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On Saturday February 20th, 2016, the 5th annual Bay Area American Indian Two-Spirit (BAAITS) Powwow will be held at Herbst Pavilion in Fort Mason, San Francisco, California, from 10:00 AM to 10:00 PM. Grand Entry will be at 12:00 PM and at 7:00 PM. The event is free, open to the public and wheelchair accessible. It is the only Two-Spirit powwow in the world that is open to the public and is the largest of its kind.

BAAITS Chairperson Roger Kuhn (Poarch Creek) says, “This year, we have youth head dancers for the first time.” Kuhn added, “The reintegration of Two-Spirit people into the broader Native community is part of our mission, so this is an important step.”

There will be another notable event at the powwow. Kuhn continued, “We have a Two-Spirit person, Gabe Castilloux, who is journeying all the way from western Québec to our powwow to do their ‘coming out’ ceremony as a grass dancer, a male dance style. They’ve danced jingle dress, a female dance style, their whole life, and have wanted to dance as a grass dancer for a long time, but their local community doesn’t allow it.”

Gabe Castilloux (Anishinaabe and Mi’kmaq) is excited to make this journey, “There are many powwows in my area that don’t allow Two-Spirit people at all: if they come, they get asked to leave, so it’s difficult around here to do this ceremony. I’m so excited to journey southwest to see you all and be surrounded by incredible people and do ceremony with everyone. I’m counting down the days.”

Kuhn emphasized, “The Two-Spirit powwow was originated to bring all Two-Spirit people back into the circle. At this powwow all Two-Spirits and LGBTQ people and their allies from all over the U.S. and Canada get a chance to come together to celebrate Native culture, build community, and express themselves in traditional and nontraditional ways.”

Powwow co-chair Aidan Dunn adds, “This powwow provides some Native community members their first exposure to a Two-Spirit community. It’s an amazing opportunity for healing.”

The powwow will also be honoring straight ally Richard Moves Camp, an Oglala Lakota medicine man and elder from Pine Ridge, South Dakota. Moves Camp, a longtime supporter of the Two-Spirit community, led a healing and reconciliation ceremony last winter focused on mending rifts between the straight Native community and the Two-Spirit and LGBTQ Natives who they had excluded over the years.

This powwow features — instead of just two Head Dancers, a male and a female— three Head Dancers, representing men, women, and other genders, are being called upon. The three adult Head Dancers for the powwow are:

Santa Clara, California-born Marc Eyslee Keka-Goggles (Three Bulls) is an enrolled member of the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes of Anadarko, OK, and descendant member of the Otoe Tribe of Red Rock, OK. He received a Bachelor of Social Work from New Mexico Highlands University in 2012. Marc has served as Vice Chairman of the American Indian Public Charter School and Powwow Club instructor for the Native American Community Academy in Albuquerque, NM, among other Nativeleadership roles.

Hailing from Canada, Alicia Star-Peters represents the Wet’suwet’en First Nation, Gitdumden (Bear Clan) Grizzly House. Alicia graduated with honors in Aboriginal Leadership from the Justice Institute of British Columbia (BC). She currently works with at-risk youth at the Am’ut Residential Treatment Center in Chilliwack, BC, and is an activist for missing and murdered aboriginal women including the Highway of Tears murders. She is also an activist in support of wild salmon (Wild Salmon Warriors) and aboriginal rights.

New York-based Ty Defoe (Giizhig), represents the Oneida and Ojibwe tribes of Wisconsin. Ty won a Grammy for work on “Come to Me Great Mystery: Native American Healing Songs,” and an NEA award grant for work on “Drum is Thunder, Flute is the Wind,” and recently co-directed “Crane on Earth, in Sky,” a puppetry show at LaMaMa Theatre in NYC. He is on the Youth Council of the East Coast Two-Spirit Society. He has degrees from CalArts, Goddard, and NYU.

Additionally, there will also be two youth Head Dancers to support and promote upcoming leaders:

Arianna Antone-Ramirez (Tohono O’odham), age 17, a senior at Galileo Academy of Science & Technology. She has been powwow dancing for 12 years.

Raziel Goodface (Lower Brule Lakota Sioux Tribe), age 13, a 7th grader at James Denman Middle School.

This pow-wow will have two Host Drums:

Northern Drum:

Blue Medicine Well is a Northern Drum group that started in the summer of 2015. They come from a small town called Gallup that is located in the Northwestern region of New Mexico. The contemporary style they sing brings joy to the people around them as they sing for the people, the elders, their families, and their respected nations. They are not just a brotherhood but they are a family who wants to honor those who have taught them this beautiful way of life, as they continue to travel and sing through out Native Country for years to come.

Southern Drum:

The Southern Pride drum group consists of a close knit group of friends and family, many of whom come from some of the most well known southern drum and powwow families in Indian Country. They strive to be a service to the Native community and promote and uphold their teachings everywhere they go and bring honor to those who have taught them. They are truly a family who love singing and traveling together and enjoy the fellowship with their Native relatives all over the United States and Canada.

Vendors will be on site selling frybread, buffalo burgers, Native art and jewelry, and other wares to the expected crowd of over 3,500. The Native American Health Center will also be in attendance providing free health screenings.