Now in its 14th year, the NAYA powwow first introduced a Two-Spirit head dancer title to join men’s and women’s head dancers in 2023.

At most powwows across the country today, jingle dancers are expected to be women and grass dancers are expected to be men. However, there has been a push to create more spaces of queer joy and a disruption to gender norms at powwows.

“There were a lot of powwows that were starting to have the Two-Spirit flag and say ‘everyone is welcome here and these are safe spaces,’ and we were inspired by that,” said Tamara Henderson, Laguna Pueblo, NAYA’s chief operating officer and powwow organizer.

“And frankly, some powwows will have Two-Spirit dancers [and] Two-Spirit powwows, and so I said if we’re truly trying to create a safe space for our community, then what we really have to do is have our own Two-Spirit head dancer and keep it consistent,” she continued.