Diné/Navajo
Age: 20
Tyra Blackwater, a member of the Navajo Nation from the Red Bottom People and Between his Sleeves clans. Tyra is a student at Stanford University exploring the connections between art, science and society. She works to reclaim spaces for queer and femme Indigenous youth, using art and poetry as a tool to promote the visibility of suppressed identities.
Belonging is a complicated relationship for Native youth. We are constantly reminded that this world was not created for us. We suppress our identities to assimilate into society, creating unhealthy relationships with our own being, our culture and our relatives. We are oppressed by our own people and colonizers for being queer, outspoken and genuinely ourselves. We are sacred beings and we exist despite these forces. We belong to ourselves, our land and our ancestors.