We Don't Waste People

Good news out of the Navajo Nation. The Navajo President, Joe Shirley, vetoed a measure that would have banned gay marriage on the reservation. Mr Shirley said that gay marriage was a non-issue in Navajoland and if the tribal council, who first drafted the measure, wanted to protect "family values", they should worry about issues like domestic violence, sexual assault and gangs. He also said that "the legislation veiled a discriminatory aspect in the guise of family values, which goes against the Navajo teaching of non-discrimination and doing no psychological or physical harm."

I am very glad to hear this. Many Native cultures have traditionally had no issues with people who are homosexual or differently gendered. In fact, Two Spirits have often played a sacred role in tribes as creators, people who walk between the worlds and healers. It is a shame that some Natives, like the Cherokee, have decided to adopt what I consider mainstream Christian-influenced discrimination againsts gays and lesbians. It is, I think, one of the worst kinds of colonialism.

We would all do well to remember the words of Joe Medicine Crow of the Crow Nation, who said "We don’t waste people the way white society does. Every person has their gift."