, including the Mississippi River—twice—the source of drinking water for millions of people. Line 3 would contribute more to climate change than Minnesota’s entire economy. Line 3 would violate the treaty rights of Anishinaabe peoples and nations in its path — wild rice is a centerpiece of Anishinaabe culture, it grows in numerous watersheds Line 3 seeks to cross.

But this is the Queer Ministry column — why are we talking about Line 3? Well, I wanted to talk about what it means to be a good ally to the Indigenous population. Intersectionality tells us that some of the Native resistance leaders must be queer, and indeed they are. Today I want to spotlight Quiiroi  (pronounced like “Corey”), an Indigenous, disabled two-spirited activist and content creator (The term Two Spirit derives from niizh manidoowag (two spirits) in the Anishinaabe language. Adopted as part of the modern pan-Indian vocabulary in 1990, it refers to individuals who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, transgender, transsexual, or gender-fluid.)  You can find their content on Tiktok.

Quiiroi and their friends, Helix and Lee, went to Minnesota to support the area’s Indigenous tribe in protesting Line 3. However, they will have to leave — all of them — because the area will not be safe for them or for the tribes living there. They will not be able to use the area of their own lands where the pipeline is being laid down.

They often go live, showing the protest and what is happening with police brutality in ways the mainstream media won’t show. They show the police beating and arresting people for exercising their religious freedoms, their right to peaceful protest, and for protecting their own lands. For doing this sacred work, they have been banned from TikTok, though the ban was later lifted. 

If you want to help oppose Line 3, there are a number of things you can do. You can visit Stop Line 3’s website. You can text  PUCZGE to 50409 or DM it to @resistbot on Twitter or Facebook to get information on how to contact your congresspeople. You can call your senators or tweet them with scripts found at linktr.ee/quiiroi. 

It can be wonderful to be two-spirit, both queer and Native. NCAI research lists 24 tribes whose laws recognize same-sex marriage. Native people are becoming increasingly liberated and proud of their Two Spirit roles and traditions. Native LGBTQ and their allies host tribal pride festivals, powwows, conferences, and seminars, as well as participating in national awareness events, conventions, and parades. In many Native nations and tribes, LGBTQ members again serve traditional roles in ceremonial life.

But it can be difficult, too. European contact, conquest, and expansion disrupted the community and ceremonial roles of LGBTQ Natives, along with other cultural traditions, and imposed new values through Christian religion and non-Native institutions, policies, and laws, such as boarding schools and relocation. Under federal authority, traditions of all sorts were forbidden, condemned, or punished, including through violence, and much traditional knowledge was lost. To be two-spirit is to be doubly marginalized, both aching for the loss of their people’s traditions and culture as well as marginalized due to their gender or sexuality.

When we talk about centering the margins, this is often what we mean. Often, the face of LGBTQIA+ Pride is white gay men, men who are only marginalized due to their status as Queer individuals and thus only care about things like gay marriage. To create a Beloved Community, we need to get used to centering those who are multiply marginalized, to stand with the water protectors as well as those who are campaigning for gay rights. We need to be on the side of those who are being systematically destroyed, whenever and wherever we find them. 

It can be uncomfortable. I think often times, people struggle with understanding white privilege, and then are asked to understand colonization and the impact it’s had on Native folks. But there’s no time to waste. I myself struggle with unlearning a lot of what colonization has imprinted on my subconscious, but while I wrestle with the bigger issues, I can dedicate money, time, and energy towards helping protect the clean drinking water Indigenous people so desperately need. They need these things now, not in a decade when I’m done learning. So I give what I can, and I trust that in the future, I will fully understand the nuance behind the work. 

I hope you’ll join me in doing this work.