Ottawa Report

Page 4

Native tradition is tolerant toward gays

Joe Guy Wood is one of the most respected Indian leaders in Manitoba. He has a reputation as a forceful and articulate fighter on behalf of Indian rights. But there is one group of Native people who he says are not entitled to equal rights. The people he won't fight for ? the people he's fighting against ? are Native gays.

In fact, just the term "Native gays" is enough to drive him wild. "I don't even want to hear those two words put together," is what he says. Joe Guy Wood says homosexuality is worse than an affliction ? it's a disgrace. So you can imagine what he must have said when the government of Manitoba acted recently to outlaw discrimination against homosexuals.

In Manitoba, it's now illegal for employers to refuse to have gays just because they're gay. It's also against the law for landlords to refuse to rent an apartment to gays because they're gay. But Joe Guy Wood, and a half-dozen other Indian leaders in the province, say it's a bad law. They say Native people should be protected from discrimination ? but not if they're gay. Joe Guy Wood is against equal rights for Native gays because he says the idea goes against traditional Indian religion and traditional Indian culture.

That's what he says. I spoke recently with a Native gay from Manitoba who says otherwise. His name is Albert. He says people like Joe Guy Wood are ignorant. What's more, he says they don't really know their own history and culture.

There is a mountain of evidence to show that Albert is right. The fact is that in days gone by homosexual men were accepted as part of everyday Indian life ? especially on the Prairies. A homosexual man was known then as a berdache. He dressed like a woman and did women's work and no one, apparently, thought anything of it. But the special role of Indian homosexuals began to change once the missionaries and the churches entered the picture. Nowadays, Indian homosexuals are treated as outcasts.

Albert is one of them. He doesn't want his last name used because he doesn't want everyone to know he's gay. He's a 32-year old Metis/Cree. He grew up in a small northern Manitoba town. He's now a commercial artist living in Winnipeg.

Over the years he's watching other Native gays drift into the city. He's watched many of them drift into a vicious circle of booze, drugs and depression. He's known a half-dozen Native gays who gave up the fight and killed themselves.

One suicide in particular moved Albert to action. A year ago a Native gay, who Albert says had talent, pride and potential, hanged himself. Albert knew it was time to do something. So he put up some posters and invited the Native gays in Winnipeg to a meeting. Sixteen people showed up.

They formed the Nichiwakan Native Gay Society. Nichiwakan is a Cree and Saulteaux word which means "someone who walks beside me." It's a fitting name because the group fills a gaping hole in the life of many Native gays. The weekly meetings and socials help make life as an outcast a little more bearable.

Albert is the president of the Nichiwakan group. He says Native gays are under a lot of pressure in small Native communities.

They either keep their homosexuality a secret, he says, or they move to the big city. (By the way, Albert says the only people who don't pressure Native gays are the Elders.) Once Native gays move tot he city, Albert says they face the second half of a double whammy. Shunned by their own people, Native gays are also shunned by the gay community. The reason, Albert says, is pure and simple racism.

Albert is a good example of one of the biggest problems that most Native gays have ? they're afraid to come out of the closet. He says Native gays face a lot of pressure to conform to the image of the macho Indian warrior.

This whole controversy has been more than a little distressing for me. After all, I am by nature a very tolerant kind of guy. I believe in equal rigts for everyone ? even for those Native people who play golf, vote Liberal or wear sunglasses on top of their heads.

Seriously, though, the one thing I like about being an Indian is the feeling of togetherness ? the feeling that despite the differences we may have as individuals, we're all members of one big Indian family. Whether it's a barfight or the First Minister's Conference, I think we should continue to stick together. The trouble is that some of our so-called leaders think that some of us are not entitled to the same rights. I object to that because it's tearing our Indian family apart.

The lesson for me in this situation is clear. Like most of the problems we face as Native people today, the solution lies in our history and traditions. So when it comes to the subject of equal rights for Native gays, I think we could use a lot less narrow-minded religious bigotry and a lot more old fashioned Indian tolerance based on mutual respect.