Living the Spirit, A Gay American Indian Anthology

by Will Roscoe (Editor)

A groundbreaking collection of essays and stories by, about, and selected by gay American Indians from over twenty North American tribes.

From the preface by Randy Burns (Northern Paiute):

Gay American Indians are active members of both the American Indian and gay communities. But our voices have not been heard. To end this silence, GAI is publishing Living the A Gay American Indian Anthology .

Living the Spirit honors the past and present life of gay American Indians. This book is not just about gay American Indians, it is by gay Indians. Over twenty different American Indian writers, men and women, represent tribes from every part of North America.

Living the Spirit tells our story---the story of our history and traditions, as well as the realities and challenges of the present.

As Paula Gunn Allen writes, “Some like Indians endure.” The themes of change and continuity are a part of every contribution in this book---in the contemporary coyote tales by Daniel-Harry Steward and Beth Brant---in the reservation experiences of Jerry, a Hupa Indian---in the painful memories of cruelty and injustice that Beth Brant, Chrystos, and others evoke. Our pain, but also our joy, our love, and our sexuality, are all here, in these pages.
M. Owlfeather writes, “If traditions have been lost, then new ones should be borrowed from other tribes,” and he uses the example of the Indian pow-wow---Indian, yet contemporary and pantribal.

One of our traditional roles was that of the “go-between”---individuals who could help different groups communicate with each other. This is the role GAI hopes to play today. We are advocates for not only gay but American Indian concerns, as well. We are turning double oppression into double continuity---the chance to build bridges between communities, to create a place for gay Indians in both of the worlds we live in, to honor our past and secure our future.


Published by Stonewall Inn Editions in partnership with St. Martin’s Press, 1988.

Genres: Indigenous, Queer, LGBT, Nonfiction, Poetry, Anthologies, Short Stories

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

Reviews

[Lacey Louwagie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can see why this was a seminal work, one of the first time that thought and expression by and about LGBTQIA2S Native Americans was gathered in one place. It wasn't quite what I wanted, which was more real stories by queer indigenous people to get a sense of what their lives were like in the recent past. I wanted it to be all essays, but the fiction and poetry in it were good. I could have done without the cultural commentary and history stuff, only because I just read Reclaiming Two-Spirits by Gregory D. Smithers that covered that ground quite extensively.

[Random Scholar · Rating 5 out of 5]

This anthology has a wide variety of texts including short stories, academic essays and poems written from real Native Americans. There is also a list of over 130 tribes with their names used to describe gay men and lesbians at the end of this anthology. What I loved the most about this work was the sheer amount of research that went into the writing. I would recommend this to anyone wanting to know more about gay native Americans and their unique experiences.

[Dasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a great gem!! The poetry and creative works are amazing, I particularly loved Chrystos's "Today was a Bad Day like TB" and Beth Brant's "Coyote Learns a New Trick." Also, not surprisingly, the ideas these individuals discussed in the 80s have only recently been picked up by non-Indigenous scholars, making this book appear well ahead of its years despite it really being that everyone else wasn't listening.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book taught me so much history I didn’t know. Would recommend it to anyone but especially those in the lgbtq+ community.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quality was overall uneven, and of course you have to read it in a 1980s context, but man...there are some really great poems in here. Inspiring, heartbreaking, wonderful.

[Frank Duke · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mixed bag. Some of the stories are excellent. Others I did not care for.

[Josh Adamek]

Interesting look at an anthology before the term “Two-Spirit” was adopted

[Ruth Sims · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fascinating book for any open-minded person interested in spirituality of different culture or American Indians. The essays in it are written by gay American Indians of different tribes. There are both poems and essays, some more erudite than others, some more accessible to the layman than others, but all are interesting.