About the Beginner Two Spirit Regalia Skills Program
The Virtual Two Spirit Regalia Skills Program is a five-week series of peer-led virtual workshops for queer-Indigenous and Two Spirit youth aged 16-29 to engage with regalia making and traditional arts. We developed this program to provide an inclusive space for Two Spirit youth to access culture, ceremony and regalia skills; prioritizing fluidity, futurity and freedom. Our programs are currently being facilitated online via zoom to promote a sense of community and connection through the COVID-19 pandemic.
What to expect
Week 1: Two Spirit Roles, Gifts, History and Identity
- Introductions
- Healthy Spirituality, Community and Wellness
- Navigating Pan-Indigenous and Western Views
- Peer-led Narratives for Two-Spirit Futurisms and World-Building
Week 2: Planning and Designing Your Regalia Colouring Book
- Orientation to Indigenous and Western Colour Theory
- Powwow Dance Styles
- Motif Exploration
Week 3: Visioning a Two Spirit Regalia
- Vision-boarding with Pinterest, Digital Scrapbooking
- Planning your designs using Spirit and Research
- Connecting our Histories and Nationhood to a Two-Spirit Fluidity
- Activity: Make your own rabbit fur pom-pom
Week 4: Building Your Two-Spirit Bundle
- Medicine Teachings
- Activity: Make Your Own Medicine Pouch
- Activity: Make Your Own Tobacco and Medicine Ties
Week 5: Sharing Circle and Virtual Gathering
- Completing our projects
- Sharing Circle, Project Feedback, and Reflections
- Celebration, Ceremony
Note about the Material Kits
You will find extra materials such as beading supplies, hide pieces, fidget toys etc. that will support you in extending your regalia-making skills.
We hope you enjoy these gifts!
Timeline
You’ll have the opportunity to participate in a 5-week condensed program (1 month) of beginner structured weekly sessions where we will connect, get to know each other and work on creative beginner regalia techniques and listen to the importance of the items you are creating.
The start date is anticipated to begin on August 2, 2022 and conclude on August 30, 2022.
Time TBD: Tentative time slots are:
- 3:00 pm – 5:00:pm EST
- 3:30 pm – 5:30 pm EST
- 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm EST
Confidentiality and Non-Disclosure
The zoom sessions will be only made available to participants of the program, elders and CRE staff who are scheduled to be in the sessions. You will be informed if such occurrences will happen. There may be an opportunity to showcase or share our work with others, and prior to this happening, you will receive consent forms where you can choose which ways you would like to be represented and whether you want your work to be shared.
We know it is important for many reasons for participants’ identities to be protected and kept safe. We ask that you respect each individual, preferred name, and any other way people choose to identify themselves.
The priority for the program is to create a sense of community, networking opportunities, crafting skills, and a supportive space where we can collectively talk about regalia, teachings, queerness, identity and culture.
We ask for your mailing address to send you the supplies to participate in the program. This information will be used to ship your materials package. You are welcome to opt-out for any reason. All packages will have neutral information on the outside and will say from Canadian Roots Exchange. If for any reason, you are unable to give out your home address but would still like to receive the supplies, please let us know and we will do our best to make accommodations.
Register today!
Before beginning the program we would like to know a bit more about you and how to support you as best as we can during your participation in the 5 weeks of programming. The form begins with basic demographic questions that help us run our program, and will help us run future programming. We have made efforts not to ask anything more than is required and some questions have a “prefer not to answer” section.
This survey will take you 10-20 minutes to complete.
For questions, please get in touch with Amanda amanda@canadianroots.ca
We appreciate your time and energy in completing this survey – The Culture and Wellness Team
This survey will take you 10-20 minutes to complete.
For questions, please get in touch with Amanda amanda@canadianroots.ca
We appreciate your time and energy in completing this survey – The Culture and Wellness Team