Praying for her Nádleehi

Photo by Annetta Jackson, Intersect

Model: Isabelle Rouxelin

She wanted her baby to be a Two-Spirit. It was as simple as that. She knew that it was what every mother prayed for but no one had prayed as hard as she had. She had spent hours communing with “Wakan Tanka” the Sacred Spirit. She begged and pleaded with Wakan Tanka, explaining that her baby may one day lead their people and would command greater respect and could understand more if the blessing of Two Spirit were to fall on the baby’s head.

They were worried about the baby. She could hear them talking. Someone said something about the cord being tangled. Someone was mopping her brow. She was sweating. She was no longer fully in this world. She was floating. Someone was offering prayers. They seemed to think that she was dying. It didn’t matter. She wanted to tell them that they needed to concentrate on the baby. She wanted the baby to be okay.

Slowly the vision started and she knew, she knew the way that mothers’ know. She knew that this was her child, even though the person in her vision was not a baby, not even a small child, she knew that this was her baby and yes her child was beautiful. A face that displayed peace and strength. This was someone who could walk with angels and commune with them and understand the desires of the gods even without hearing the teachings of the ancestors. Her child could love and be loved by anyone. Her child would not need to be constrained by gender. A warrior in youth, or a dancer or a drummer would be the choices for her child. Maybe even a hunter; then a spiritual leader as wisdom of years descend. My child! Communicating with the gods on behalf of ordinary people who do not possess the depth of character or the understanding of all things.

She’d had a vision and yes, all praises to the ancestors, the child would be a true Two Spirit. Her baby would be able to exist and be accepted in all worlds.

She had herself been fortunate to have travelled the land with her father, visiting other people and finding out more about them. It was not common for men to travel with their daughters as her father had done with her. He was a man of great knowledge who commanded much respect wherever he went. Like all fathers he wanted the best for his offspring. In his case he had only me. Just as the invasion of the pale faced strangers had caused the death of my mother, so too had the blade of their knife done damage to his sack which should have been able to carry his unborn sons until he took a new wife. Now all he had was me. He had encouraged me to see the beauty in both men and women for like all parents who surrounded me he lived in the hope that I might be the chosen one. When I accepted the advances of a young man and rejected the advances of a mature woman who offered me a home in her dwelling my father was heartbroken. He could now look forward to future generations but he at that moment had to accept that I was not as special as he had hoped. I would gain the affection of only one gender and that disappointed him.