Community Projects
Gifts for Two-Spirit Youth is an annual community-based initiative, sending gift bundles to Two-Spirit youth during the depth of winter, as offerings of joy and resilience. It is an initiative from within Two-Spirit community, to share love and care.
The project is managed by Sheri Osden Nault, with support from a rotating group of volunteers. As the group behind the scenes, none of the funding goes to us. It is all directed towards gift contents, necessary materials, and Two-Spirit Youth.
The criteria for receiving a gift is to be Indigenous and queer, between the ages of 11-29, and located in ‘Canada.’
Each year, it is our goal to send 50 gifts to youth across numerous territories and Nations.
Sheri Osden Nault (they/them) is a tattooer in the Indigenous Tattoo Revival movement in so-called Canada. Currently, the best way to seek tattoos from them is to attend an Indigenous tattoo gathering they will be attending.
In their tattoo practice, they focus on tattooing as healing, how it creates space for those receiving tattoos to assert control and consent over their bodies, to embody significant life lessons and memories, and to be empowered as they move forward.
Nault’s designs focus on exploring floral beadwork as an ongoing practice of bodily marking and ornamentation, for Métis and other Indigenous peoples.
The Melancholy Queers Club incorporates playful aesthetics, illustrations, and hand-written text to speak to identity, mental health, and social issues. Products include hand-printed t-shirts and patches, zines, fidget-jewelry, and more. While contending with the reality of being a small-business in a capitalist society, Melancholy Queers Club is adamantly social-justice oriented; incorporating PWYC options, discounts for those who need cost accessibility, and even free items for those who could not otherwise afford them, when possible. Responsive fundraising initiatives have (and will continue to) support land defenders, Black trans youth, Two-Spirit youth, and others.
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