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PUBLIC TESTIMONY

Testimony by Ty Defoe, Transgender Indigiqueer Artist from Oneida Nation and Anishinaabe Tribe

1:19:55

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7 min

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Ty Defoe, a transgender indigiqueer artist from the Oneida Nation and Anishinaabe tribe, shared his experiences as an indigenous artist in New York City. He emphasized the importance of community, cultural preservation, and supporting diverse indigenous voices in the arts.

Highlighted the need for spaces where indigenous artists can gather and connect
Called for recognition of intersectional identities within the native community
Urged the city council to address colonial erasure and support individual indigenous artists

Ty Defoe

1:19:55

Hello.

1:19:59

Everyone, greetings to the council here as well as relatives and colleagues who are streaming online.

1:20:05

My my government name is Ty Defoe, and I'm a citizen of the Oneida Nation and Anishinaabe tribe of Wisconsin.

1:20:13

I'm a transgender, indigiqueer, 2 spirit writer and artist living on the unsurrendered homelands of Lenapehoking.

1:20:23

So not unseated, but unsurrendered, in New York City.

1:20:27

I currently reside off the NQR train in hipster Brooklyn, where you can find a plethora of vegan pizza.

1:20:35

And I'm honored to have been recognized this year as a transfuturist working to create a just and pluralist society by reimagining systems and transforming culture as an individual artist.

1:20:48

You know, I grew up with many different indigenous values, including being a language speaker, which is a sister language to the Lenape.

1:20:56

And one of our values that we hold is if you are not dreaming 7 generations ahead, you are not dreaming big enough.

1:21:04

So if you are not dreaming 7 generations ahead, you are not dreaming big enough.

1:21:09

Which means I hold titles with many native communities nationally on Turtle Island, as well as being an individual artist here in New York City.

1:21:19

I'm known as a storyteller, a hoop dancer, a song keeper, a language student, and a mentor.

1:21:25

I'm a professor of practice at ASU.

1:21:27

I'm a current writer in residence at Pace University right across the street, and I'm working on an initiative called the Ground Beneath Our Feet, which is a place based experimental humanities research initiative, and empowers young people, scholars, to learn about the African American burial ground as well as Chinatown here, in New York City and Lenapehoking, and empowers people to also have their own lived experiences.

1:21:59

In addition to my artistic work, that centers indigiqueer individuals, I cofound Indigenous Direction with Larissa Fasthorse, and I'm also an artistic advisor at PAC NYC.

1:22:11

I'm currently part of the inaugural commission of the Democracy Cycle, which, I'm collaborating on a new piece titled 6 Nations, 1 Fire with my fellow Haudenosaunee artist from New York State, Jeanette Harrison and Vicky Ramirez.

1:22:27

So as a language student there's this term that I learned growing up and it's called, which translates to living to your highest human potential.

1:22:37

And there's a reason why I was New York City bound.

1:22:40

So there's no other place like it here, the center of of all many cultures coming together.

1:22:45

So when I first came to New York City from my home state of Wisconsin several years ago, and now call this place home, I returned to my mother's homeland.

1:22:54

Right?

1:22:54

The Oneida Nation, which is upstate, now only on 32 acres of land in search of community and culture and an artistic home.

1:23:03

And, actually, I lived on West 30 eighth Street between eighth and ninth Avenue, Burport Authority bus terminal is.

1:23:10

And I had a, a package of my wooden flutes there.

1:23:13

And I would go around the city and I would play flute music for people, in parks, in subways, at different festivals throughout the city looking for community.

1:23:23

And I played, at the Bronx Heritage Festival founded by the late Bobby Gonzalez.

1:23:29

And also I would pass, people and I would just play songs for them.

1:23:33

And I said, a lot of people that I met were native people, and they asked me, where are the native people in New York City?

1:23:40

Different indigenous people.

1:23:42

And so I said, well, you just have to look around because we're here.

1:23:45

And the earrings that we wear, the t shirts, places we just sort of pop up.

1:23:51

And I said, you know, one day, this this one evening I was invited to a dance class from a friend of mine.

1:23:58

And it was one of those long New York City hustle days.

1:24:01

And I got this invitation to come to this class, and it was this dingy dance art studio in Midtown.

1:24:07

And I I went and they said, okay.

1:24:09

By the way, you have to pay $10 cash to come here.

1:24:12

So, as you do in New York City, you follow your intuition.

1:24:16

I went.

1:24:17

I paid my $10 cash.

1:24:19

And when I was realizing, there was a group of individual indigenous people gathered to have a dance class with each other.

1:24:26

We plugged in our iPhones, and we danced.

1:24:29

We sweated.

1:24:29

We laughed.

1:24:30

We cried together.

1:24:32

It was ceremony based on our own self determining ways where we needed space.

1:24:38

Sometimes, some people would bring snacks, and we would just enjoy being together.

1:24:42

And I met native artists of all ages, both young, middle age, and old.

1:24:48

In the heart of New York City, we were protected by the simple act of paying $10, creating this self determined space within our own community so we can talk to each other.

1:25:00

Because we are all from different tribal nations and communities, and for a few hours we can breathe and connect and belong.

1:25:07

So I asked the city council here, I come to you today and urge you and urge you, that often presence is silenced by colonial erasure, which was mentioned earlier, and inequities.

1:25:19

But what does it look like to challenge ongoing legacies of colonialism and envision a decolonial future?

1:25:27

I'm telling you that, native community can be found in the rhythms of drums playing in the subways to simple, symbolic literacy located on the flags, such as behind the council here.

1:25:40

How can we, amplify aunties secretly placing their medicine bundles in the east in Hudson River so that they could have space?

1:25:49

And I wanted to emphasize the importance of recognizing and honoring intersectional identities of native people, Afro indigenous people, trans two spirit individuals.

1:25:59

How can we create access, amplify, and also heal?

1:26:03

How can we find meaningful ways to express ourselves that's not defined by a single identity, but a multiplicity of them?

1:26:12

So like many other individual artists, I ask how can we find individual artists like me who are not part of one organization, but are a part of many who are laboring with these organizations.

1:26:26

How do they find out about these initiatives?

1:26:28

The second thing is access.

1:26:31

How can we host more meetings like this where we can have a room filled with people to tell their stories, and also know about some of these selection processes.

1:26:40

The third thing is amplifying, the most marginalized indigenous native communities, trans, queer, Afro indigenous people through this vibrant city of New York.

1:26:51

So Bama'atazuwin is not only referring to living at your highest human potential, but Bama'atazuwin is also living to the fullest.

1:27:00

So as this individual artist practitioner, I'm asking support for access for individual artists who are making high cultural impact.

1:27:10

Miigwech.

1:27:10

Thank you.

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