Honouring Our Ancestors: Takatapui, Two-Spirit and Indigenous LGBTQI+ Well-Being

by Leonie Pihama, Alison Green

In these rigorous and challenging essays, writers from Aotearoa and Turtle Island (Canada and the United States of America) explore the well-being of takatapui, two-spirit, and Maori and Indigenous LGBTQI+ communities. Themes include resistance, reclamation, empowerment, transformation and healing. Central to Honouring Our Ancestors is the knowledge that, before colonisation, Indigenous peoples had their own healthy understandings of gender, sexual identities and sexuality. Some of these understandings have survived the onslaught of colonisation; others require decolonisation so that our Indigenous nations can begin to heal. Through this lens, the writers gathered here contribute their knowledge and experience of structural and social change.This collection was inspired by two major research the HONOR Project, which investigated well-being in American Indian and Alaskan Native two-spirit communities, and the Honour Project Aotearoa, which investigated Kaupapa Maori strengths-based understandings of the health and well-being of takatapui and Maori LGBTQI+ communities.Edited by Alison Green and Leonie Pihama, Honouring Our Ancestors upholds the independent authorities and languages that distinguish our Indigenous nations and celebrates the relationships that bind us. Decolonised Indigenous knowledges are offered as a wellspring of unlimited potential for Indigenous communities and nations everywhere.

Genres: Nonfiction, Indigenous

546 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 6, 2023

Reviews

[Clover · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5
Very academic but very enlightening.

This book is DENSE. It has 18 chapters and includes the takatāpui of Aotearoa and two-spirit of Turtle Island (New Zealand, Canada, United States) and includes all others that are within each location's LGBTQI+ community. It's written in a very academic way, so the constantly referencing of papers does get obnoxious, but it goes to show how important this is and the research (or lack thereof) supports it.

This book took a lot of effort and patience. I know very little of Aotearoa, so the chapters and even the introduction was very slow reading as I took in the new words. The ideas are universal, it just takes me a bit to get back into academic reading. I was never fast at it.

Despite all my own struggles, this book is amazing. It's serious and deep and well-meaning. It is necessary. These communities see the holes and want them dealt with. They also have rich history and they deserve to be seriously listened to and not ignored. There's so much in each of these essays, take your time with them and look further into it.

I'll have to read this book multiple times before I truly absorb it. It would have been an easier read for me if it just focused on Turtle Island, but I'm glad to learn even more. The cover is beautiful and perfect for this book, it's the perfect cherry on top.

Check your local library! I'm thankful my library is carrying it, I only wish they had more than 2 copies. I also worry about such a thick book being paperback. If your library doesn't have it, ask them to purchase it!