The Drum Does Not Ask: How Two-Spirit Powwow Roles Are Reclaiming a Sacred Tradition

At the Native American Youth and Family Center’s 14th Annual Neerchokikoo Powwow in Portland, Oregon, a quiet liturgical shift is underway. Since 2023, the gathering has included a Two-Spirit head dancer title alongside the traditional men’s and women’s roles — a restoration, many argue, rather than an innovation.

Theo Wright, Klamath and Oglala Lakota, 22, held that title this year. He began the day in a jingle dress handmade by his father and ended it in grass dance regalia, also his father’s work. “There’s not a lot of places where I can openly dance both jingle and grass,” Theo said.

For Theo, the role carries theological weight. “Being able to be a Two-Spirit head dancer is not having to choose between being queer and Native, and being not only allowed but encouraged to be both,” they said.

At most powwows, jingle is reserved for women and grass for men. The Two-Spirit title interrupts that binary — and in doing so, returns to a older understanding of the drum circle as a place where the sacred speaks through every body present.