Straddling Boundaries, Rebuilding Relations: Queer Indigenous Governance in Blackfoot Territory

This article examines the relationship between queerness and Indigeneity within Niitsítapi (Blackfoot) territory, centering the experiences of Niitsitapi women and 2SLGBTQI+ members engaged in queering approaches to gender justice. Employing a queer method of boundary straddling, it explores how these actors navigate and unsettle normative frameworks embedded in Niitsítapi governance, kinship, and spirituality. As the Niitsítapi continue to revitalize Kana’kaaatsiiks (sacred societies), repatriate amopístaanistsi (sacred bundles), and uphold Aakokatssin (Sundance), emerging gender justice movements confront the entangled forces of colonialism and heteropatriarchy within Niitsítapi resurgence politics. This research foregrounds the tensions and transformative possibilities at the intersection of queerness, Indigenous nationhood, and normativity, offering a critical intervention into ongoing conversations on decolonization, gender, and Indigenous self-determination.