Brady Vinlove/The Mossy Log
Since Jan. 22, Lewis & Clark’s Ronna and Eric Hoffman Gallery has hosted “Transgressors,” an exhibition highlighting the history of local Indigiqueer ancestors and the work of contemporary Indigiqueer artists. Indigiqueer, a term coined by filmmaker Theo Jean Cuthand in 2004, is now widely used by Indigenous queer and non-cisgender people as an alternative or addition to the term two-spirit.
Visiting artist Anthony Hudson and historian Felix Furby, who both identify as queer members of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, curated the exhibition. “Transgressors” grew out of a similar show curated by Hudson and Furby at Chachalu Museum and Cultural Center in Grand Ronde, entitled “My Father’s Father’s Sister: Our Ancestor Shimkhin.” Hudson was then named LC’s Native Artist-Scholar in Residence for the 2024-25 academic year, which led to the exhibition growing and finding a home at the Hoffman Gallery.
The front room of the gallery is dedicated to the story of Shimkhin, a two-spirit Atfalati Kalapuya healer and shaman born in 1821. A series of mounted texts, tribal accounts and the writings of white ethnolinguist Melville Jacobs tells stories of Shimkhin. On one panel, Furby bracketed every usage of the he/him pronouns that Jacobs added; another reads, “My father’s father’s sister was a shaman,” from an interview with Shimkhin’s niece, Victoria Howard. Jacobs then added, “(and also a transvestite).”
The exhibition follows the colorful, fluttering ribbons of Shimkhin’s dress, illustrated by artist Steph Littlebird, into a large gallery space of work by contemporary Indigiqueer artists. Each piece is accompanied not by a small, traditional wall label, but by a vibrant banner displaying the words and stories of each artist in an effort to make visitors feel like the artists are present in the space with them. In the back of the room, a table and reading area have been set up, complete with historical texts, picture books illustrated by Littlebird and more.
On Feb. 16, The Mossy Log attended an event held in the gallery: an evening of storytelling with local Indigenous performer Marta Lu Clifford. Clifford, accompanied by an American Sign Language interpreter, recounted tales of Coyote and his influence among the Grand Ronde people. According to Grand Ronde legend, Coyote created Willamette Falls and a magical fish trap there to help people catch the river’s bountiful salmon.
“If the stories are not told, then they are not alive,” Clifford told the audience.
Littlebird, director of programming for “Transgressors,” moderated the storytelling event.
“We are telling stories within Transgressors, but we are also telling stories because that is the culture we come from,” Littlebird said. “Our identity as two-spirit or Indigiqueer people is timeless, it predates colonialism. So this is a history lesson on top of everything else.”
For Furby, who provided much of the historical research that the exhibition is rooted in, “Transgressors” is a call to think critically about the future that we want for the world.
“What I hope comes out of this project is just people feeling like they can step into something and share things and interact very intentionally with the rules of our society and our system that we live in and craft that future together,” Furby said in an interview with The Mossy Log.
Furby emphasized the importance of community reflection and ancestors’ stories to create this collective future.
“Shimkhin, in her time, by her community — not by the settler community, but by her Indigenous community — was not marginalized for who she was,” Furby explained. “And it is so easy to see ourselves in marginalized categories as having our identity intertwined with that marginalization, not being able to see beyond what it would be like to not be a marginalized group. So, there is a little bit of reimagining… ‘What does being who I am mean if I am not just trying to always advocate for inclusion?’”
For Littlebird, “Transgressors” is an opportunity to bring people together, no matter their identity.
“We need to be able to see each other and make space for each other, and this place is a really good space for people who are trans, or people who are in the queer community who are not Indigenous, to see queerness represented through a cultural lens. It is really powerful,” she said.
“Transgressors” will remain at the Hoffman Gallery until March 16, after which the exhibition is set to tour tribal lands for the next two years. Until then, however, the gallery is open Tuesdays-Sundays according to the art department, and there are several planned events yet to come, including a closing ceremony on Friday, March 14.
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