The Artistic Expression of Decolonial Native American (Mohawk and Hotinonhshon:ni) Canadian Two-Spirit Artist Kiley May

Preface: My name is Natalie Donis, the title of my work is The Artistic Expression of Decolonial Native American (Mohawk and Hotinonhshon:ni) Canadian Two-Spirit Artist Kiley May, and the type of Creative Commons license I used while publishing this work is Attribution-Noncommercial (BY-NC) (Creative Commons License).

Introduction: The various works of Kiley May focus on decolonial ideas and have been renowned for their ability to change the way audiences think about traditional gender roles, racial roles, and the way society perceives Indigenous cultural communities. Kiley is a multidisciplinary Native American artist, in that she includes artforms such as acting, visual arts, storytelling, etcetera into her repertoire (Transgender Two Spirited Artist Kiley May On Her Greatest Artwork To Date). The genre/topics that she covers are decolonial theater and two-spirit Activism.

Theme:  This portfolio project addresses the two major themes in Kiley May’s (the artist’s) work. The two major themes that are present throughout her work are machismo/ toxic masculinity within her culture in relation to gender identity and history. This is in association with her decolonial artistic works and ideas. She demonstrates this by incorporating these ideas into her past works (Coroner-2019 to present, It: Chapter Two-2019, etcetera.) as well as her up incoming works such as her new Netflix short film trilogy called Disclosure (Boateng). This project will focus on the journey of dating as a two-spirit transgender individual in all its guts and glory. Through this and other smaller artistic projects Kiley proves to be unapologetically herself in terms of her culture and gender identity.

Analysis: It is important to know that Kiley grew up on the Six Nations reservation in Ontario Canada and culturally identifies as Mohawk and Hotinonhshon:ni. In the blog Kiley May in Her Own Words, it is stated by Kiley May that, “…the places I feel most comfortable, creative and inspired. Around nature and people I trust… that has a lot to do with my transition and the fact that I grew up in the country, on my rez Six Nations” (Kiley May in Her Own Words). This proves that Kiley feels the most like herself in a natural environment. It also shows us that growing up on the reservation Kiley was met with a lot of homophobia and toxic masculinity. As a result, she only feels comfortable with people she trusts. The three images that I have selected demonstrate her identity and love of nature were all taken by photographer Tania A. Various historical events have influenced Kiley May as an artist such as the assimilation of Native Americans into American and Canadian society, colonialism, etcetera.

The first image is a picture uploaded to flickr on February 22, 2014, under the album named “Kiley May, 2014”. This is an image of a feminine Kiley overlapped by a more masculine version of herself demonstrating two-spirit, both the feminine and masculine sides of herself. Kiley May states, “I identify as two-spirit because I like the aspect of reclaiming history and reclaiming that ancient reverence and sacredness — the cultural spiritual aspect” (Boateng). Another way that Indigenous people use the term two-spirit is when discussing intersectionality or being of two worlds. Kiley feels that she is both a part of the LGBTQ+ community (being a transgender woman) and the indigenous community (Mohawk and Hotinonhshon:ni) also making her a two-spirit individual. Christian influences changed the way gender was seen after the forced assimilation into American and Canadian societies and the colonization of many Indigenous tribes. Kiley’s decolonial ideas in terms of this are simply that we should go back to the more open-minded way gender was viewed before. Therefore, we understand this today as the overlapping of both the masculine and feminine tendencies in addition to the intersectionality that has holistically been a part of humanity.

The second picture below is of Kiley uploaded to flickr on June 12, 2016 under the album entitled “Canadian Gay and Lesbian Archives, Portrait Photography Exhibition, 2016”. This photograph demonstrates her striking beauty in everyday life, by her gazing out what we assume is her bedroom window in what looks a dreamy state. To analyze this photograph, one may say that Kiley is demonstrating her decolonial ideas by being wishful about more Canadian people being able to speak her native tongue or learning her language the way she had to learn English. Today we understand this as the aspirations/dreams of Kiley May. In other words, what her ideal future looks like incorporating her indigenous roots and gender fluidity.

