Episode 33 - Raven Two Feathers - “Burn Your Village to the Ground”

LGBT FilmmakersTwo Spirt FilmmakersNew MediaIndigenous filmmakers

Nov 12

November 12, 2021

In this episode, I speak with friend and writer, director, co-producer, Raven Two Feathers. During our conversation, we chat about when we first met and my struggle with the Seattle hills, the 4th World Media Lab, their VR project, “A Drive to Top Surgery,” which screened at ImagiNative this year. their zine “Qualifications of Being,” and their new production company, Raven and Relatives. Raven is unapologetically Cherokee, Seneca, Cayuga, Comanche and because American Thanksgiving is just right around the corner, Raven selected the Halluci Nation’s (formerly known as A Tribe Called Red) “Burn Your Village to the Ground.” The band themselves delivered the following message about the holiday:

On this fourth Thursday of November, you might ask yourself: do Indians celebrate Thanksgiving? Well… Thanksgiving is a complicated holiday for Native people. In a way, each day is a day of thanksgiving to the Creator for the original people of Turtle Island. This doesn't mean that we don't enjoy turkey, pie, and family as much as the next person, but at the same time, the Thanksgiving myth largely shared in mainstream culture perpetuates a one-sided view of a complicated history surrounding this holiday.

Photo Credit: Adam Sings in The Timber

[Image Description: Raven wears a black and white patterned shirt as they smile into the camera. Their hair is short and they wear glasses. They are pictured from the chest up. They wear a small button that reads, “Be a good ancestor.”]

Photo Credit: Steve Hyde

[Image Description: Still from Indigenous Genders. Raven stares westward on a windy beach as sun rays burst through grey skies. They are shot from the side and the neck up.]

About Raven

Raven Two Feathers (Cherokee, Seneca, Cayuga, Comanche) (he/they) is a Two-Spirit, Emmy award-winning creator based in Seattle, WA. Originally from New Mexico, they spent their childhood moving and exploring Indigenous cultures across the continent and Pacific. They returned to New Mexico to attend Santa Fe University of Art & Design, graduating magna cum laude with a BFA in Film Production. They recently released a comic-based zine, “Qualifications of Being,” about their journey of realizing they are trans and Two-Spirit. They grow and explore their practice through the people they meet, and the stories that guide them.

About Raven and Relatives **& Indigenous Genders (working title)**

Raven and Relatives’ mission is to nurture community and relationships to one another through storytelling and journeys of remembering.

Indigenous Genders (working title) explores the lives of seven people from various nations; all are confined within the borders of the U.S. and challenge gender norms, in their own way. Through their experiences, we emerge with a more complete understanding of who they are, their personal struggles and motivations, and the interconnectedness of peoples across the continent and Pasifika.

This is Raven and Relatives' premiere production, building off of the success and nurturing of Longhouse Media's consistent community care over the past 16 years in Seattle, and internationally.

About Qualifications of Being

This project came out of a meeting between Raven Two Feathers (writer), Jonny Cechony (illustrator), and Tracy Rector (mentor). Raven needed to find a way to creatively talk about all the changes going on in their life leading up to top surgery. Tracy suggested a graphic novel, along the lines of Persepolis. Jonny chimed in that he could draw it. Raven agreed and they were off to create their first zine.

The story concerns how Raven grew up avoiding the idea of puberty and the boobs that would come along with it. They didn’t want their true self covered up. As things began growing, expectations of who they would become came down on them. They thought they had found relief when they came out as liking femmes, only to realize that wasn’t the whole picture. Instead, they were led on a journey inward to find they are more than qualified to be themselves.

About A Drive to Top Surgery

We ride as a fly on the rearview mirror with a young trans person and their family, as they make the drive from their home to surgery. This imminently life-changing moment is surrounded by the anxieties and love of a family recognizing a young person coming into adulthood, on their terms. From street racing signs on the side of the road to the oft spotted older South Asian lady out on her mid-afternoon walk, the minuscule details of bonding over a neighborhood whizz by. The tension of almost present reality ticks by in this single take experience.