The decision to enter ceremony is a deeply personal one, but for Sarah Yankoo, a two-spirited person, there's a lot more at stake.

Two spirit teachings are a part of many Indigenous cultures. It's a concept that describes the spiritual role that some LGBTTQ+ people have in their communities. And as an Algonquin person from Pikwakanagan First Nation, Yankoo carries those traditions with her every day.

Yankoo told New Fire that she attended a powwow near Ottawa when she was about 10 years old. She was excited to take part in the inter-tribal dance, but just as she was about to join in a woman stopped her to ask: "are you on your moontime?"

At that age, Yankoo didn't know what moontime meant. But she said the idea that women weren't allowed to participate during certain times of the month didn't make sense to her.

"As a two spirit person I realized early on that there was a lot of gendered aspects when it came to what was perceived as a traditional life," said Yankoo.

Sarah Yankoo (Photo by John Paille, Courtesy Sarah Yankoo)

It wasn't until she was in university that Yankoo began to explore cultural connections, identity, and ceremony again. When she was recently invited by a mentor to participate in a peyote ceremony, she was excited to take part. However, she wasn't excited to wear a skirt.

After arriving at the ceremony and sitting in a circle with all the other participants, the medicine man came up to Yankoo and asked her to wear a skirt before she participated.

According to Yankoo, he told her that "they like their women to look like women and their men to look like men." After she stated that she preferred not to wear a skirt, she was sent to talk to an elder.

It was during her talk with the grandmother that the exchange got spirited. The elder told Yankoo that she had to keep her "most sacred area" covered by wearing a skirt. Yankoo responded by saying that she considers her entire body sacred.

She and the grandmother compromised that Yankoo could participate if she wore a shawl rather than a skirt. Having come to an agreement, they began the overnight ceremony.

A few hours in, feeling the effects of the medicine, Yankoo ended up lying on her side and pulled the shawl over her entire body.

Reflecting on the ceremony, Yankoo said that she realizes now the irony and significance in the fact that she ended up being covered entirely.

"That moment where I felt the most tension and the most sass, came to be one of the most powerful moments for me … and one of the most full circle, balanced expressions of that tension in ceremony and identity as a two-spirit person."