Shamanism:

It is better to speak of my shamanism as my spiritual path. I have always been on a spiritual path; sometimes active, others not. I was raised Catholic, practiced the Yoga of Love, and am now on the Red Road dancing around the Tree of Life.

It is our great gift as Gay people to be both outside and inside our own culture, gender and family. Some of us are also gifted with insight into spiritual realms. My shamanic practice is the process of healing through connecting to Spirit. This is called being a ‘hollow bone’ in the American Indian world.

I walk with Spirit every day. Sometimes well, sometimes not so well. We are all human and stumble. One must pick oneself up and try to do better. Walking with Spirit is life for me. I try to be a hollow bone, to be open to Spirit so that IT may work through me.

I am a Pipe Carrier. I hold a monthly ceremony in the form taught by my
Ute teacher, Bear Boy, Hank Larose.

A Pipe Carrier serves all the people. To become a Pipe Carrier, one apprentices to a Pipe Carrier who has had his/her Pipe opened in a line of succession from time immemorial. The role has many functions and each Carrier adds his/her own insights. We are the conductors of the Pipe ceremony. We intercede on behalf of the People with Spirit. We can be healers. No one who asks for prayers and/or ceremony with a good heart can be denied, not even an adversary. We can perform ceremonies and rituals other than the Pipe.

I am a Two Spirit/ Walks Between. It is expected that we function with the faculties of both sexes while being genitally assigned to one. In the old days many Indian nations saw us as particularly gifted intermediaries/ interpreters between the genders and between humanity and the spirit world. Some still do.

I have tried to be of service my whole life. I have been an educator. I am an artist. I have cared for the sick and dying. I have been a political activist/advocate for LGBT youth (therefore for all youth), teachers and community.

I have fought for and won benefits for the LGBT community. My partner and I were part of a case in which three couples sued the City of NY and succeeded in obtaining Domestic Partnership benefits (medical insurance, etc.) for City employees’ domestic partners both Gay and heterosexual. I have negotiated LGBT inclusion with the NYC Board of Education (Dept. of Edu.), the UFT and others.

I am an agent for change. I am persistent. I am patient. I am good with the difficult. I can listen intently. I am determined. I am loyal. I speak the truth to power.

I take the long view and believe what is done today affects
the seventh generation forward.