The weekend of October 15th-18th saw a dream come true for the NorthEast Two-Spirit Society (NE2SS), the first ever NorthEast Two-Spirit Gathering. Members of the two spirit community from all over the nation attended. Spanning generations, and representing 15 different States from California to New York, and 1 Canadian province, over fifty, two-spirited people came to support this historic event and NE2SS.

Last April, 2010, NE2SS sponsored six of their members to attend a gathering in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It was during this event that Harlan Pruden, co-founder of the NorthEast Two-Spirit Society, asked the sponsored member’s one simple question: “Do you think New York could do a Two-Spirit gathering?” The answer was a resounding “YES!”

Once the NE2SS members returned home to New York, they went straight to work, securing funding, finding a location in scenic Long Island, and promoted the event to national two-spirit leadership across the nation. The gathering happened with support and funding from the Stonewall Foundation’s Racial Equity Intuitive, a New York Senate Grant, and many contributions from our friends, family and allies who answered our First Giving campaign. Special thanks to Lindy Linder for her continued support of our work and standing with our community. Additionally, this gathering would not have been possible without the support and backing of Audre Lorde Project. Finally, a huge thank you to Camp deWolfe’s Executive Director who worked with us so the Gathering has a home! In six short months, the First Annual NorthEast Two Spirit Society Gathering, was ready to welcome its first guests.

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Dec. 4, 2009
Starting in the summer of 2009, the Office National AIDS Policy (ONAP) began engaging the community on the development of a National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS). ONAP traveled the country listening to Americans recount their experiences with HIV and their strategic recommendations for achieving the President’s goals. There are three primary goals for the NHAS:

• Reducing HIV incidence
• Increasing access to care and optimizing health outcomes
• Reducing HIV-related health disparities

More than 4,200 people attended the 14 HIV/AIDS community discussions held in the following communities, where ONAP listened to their recommendations for the strategy.

Cissy Elm, the Director of the American Indian Community House’s HIV/AIDS program and NE2SS’ Harlan Pruden, testified at the town hall held on Dec. 4, 2009 in New York City. Here is a video of Cissy and Harlan taken after their testified. Read their full testimonies. [PDF].

White House Meeting Photo (left to right): Kory Montoya (Jicarilla Apache), Jeffery Crowley (Director ONAP), Melvin Harrison (Navajo), Carolyn Kuali`i (Native Hawaiian/Apache), Pamela Jumper Thurman (Western Cherokee), Kimberly Teehee (Obama’s Senior Policy Advisor for NA Affairs/Cherokee), Harlan Pruden (Cree) and Sharon Day (Bois Forte Band of Ojibwe)

[Download New Release PDF]

WASHIGNTON, DC – MAY 4, 2010 – After twenty-nine years into the HIV epidemic a federal inter-agency meeting was held with Indigenous Peoples. This historical meeting focused solely on Native HIV/AIDS issues with representatives of a National Coalition of 30 American Indian, Alaskan Native and Native Hawaiian HIV/AIDS community-based organizations and programs. This meeting discussed the need for Native inclusion in HIV funding, programs and service priorities. The Coalition’s overall objectives were to bring a Native face and voice to the domestic HIV epidemic: A face that has been invisible and a voice that has not been heard as a result of poor Native HIV/AIDS data collection. The Office of Minority Health Resource Center facilitated this meeting, which was attended by: Indian Health Service (IHS); Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA); Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); the National Institute of Health (NIH); the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors (NASTAD).

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Read the report Native New Yorkers: Report on Health Issues Among NYC’s Native Peoples. [pdf]

NorthEast Two-Spirit Society, Somjen Frazer, a Researcher and Evaluation Consultant, local NY Native and Non-Native community based organizations, and the New York State Department of Health are working on the first-ever New York State Needs Assessment for the Native Two-Spirit community.

Currently, we are organizing a series of focus groups throughout New York State. At these focus groups, participants will be asked to share their stories, experiences and input on what they hope for our community.

[download flyer]

Here is a list of the locations, dates and time for upcoming focus groups:
Buffalo, NY
Friday, February 12, 2010
5:30pm to 8:30pm

Location:
Native American Community Services of Erie & Niagara Counties, Inc. (NACS)
1005 Grant Street
Buffalo, New York  14207

Partnering organizations – American Indian Community House, Pride Center of Western NY & Native American Community Services of Erie & Niagara Counties, Inc.

Email: harlan@ne2ss.org for more info or to RSVP

Rochester, NY
Saturday, February 13, 2010
2:30pm to 6:30pm

Location:
Gay Alliance of the Genesee Valley
875 East Main Street, Suite #500
Rochester, NY  14605

Partnering organizations – Rochester Two-Spirit Society & Gay Alliance of the Genesee Valley

Email: harlan@ne2ss.org for more info or to RSVP

Syracuse, NY
Saturday, February 27, 2010
3:00pm to 7:00pm

Location:
American Indian Community House – Syracuse site
120 E Washington St., Suite #400
Syracuse, NY 13202

Partnering organizations – American Indian Community House

Email: harlan@ne2ss.org for more info or to RSVP

New York City, NY
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
5:30pm to 8:30pm

Location:
American Indian Community House
11 Broadway, 2nd Floor
New York, NY 10004

Partnering organizations – American Indian Community House

Email: harlan@ne2ss.org for more info or to RSVP

Long Island, NY
Saturday, March 13, 2010
3:00pm to 7:00pm

Location:
The Long Island GLBT Community Center
34 Park Avenue
Bay Shore, NY 11706

Partnering organizations – The Long Island GLBT Community Center

Email: harlan@ne2ss.org for more info or to RSVP