The second annual Indigenous Ways Festival is holding its second event of the summer Friday. Because this one falls during Pride Month, the event organizers say they’re celebrating with a roster of LGBTQIA acts.
Tash Terry is Navajo, French and Irish. She belongs to the clans Bitter Water and Red Streak Running in the Water, and she’s the co-founder and artistic director of the festival. She said anyone interested in coming should bring a chair or a blanket to sit on.
"It's going to be four hours of the funnest time of your life," she said.
Ohkay Owingeh Hip-Hop Artist G Precious will headline the event that also features poetry, art, food trucks and workshops in bike repair and circus arts, among other things.
Terry said Indigenous Ways centered this event in the three-part series on LGBTQIA communities to celebrate Pride Month, but also to shine a light on the gender diversity in many Indigenous cultures that was nearly erased with colonization and show support for young, Indigenous people who identify as part of those communities.
"We provide access if you're in a wheelchair, if you're deaf, hard of hearing, if you’re LGBTQIA plus 2S, meaning Two Spirit–you are most welcome to be a part of our world family," she said.
The event will run from 5-9 pm at the Santa Fe Railyard Park and will also be broadcast on Zoom.
The first event in the series took place in May, and the final one will be on August 18th, which overlaps with the Santa Fe Indian Market. It’ll feature Muscogee writer and former U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo.
This coverage is made possible by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and KUNM listeners.