Arts & Récits Autochtones - Ishkode (Fire)

This piece is about a young man, named Cody who learns to accept himself as a two spirit, or ayakwe, and to carry his grandmother's woman's pipe. It is about coming to terms with the community cultural roles that two spirit people carry. A pipe is a very sacred tool in many spiritual indigenous people's bundles. According to the teachings I carry, pipes are only to be put away for specific reasons, usually they are to be used for the person or for a family or community. A pipe put away for decades without any care, is considered, by most, to be disrespectful. This is why this story means so much to me, as modern day two spirit people we often ask ourselves what are our traditional roles, what does two spirit encompass, and here I have a very simple story about a pipe returning to the light because of the gifts that two spirit people carry.