The two-spirit emcee
As a child, Sherenté Mishitashin Harris (Narragansett) followed the path of his father and competed at powwows as an Eastern War dancer. Now, at eighteen years old, Harris honors his mother and his two-spirit, gender nonconformist identity as a Fancy Shawl dancer. Harris emcees the second annual We Are the Seeds indigenous art market on Thursday, Aug. 16, and Friday, Aug. 17, at the Railyard Park. More than just an art fair, Seeds functions as a Native social, featuring music, dance, fashion, and food in addition to more than 70 contemporary and traditional Native artists from around the country. On the cover is a portrait of Harris by Kimberly Dobosz Photography.
Sherenté Mishitashin Harris (Narragansett) comes from a large family of champion powwow dancers in Charlestown, Rhode Island. His grandmother was an Eastern Blanket dancer; his mother is known for the Fancy Shawl dance. As a child, Harris followed in his father’s footsteps and competed as an Eastern War dancer. Harris, who is eighteen and came out as “two spirit” a few years ago, has recently earned a reputation on the powwow circuit for breaking down gender barriers in the Fancy Shawl dance. He is an experienced and confident public speaker — a natural fit to emcee this year’s We Are the Seeds, an indigenous art market held in Railyard Park on Thursday, Aug. 16, and Friday, Aug. 17.
“I will be hosting onstage as well as singing, dancing, and doing traditional storytelling,” he said. “I’m part of the Turtle Clan within the Narragansett tribe, which is traditionally our storytelling clan.”
He is also a visual artist; in a tent located near the stage, he will display a pen-and-ink illustration series called which chronicles his experiences as a two-spirit person, and talk about his activism in 30-minute sessions each day. He explained that “two spirit” is a modern pan-Indian term that is used to describe nonbinary gender and sexuality in Native American communities within a traditional cultural context. Two spirit is not specifically an LGBTQ designation — though some people use it in this way — nor is it synonymous with transgender identity. “For me, I guess I am two spirit in the purest sense. When I was going through my depression and struggling to comprehend what I was, I went through a period of dismantling my ideas about gender. It was very complex for a thirteen-, fourteen-year-old. People told me that if I was transgender, I would have known