num_pages: 256
description: A Two-Spirit Journey is Ma-Nee Chacabys extraordinary account of her life as an Ojibwa-Cree lesbian. From her early often harrowing memories of life and abuse in a remote Ojibwa community riven by poverty and alcoholism Chacabys story is one of enduring and ultimately overcoming the social economic and health legacies of colonialism.As a child Chacaby learned spiritual and cultural traditions from her Cree grandmother and trapping hunting and bush survival skills from her Ojibwa stepfather. She also suffered physical and sexual abuse by different adults and by her teen years she was alcoholic herself. At twenty Chacaby moved to Thunder Bay with her children to escape an abusive marriage. Abuse compounded by racism continued but Chacaby found supports to help herself and others. Over the following decades she achieved sobriety; trained and worked as an alcoholism counselor; raised her children and fostered many others; learned to live with visual impairment; and came out as a lesbian. In 2013 Chacaby led the first gay pride parade in her adopted city Thunder Bay Ontario.Ma-Nee Chacaby has emerged from hardship grounded in faith compassion humor and resilience. Her memoir provides unprecedented insights into the challenges still faced by many Indigenous people.
language: English
title: A Two-Spirit Journey: The Autobiography of a Lesbian Ojibwa-Cree Elder
publisher: University of Manitoba Press