Felix Furby, a queer Indigenous person, reflects on his struggle to find belonging within his Grand Ronde and Chinook communities due to a perceived silence around queerness. He recounts meeting Anthony Hudson, a fellow queer individual, which marked a turning point in recognizing shared experiences. This connection sparked The Shimkhin Project, aimed at honoring the historic roles of Two Spirit figures. Both Furby and Hudson emphasize the importance of visibility and community, challenging the notion that queerness and Indigeneity are incompatible, and highlight the need for fostering understanding within their cultures.
In the Grand Ronde tribal community, there was an attitude of keeping everything separate that made it very hard for us to feel that sense of belonging.
For me, this was the first time I met a queer person from my Grand Ronde culture specifically, and that was just wicked amazing.
We have such an illusion that we are alone and that our queerness and our indigeneity don't fit together very well.
I think it takes time to unlearn that. But sending out that message to the community is like we are here, there's more of us.
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