Since its founding in 2017, Navajo Nation Pride has grown into one of the largest annual Indigenous LGBTQ+ celebrations in the United States. One Navajo Nation Pride board member, Sister Navi Ho, has used his journey as a drag artist and Two Spirit person to become a community leader.
As a child, Navi Ho never dreamed that one day he’d proudly stand before the Navajo community in Window Rock, Arizona (Tségháhoodzání in Navajo), and be celebrated as a Two Spirit person, he shares.
It was a life-changing experience when he was finally able to “walk in that sacred circle, with all the dancers, being my own authentic, gay, queer, dragalicious self,” he says. This full-circle moment happened when he won the Miss Montana Two Spirit crown in 2023. “I would never have thought that I would ever be here.”
Born and raised in Phoenix, Navi Ho is of the Many Goats Clan (T ł ‘ízí lání). After graduating from Arizona State University with a bachelor’s degree in psychology, he found his purpose as a Sister of Perpetual Indulgence in 2010. Navi Ho explains that he grew up during a time when centuries of colonization had greatly affected and disrupted much of the Navajo Nation’s culture. Homophobia peaked on the reservation during the Cold War years of the 1960s, ’70s, and ’80s.
“I give a lot of credit to my grandma,” he says. “One of the teachings that I learned about the Nádleehi was that they were very close to their elders … especially to the grandmother and the mother.”
Nádleehi is the term for a Two Spirit person within the Navajo, or Diné, culture. The Navajo Nation, like many other Indigenous tribes and nations, has several recognized gender identities. Pre-colonization, these identities were widely accepted in native culture and even celebrated. Two Spirit people were often considered sacred members of the tribe with special gifts. It is also believed that when a Two Spirit person returns to their community, they will bring peace and harmony to their tribal lands.
“In the Navajo teachings, there are five genders, and one of the genders is called the Two Spirit,” he says. “It’s basically an umbrella term of having both essences of the male and the female spirit.”
Now a renowned LGBTQ+ community leader, advocate, and educator for Arizona’s tribal nations, Navi Ho became the sisterhood’s first Native American Empress of Arizona in 2011. Since then, in addition to the Miss Montana Two Spirit crown, Navi Ho has won several other titles and accolades in the drag pageant world. Drag has been an amazing conduit for educating people about the Two Spirit identity and native culture, he says.
“As a Sister of Perpetual Indulgence, as an Empress of Arizona, as a drag queen, as an advocate, that’s what I do,” he says. “I make sure I stand and be there, be present, because I do find a lot of people that are scared and are not understanding. And so I sit with them and be with them and … let them know it’s OK.”
This year’s Navajo Nation Pride theme, Bidziil, is meant to represent the strength and resilience that exists in all “brave gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and Two Spirit Indigenous people,” the Pride website states. The 2025 festival takes place June 27 and 28 in Window Rock and will include a marketplace, Pride parade, live performances, and more.
For more information about Navajo Nation Pride and its other events and programs, visit NavajoNationPride.com.
This article is part of the The Advocate's May/June "Pride" issue, now on newsstands. Support queer media and subscribe — or download the issue through Apple News, Zinio, Nook, or PressReader.
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