Starphoenix journalist nominated for national award
Portfolio of work respects, celebrates two-spirit lives
Saskatoon Starphoenix reporter Julia Peterson has been nominated for a Canadian Association of Journalists award, which annually recognize the country’s best journalism.
Peterson is nominated for the 2023 APTN/CAJ Truth and Reconciliation award for a portfolio of stories celebrating and respecting two-spirit lives in Saskatchewan, part of a larger series called Prairie Pride.
The award recognizes “a non-indigenous journalist whose reporting has broadened the understanding of the relationship between Indigenous and non-indigenous people.”
In June 2023, Peterson profiled Ochapowace First Nation headperson Tyler George, the youngest person and first two-spirit person ever elected to serve on the First Nation’s council.
Since his election in the Cree community about 175 kilometres east of Regina, George has taken the opportunity to work on outreach and reform initiatives aimed at making the First Nation more inclusive and welcoming for two-spirit people.
George has also, since early 2023, joined the Assembly of First Nations National Council as the two-spirit representative from the Saskatchewan region.
Photos for the story were shot by Regina Leader-post photojournalist Kayle Neis.
Later that summer, Peterson also featured the groundswell of 2SLGBTQ+ celebrations taking place during the annual Métis cultural gathering at Back to Batoche Days.
This was the first year multiple queer Métis groups had been inspired to formally organize two-spirit gathering places and activities during the festival, and the Métis Nation also honoured its first “Mrs. and Mrs. Batoche.”
And in September, shortly after the Saskatchewan government introduced new education policies requiring youth to get permission to change their names or pronouns at school, Peterson examined how these rules would affect two-spirit students in the province.
In the context of intergenerational traumas from the residential school system, which enforced rigid and binary gender norms while silencing two-spirit teachings and trying to erase the possibility of two-spirit identity, advocates said the new education policies would “normalize hate” and put Indigenous children at particular risk.
“Above all, I’m grateful to all of the two-spirit and Indigiqueer people in Saskatchewan who have invited me to hear and share their stories over the past two years,” Peterson said.
“This is an emotional moment: To see these celebrations and reflections of the two-spirit community in Saskatchewan recognized at the national level is such a validation of why this work matters. Two-spirit stories matter and they need to be told, and I’m proud of the part I’ve been able to play in that.”
Peterson is among five finalists for this year’s award. The winner is to be announced June 1 at the CAJ awards gala in Toronto.