One of the strengths of our Two Spirit and IndigeQueer community is to adapt to change, (re)create and thrive.  This teaching and legacy rings especially true this month for us at BAAITS.  We have taken the past couple of months after the BAAITS Powwow to plan, invite community members to join us and be very intentional about the rollout of our year-round programming, including the launch of the Living in Abundance Initiative (LIA).  Stay tuned for the continuation of our programming from last year, and an invitation to join us in community offerings and gatherings.  Tlazocamati, thank you.  

 

Angel C Fabian, Tlahuizpapalotl (he/she/they), BAAITS Executive Director

First, we want to thank and honor our outgoing BAAITS Program Manager, M. Zamora (they/them)!  Zamora has been instrumental in continuing the BAAITS legacy of providing community offerings in the form of year-round programming.  We know that Zamora will always be part of our BAAITS community, and wish them great abundance and joy in the near future.

 

Now, welcome to the BAAITS Team: Mikah Sanchez and Mayra Mendoza!
 

Mikah (they/them/él), BAAITS Story Keeper Assistant/Wellness Coordinator, is a Mexica and Mescalero Apache educator, researcher, and storyteller from Laredo, Texas. They are passionate about using anti-racist and decolonial perspectives to imagine and build liberated futures that are informed by IndigeQueer ways of life and being. Mikah earned their BA in Feminist, Gender and Sexuality Studies in 2023 from Stanford University, where their research explored the role of media and storytelling in shaping the lives of marginalized groups. 
 

Mayra Mendoza (they/them/elle), BAAITS Program Manager, is a Xi’ui and Purepecha genderqueer from central Mexico raised in the unceded Ohlone Territory known as Oakland. They’ve spent the last 20 years doing community-based and transnational social change work. Mayra has a BA in International Relations from San Francisco State University and worked for the International Indian Treaty Council for several years supporting intertribal collaboration for the defense of Indigenous rights. They’ve put on over 100 events including gatherings and symposiums for Indigenous knowledge sharing and workshops for HIV prevention, youth development, and human rights.

Last year, BAAITS was awarded a two-year grant from the San Francisco Human Rights Commission to implement the Living in Abundance Initiative (LIA).  LIA, using a Community Action Participatory Research framework (CAPR), is engaging the BAAITS community, the advisory board, community partners, and staff in a process to plan and implement a full-scale comprehensive community-health needs and strengths assessment, to identify the most pressing health and wellness challenges in the Native American and Indigenous TSLGBTQI communities in the San Francisco Bay Area. This process will include collectively developing recommendations and designing interventions and activities to address health and wellness challenges in the Two-Spirit & IndigeQueer community.  

As part of the initiative we were able to provide the opportunity for Community Story Keepers to be trained as community researchers and assist throughout the project.  Please help us welcome them to our BAAITS community.


Aldita Amaru Gallardo (she/her/ella) is an organizer, facilitator, and resource mobilizer from Lima, Peru. She is an independent philanthropic consultant, working to mobilize resources to trans communities of color.

Silky is a Black, Indigiqueer, disabled, neurodiverse, trans, and transdisciplinary artist who uses a synesthetic approach to engage with the world and their art. They are a weaver of poems, paint, prophecy, textiles, and worlds with 10+ years of community engagement as a passionate advocate, with a commitment to social justice and anti-oppression work.

Maritza OceloTemik identifies as a Nahua-Mexica two-spirit artist and entrepreneur, deeply immersed in the journey of re-indigenization and decolonization.  In the last four years, they've furthered this journey through the launch of Mexica Tiahui, their apparel venture. At Mexica Tiahui, they weave together tradition and contemporary expression, infusing each design with ancestral narratives. 



j. andrea amezcua porras| yAyA is an independent Creative Capacity Consultant. Porras serves as a family advocate for Indigenous Justice. As an artist disruptor, they are copiloting & centering Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons and their Loved ones, through performance, theater & a recently launched podcast. As an Indigequeer/2Spirit curator/ performer of Chicana of Coahuiltecan descent, they embody the wisdom and ways of their ancestors and future relatives alike. Porras is an Indigequeer film producer, interdisciplinary artist & practitioner; with over 25 years of experience in performance, organizing, facilitation, grant making, grant reviewing, philanthropy coaching & mentoring. 

 

BAAITS Artist & Cultural Bearer Mini-Grants

The call for 2024 mini-grant applications will be posted on our social media platforms on April 11, 2024. Two Spirit, Indigequeer, Indigenous LGBTQIA+ artists and cultural bearers from the San Francisco Bay Area, and living in the West Coast, are eligible to apply. Grants up to $5000 for art projects and community offerings addressing Two Spirit identity and cultural expression, queer indigeneity, gender expression and sexuality will be awarded. We will also consider applications for grants supporting your professional development as a Two Spirit/IndigeQueer artist or cultural bearer. Follow our social media channels for details.

On-Line Talking Circles

BAAITS will be picking up our online talking circles for Two Spirit and Indigequeer community in April. This is our time to circle up, reconnect, and focus on our individual and community wellness.  

 

Master Workshops by Two Spirit Artists & Cultural Bearers 

Please stay tuned for our first offering in May 2024

 

TS & IndigeQueer Social Mixers

Please stay tuned for our first offering in May 2024

 

Our 13th Annual BAAITS Two-Spirit Powwow was amazing, and we hope you will share your experience by filling out this survey. We especially encourage you to assist elders and relatives without computer access in completing it. Your feedback will help us continue to celebrate our communities at the 14th Annual BAAITS Two-Spirit Powwow. 

We were very excited to see the great turnout and support from our community during our Powwow Week of Events. These were amazing gatherings featuring our Two Spirit & IndigeQueer community, and we want to continue to be able to offer this programming in the future. Please lend a hand and fill out this evaluation form for all the events you attended. Your feedback is appreciated!

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