Wisconsin Life

gentle acoustic music

Ryan

Ryan grew up in the Ojibwe community on the Lac Du Flambeau Reservation in northern Wisconsin.

Angela

Despite this tranquil Northwoods setting, Ryan Young had a complicated childhood. I felt isolated in a sense that there weren't other folks that identified the way that I did that I could really talk to. Ryan never really felt connected here or understood why. As a teenager, Ryan was told to make a choice. I was basically told you're gonna have to choose whether you wanna be Native or you wanna be queer. At that moment, I was like, probably just devastating. The one time I meet someone who's out and queer and to kind of be handed that question. A few years later, a random computer search erased that burden, connected the dots, and recast the doubts Ryan had been feeling. It wasn't until I went to college that I was kind of researching queerness in Native history. That's where I stumbled upon the Two Spirit term, which is translated from the Ojibwe term, Niizh Manidoowag. Two Spirit embodies both the masculine and the feminine. It's a centuries-old Ojibwe phrase for queer Native people, adopted as a pan-indigenous term at a gay and lesbian conference in the 1990s. As soon as I saw that it was an Ojibwe word, like, that just like kinda clicked. Not only can I do this, this is my history. This is my culture. That was my aha moment right there, just kinda figuring out I can exist as both these identities. Ryan now uses art to provide a voice and example for those still searching for answers. I still see my role as kind of helping and healing. All of our journeys are different. The reason why my art focuses so much on identity, empowerment, and representation is because that wasn't there growing up. Drawing came first, then photography. I started a Two Spirit project, so I was focusing on photographing people that identified as Two Spirit. The piece. "my queerness is traditional", was to remind people that's a part of our culture. I wanted to use text, give them mantras and quotes that build up our identity. In middle school, and again, at the University of Wisconsin, Ryan was told to abandon any aspirations of being an artist. The advisor was like, "Well, I saw their work and they should pick a different major." Ryan transferred to the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe.

Ryan

So, I didn't listen, and, like, two years after that, I got flown back to Madison to talk about my art.

Angela

Today, Ryan's artwork hangs in institutes of higher education, like the University of Illinois, Brown, and Princeton. This piece is called, "My Gender is Indigenous." A lot of people that have seen this piece are just drawn in by him staring right at you. Now, a lot more people are seeing Ryan's work. Eighth Generation put a call out for concept ideas of the Two Spirit blanket. Once again, an opportunity to mix art, culture, and identity when Ryan's design was selected. It was unreal. I was just super excited 'cause this was a really important project just to know that this is gonna be a gift to the Two Spirit community and that I had this opportunity to have my art out on a larger scale was just unbelievable experience. The inspiration for the blanket is steeped in Native lore. This story was told to me by Ojibwe language teacher when I was younger. I had talked about how at one time crows had rainbow-y feathers and bright, vivid colors and had a really beautiful singing voice. And one day there was this forest fire. As they were flying past the smoke to warn the animals, the smoke turned their feathers black and it made their voices hoarse. So, they ended up having to sacrifice these really beautiful elements of their appearance and their existence in order to save their community and help make sure all the animals got out safely. For me, it just kinda symbolizes a similar experience of giving sacrifice and having to give up parts of myself, really put myself out there in order to help my community and to know that I still carry the effects of those sacrifices even today. It's kind of like the symbolism of my feathers turning black and my voice going hoarse. A writer for The New York Times got wind of Ryan's Two Sprit story. It is an identity that fits Young uncomfortably, one that took time to find even though the term itself comes from a translation of an Ojibwe phrase, Niizh Manidoowag. It was probably one of the coolest. My mom and my dad were super excited. We literally were hunting The New York Times. As soon as they got published. We bought four or five newspapers. Again, Ryan's truth connected with the Two Spirit community. We are important and we are valid and we exist and that's empowerment to me. Discovering that Two Spirit term awakened Ryan

to new possibilities

a reconnection to Ojibwe culture, and provided a sense of home in northern Wisconsin.