Two-spirit, MMIWR photo exhibit begins state tour
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A traveling photo exhibit representing two-spirit and Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Relatives opens in Mankato Friday at the Carnegie Art Center before heading to Minneapolis in June. This marks the first time the photo gallery, titled “Two Spirit and MMIW/R Voices,” will be displayed outside the Bemidji area.
In the Native American community, individuals referred to as two-spirit are said to embody both masculine and feminine spirits. Two-spirit and Indigenous people as a whole face disproportionately higher rates of violence, abduction and homicide.
Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe member Arnold Dahl-Wooley is one of the exhibit's lead organizers. He said its goal is to raise awareness about issues both LGBTQ+ and Indigenous communities face.
"This is getting the information out there that we were so hoping to achieve. It's to help end the violence. It's to help end the misunderstandings of who we are,” Dahl-Wooley said. “It's also challenging you to get more involved when we think about equalities or we think about cultural understandings.”
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Dahl-Wooley said some of the photos combine the PRIDE flag colors with traditional Indigenous regalia on models, while others feature subjects with a red hand painted on their bodies indicative of the MMIWR movement. Dahl-Wooley said sometimes people question why the two groups have been paired together for the exhibit.
“There's an intersection, and it's usually the suppression through violence or the silence through violence. It’s to bring forth that conversation,” Dahl-Wooley said. “When you see us, what is that challenging you to feel — what's happening? Do you see us as people within the community? Do you see our cultural aspects that are intertwined with these photos? And what does this mean to you beyond the reservation boundaries?”
Since first opening last fall in Bemidji, Dahl-Wooley said he and organizers have received an outpouring of support from all over.
“We were approached by several people within the community, and they actually had tears in their eyes,” he recalled. “They said ‘This was something that was so much needed within our community, and it was represented beautifully. It was represented powerfully.’ And so that made me feel really good, because we worked very hard on this.”
The exhibit, which is comprised of 25 photos, will be on display at the Carnegie Art Center in Mankato until March 7. After that it will be displayed in Loring Park in Minneapolis, June 27-28.
