Whenever the author attends her Sacramento Transgender Support Group, she occasionally brings up the fact that she spent a year of college on the beautiful Navajo Indian Reservation. When she does this, she realizes more and more the connection between the trans and Indigenous world. Whilst this may seem an odd suggestion, it really is not when the individual ponders the idea.

First and foremost, both groups are generally overlooked. Transphobic individuals typically like pretending that trans-people exist anywhere but here, so on and so forth. In the case of Indigenous people, especially in North America, there is a prevailing assumption that Native people are supposedly extinct. Who for example, knew of Sacramento’s Nisenan Tribe, before reading the author’s articles? Probably no one, and worse yet, some people might not care. The Nisenan, despite the tragic past, are here today, and just like trans-people, they are commonly removed from history’s rich tapestry because those who “win” it write it.

Second, most people find it completely acceptable to throw slurs at both groups. In an age where equal rights are coming to the forefront, the trans and Indigenous communities are typically left as fair game. Everyone up to par on trans-issues is all too familiar with bigoted words such as “he-she, shemale, sheman and ladyfellar,” and in the case of Indigenous people, hate words such as “savage, uncivilized, barbaric, Indian giver and dirty” are commonly uttered without anyone wincing an eye. In the end, both groups become bitterly aware that they are part of the last great minority.

Third, and perhaps worse of all, is how both groups are commonly denied autonomy. In the case of trans-people seeking to transition, they are subjected to the severe scrutiny of therapists and other so-called “professionals” who supposedly “specialize” in all things trans. In the case of Indigenous Tribes, their lands have been stolen and pilfered, whilst the displaced Natives were forced onto Reservations, or worse, made completely landless. These two groups, trans and Indigenous alike, have been given treaties, both figuratively and realistically, so that they may be silenced and confined under the Gate Keeper’s lock and key.

In the end, it is necessary that the trans and Indigenous communities come together. Seeing that many Tribes—both domestically and abroad—have been reverent of the trans-spirit, this would create an especially strong ally. Seeing that both groups are highly misunderstood, and in many ways similar, it would do much good for them to come together.