Ometeotl / nya:wëh sgë:nö’ / haa marúawe / Tēnā koutou katoa. This sound piece is a guest track created with voices of water, wind, fire, rock and other elemental beings that teach humans about our powers to transform, flow and (re)create our body-spirits. Journeying through the many layers of self-manifestation as Indigenous transpeople, we center on the movement or energy of trans embodiment by listening more deeply to our elemental ancestors. As we lead with the interplay of more-than-human voices, we release linear concepts of space or time, weaving our personal reflections to reclaim our trans sovereignty; Indigenous trans people are as traditional and ancient as creation. Open your ears and heart to a ritual of sound, find a good pair of headphones and turn up the volume!
Maramingpo Salamat / wado (Cherokee syllabary: ᏩᏙ) / Ngā mihi ki a koutou. We give thanks to the lands of our ancestors, who create us and continue to guide us. We give thanks to the lands and guardians where we currently live and work for allowing us to work alongside you and sharing your teachings with us: Kirikirioa, Aotearoa, the upland forests near sq̓ʷuʔalqʷuʔ. We thank tangata whenua, especially Alejandra Jensen Whakataka, who teach Rafael/a about taonga pūoro and helped to play and record the oro of puruhau, ponga īhu, pūtōrino, porotiti, and pūrerehua. We also give big thanks to Itai Jeffries and Morgan Thomas at NPAIHB for bringing us together to create this project! Thank you to the beings who lent their voices to the piece and continuously teach and inspire us.
Who We are:
Rafael/a Luna-Pizano (Ilocano, Visayan, MeXicano, unnamed) has grown near Tongva and Chumash mountains, Mount Tahoma and always next to Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa (the Pacific ocean). Rafael/a is a mover, noise-maker and poet who is currently working on a creative practice PhD at Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato in Kirikiriroa, Aotearoa. Through a combination of sound, movement and voice, he continues to co-research how ritual practice can bring forth the ancestral knowledge stored inside Indigenous transpeople’s bodies as a reflection of our elemental lineage. He can often be found creating guerrilla art and ritual at the water or in the stairwells. Rafael/a recently built a small bahay kubo with other Indigenous, baklat and takatāpui artists and moved it through the streets of Te Whanganui-a-Tara as a call to uplift queer, Indigenous spaces of rest and resistance. Rafael/a loves to play and grow through dance, voice and just being alive in his trans body.
Raven Two Feathers (Cherokee, Seneca, Cayuga, Comanche) (he/they) is a Two Spirit, Emmy award winning creator based in Seattle, WA. Originally from New Mexico, they spent their childhood moving and exploring Indigenous cultures across the continent and Pacific. They returned to New Mexico to attend Santa Fe University of Art & Design, graduating magna cum laude with a BFA in Film Production. After graduation, their path led them to working on and creating more Indigenous art than ever and things began to feel right. They recently released a comic-based zine, “Qualifications of Being,” about their journey of realizing they are trans and Two Spirit. They are in post for a VR experience where the viewer rides alongside them on their drive to top surgery. They continue to grow and explore their practice through the people they meet, and the stories that guide them.