The third image below was uploaded to flickr on December 22, 2015 under multiple albums (“Portraits” and “Kiley May, Leslie Spit, 2015”). This picture is a portrait of Kiley that proudly shows Kiley’s indigenous roots by being in the environment of a Native American (Six Nations or Mohawk) reservation. This photograph demonstrates decolonial ideas in that this shows the freedom and the relationship with nature many Native Americans had before they were forced to assimilate into Canadian society. In the future this photograph can be seen as a rebellion against contemporary norms forced on many by mainstream society and demonstrate how unique a person’s identity truly is.

Application: In conclusion, Kiley May is a crucial part in understanding the way that indigenous LGBTQ+ individuals feel in their own cultural environment and the way society views them. Kiley provides a unique/ unconventional way to understand, enjoy, and become educated about this topic. She as an artist has taken the things, she is enthusiastic about and explained them in a way that is creative, yet people can still understand them on a human level. In this unique approach Kiley does not only share her decolonial message though one single artform or platform she does it through various ones. Examples include her theater performances, art pieces, educational storytelling or speeches, virtual/ online galleries, social media, etcetera. This gives the audience a distinct perspective on the topic as well as it demonstrates how applicable this topic really is in society overall. In summary, Kiley May illustrates through her decolonial works how important her history, culture, and gender identity are to her in the modern era. 

Works Cited  

A., Tania. “Kiley May, CGLA Exhibition, 2016, Video Image.” Flickr, Yahoo!, 13 June 2016, https://www.flickr.com/photos/taniaa/27635620015/in/photolist-J74M2a-oG7ngZ-sEfw2J-9NgSq7-2iBsNgT-2ixSeXM-iXpPNM-cYf3oE-51NBxa-4Svqjf-tn461H-2koNJMM-wNSkG7-4SrdPK-77XDLs-ov24tU-2WkCdQ-pbfdti-oeEVAA-nXu8R2-9MidA6-HjF1UY-a8q2yU-82Viuj-2WkCe1-7bunH5-2ebuWpS-8K6S29-4Sreat-x4a4W9-x5LAD1-wP9Wg7-x4fUX5-w9DAMr-of1JT5-wP3Fxv-wNX9Xx-x75YT8-x6we42-oGGVz1-x5MEK5-dWb1E4-wNWgdj-wP7jrp-x5QLWY-9TQQ81-wP1Zhc-cmzBCw-cmzBXd-82yxrb.

A., Tania. “Kiley May.” Flickr, Yahoo!, 22 Dec. 2015, https://www.flickr.com/photos/taniaa/23819702601/.

A., Tania. “Kiley May.” Flickr, Yahoo!, 25 Feb. 2014, https://www.flickr.com/photos/taniaa/12773247824/in/photolist-ksJeyL-o7Kjcq-kxrmYR-ksFVf6-kxrG6B-H594xZ-e9kPYV-2kWeGGG-D7iBJo-5f5G7H-o5NtQJ-obQtaz-4PNeLy-2ixULDv-dvSSc3-4PNeKQ-eSdWWR-2iBoLt3-5dTBrv-iXpPNM-4PNfX3-ciGfWQ-eg5vC1-5Unwpc-e71MqP-4PJ164-vtoqAW-d7Lapj-GY4a8N-cT9ZSN-gyzuwW-4PNeKW-faq8h1-2iBoKpK-4PNeM9-4PNeKC-5ZpeaZ-y8AaVo-4PNfTq-u8qrM-ncVKBN-4PNeME-8CB3XR-dGaRqL-4PNfME-sjzRz1-u8qrK-do7Zex-4Srkgp-ncVHXs.

Boateng, Natasha. “Emerging Filmmaker Kiley May Talks Trans Representation in Media.” FASHION Magazine, 20 May 2021, https://fashionmagazine.com/wellness/my-story-kiley-may-on-trans-representation-in-media-and-creating-the-character-roles-she-wants-to-see/.

Kc. “Kiley May in Her Own Words.” HEARTBEATS, 9 Aug. 2013, https://heart-beats.ca/HDB/kiley-may-in-her-own-words-2/.

Transgender Two Spirited Artist Kiley May on Her … – Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEjQY-SJ6Uw.