The Basket & the Bow: A Gathering of Lesbian & Gay Native Americans

Minneapolis: [American Indian Gays & Lesbians], 1988. 8-1/2 x 5-1/2 inches. Bifolium, [4]pp. Lavender stock printed in black. Slight creasing to lower corner; small spot to front leaf. Very Good. Program for the first international gathering of the LGBTQ+ Indigenous American community, held in Minneapolis on June 18th and 19th, 1988. The event was named "The Basket & the Bow" after a ceremony shared by many Great Basin tribes in which a child upon reaching puberty could choose their role in the community, regardless of gender, by selecting either a basket or a bow: a basket represented traditional female roles, and a bow traditional male roles. After the success of the first "The Basket & the Bow" event -- over 60 participants attended from Canada and the U.S. -- it became an annual gathering. In its third year, Dr. Myra Laramee introduced the term "Two-Spirit" to describe Indigenous people who embody both male and female aspects, and the event became known as the Internati