Two-Spirit leader and long-time community organizer, Harlan Pruden (nehiyô/First Nations Cree), was providing support and guidance to the Two-Spirit Program team at Community-Based Research Centre (CBRC). Harlan suggested and shared with the Two-Spirit team the initial briefing and framing document that was used to organize the first Two-Spirit and Indigenous LGBTQQIA+ Celebration and Awareness Day. This was done in response to meet the needs of community members who were asking for more opportunities to connect and a recurring space that would recognize and celebrate the radiance and diversity of Two-Spirit identities, expressions, and experience. The first Two-Spirit and Indigenous LGBTQQIA+ Celebration and Awareness Day took place online on March 21, 2022, and featured two hours of teachings from Two-Spirit Elders, Knowledge Keepers, and grassroots community voices, as well as a colourful expression of Two-Spirit—from drag to song to drumming. Proclamations were also made by Indigenous leaders and the City of Vancouver. For its second edition, on March 20, 2023, the Two-Spirit Team held a “Bannock and Tea Event” on the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations, currently known as Vancouver. The five-hour event included presentations and teachings, cultural performances, and the distribution of Medicine Bundles. Proclamations were once again made from Indigenous leaders and the City of Vancouver, and, for the first time, the province of BC.
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