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Geo Neptune | |
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Niskapisuwin | |
Born | 1988 (age 35–36) |
Nationality | American, Passamaquoddy Tribe |
Education | Indian Township School, Gould Academy, Dartmouth College |
Known for | black-ash basketry, Indigenous rights activism, Drag performance |
Elected | Indian Township School Board |
Geo Soctomah Neptune is a Passamaquoddy Two-Spirit, master basket maker, activist, storyteller, model, and educator from Indian Township, Maine. Neptune uses they/them pronouns. [1]
After graduating from Gould Academy and earning a theater degree from Dartmouth College, Neptune changed their plans of becoming an actor in New York City and instead returned home to volunteer at reservation schools, embracing customary basket making techniques that were taught to them by their grandmother, Molly Neptune Parker, a Passamaquoddy elder and master basket weaver. Neptune began making baskets with their grandmother Neptune Parker when they were just four years old. [2]
At four years old, Neptune was already asking their grandmother Molly Neptune Parker to teach them how to weave baskets. She told them to wait until they were older. So Neptune found another elder that would teach them, then they showed their grandmother their first completed basket. Later that year, after they turned five years old, Neptune wove their first basket with their grandmother. That began a lifelong apprenticeship. They are now a master basket maker, mentored by their grandmother, who passed in June, 2020. [3]
Neptune experimented with their family's signature woven flowers mixed with natural elements of twigs and branches, they began forming what would eventually be known as their signature sculptural style of whimsical, elegant, traditionally-informed basketmaking. Passamaquoddy baskets have been made from a variety of materials including birch, basswood, maple, spruce, and cedar, it is brown ash, also known as black ash, that figures most prominently in basketry today. Prior to European contact, the Passamaquoddy people in Maine were hunters and gatherers, who moved seasonally and utilized bark, wood, and tree roots from the forests along with aromatic sweetgrass and cattails from the coastal wetlands to craft utilitarian bags, boxes, and other containers. But European colonization and economic hardship spawned a new tradition, "fancy baskets", which were decorative in nature and marketed to white tourists. Typically, men would make the utility baskets and women would make fancy baskets. For Neptune, weaving baskets with their grandmother and the women of their tribe was a sacred thing, a crucial first step in understanding their [4] identity as Two-Spirit.
In February 2021, Neptune was awarded a $50,000 fellowship award from United States Artists for their accomplishments and ongoing creative excellence in black ash basketry. Neptune intends to continue to work in traditional arts, honoring their grandmother. They also plan to continue to work in various media, as they have done, in drag performance, hand-poke tattooing, and jewelry. [5]
When an international movement for native rights emerged in Canada and spread worldwide called Idle-No-More, Neptune found their calling as an advocate against government abuse of Native people and lands. [8] [9] [10] [11]
The movement of indigenous people towards the use of the specific term Two-Spirit originates in the 1990's. [12] However, in the use of the term and claiming of its identity there exists both deep ancestral connections as well as present day indigenous people's ability to actively reject and oppose normative colonial language that fails to fully encompass the range of gender and sexual identities that exists within indigenous communities. [13] In contribution to the continued education of individuals Neptune published a video in 2018 about the meaning of Two-Spirit. [14] [15]
In 2006, Neptune began performing in shows as their drag persona "Lyzz Bien." [4] [16]
In September 2020, Neptune became the first openly transgender elected official in Maine after getting elected for school board in Indian Township, and the first Two-Spirit person to run for any office for the state at large. [17] [18] [19] In their role on the school board, Neptune hopes to "increase student and teacher access to Passamaquoddy culture and ceremonial teachings, and work towards revitalizing [sic] the native language." [20]
Passamaquoddy Indian Township Reservation is one of two Indian reservations of the federally recognized Passamaquoddy tribe in Washington County, Maine, United States. The population was 760 at the 2020 census. Most of the 2,500 members of the tribe in the United States live in other parts of Maine. The reservation is located about 13 miles west-northwest of the city of Calais.
Non-binary and genderqueer are umbrella terms for gender identities that are outside the male/female gender binary. Non-binary identities often fall under the transgender umbrella since non-binary people typically identify with a gender that is different from the sex assigned to them at birth, although some non-binary people do not consider themselves transgender.
The Penobscot are an Indigenous people in North America from the Northeastern Woodlands region. They are organized as a federally recognized tribe in Maine and as a First Nations band government in the Atlantic provinces and Quebec.
The Passamaquoddy are a Native American/First Nations people who live in northeastern North America. Their traditional homeland, Peskotomuhkatikuk, straddles the Canadian province of New Brunswick and the U.S. state of Maine in a region called Dawnland. They are one of the constituent nations of the Wabanaki Confederacy.
The Wolastoqiyik, also Wəlastəkwewiyik, Malecite or Maliseet are an Algonquian-speaking First Nation of the Wabanaki Confederacy. They are the Indigenous people of the Wolastoq valley and its tributaries. Their territory extends across the current borders of New Brunswick and Quebec in Canada, and parts of Maine in the United States.
Basket weaving is the process of weaving or sewing pliable materials into three-dimensional artifacts, such as baskets, mats, mesh bags or even furniture. Craftspeople and artists specialized in making baskets may be known as basket makers and basket weavers. Basket weaving is also a rural craft.
The Wabanaki Confederacy is a North American First Nations and Native American confederation of five principal Eastern Algonquian nations: the Abenaki of St. Francis, Mi'kmaq, Wolastoqiyik, Passamaquoddy (Peskotomahkati) and Penobscot.
Neptune is the eighth and farthest planet from the Sun.
Kelly Jean Church is a black ash basket maker, Woodlands style painter, birchbark biter, and educator.
Concouguash, Christian name Francis Joseph Neptune, (1735–1834) was chief of the Passamaquoddy tribe during the American Revolutionary War. He succeeded his father, Bahgulwet, who died in 1778, and was succeeded by his own son, John Francis Neptune, in 1824. The term "chief" later became the word for governor. Becoming chief is passed along through family lineage and requires acceptance from the Passamaquoddies, Penobscots and Maliseet tribes. These three tribes share similar chief induction ceremonies, conducted simultaneously with eyewitnesses from each tribe present.
Theresa Secord is an artist, basketmaker, geologist and activist from Maine. She is a member of the Penobscot nation, and the great-granddaughter of the well-known weaver Philomene Saulis Nelson. She co-founded, and was the director of, the Maine Indian Basketmakers Alliance (MIBA) in Old Town, Maine.
Rena D. Newell is the incumbent chief of the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Sipayik. Previously, she was the Passamaquoddy tribal representative to the Maine House of Representatives during the 129th and 130th legislatures. During her two terms, she was the only tribal representative in the Maine House.
David Moses Bridges was a Native American environmentalist and artist known for his traditional birchbark canoes and baskets. He was a member of the Passamaquoddy tribal community on the Passamaquoddy Pleasant Point Reservation. Bridges fought for tribal environmental rights and was a co-founder of Mulankeyutmonen Nkihtakmikon, to preserve the Wabanaki culture.
Ilona Verley is a Canadian-American drag queen, most known for competing on the first season of Canada's Drag Race.
The following is a timeline of transgender history. Transgender history dates back to the first recorded instances of transgender individuals in ancient civilizations. However, the word transgenderism did not exist until 1965 when coined by psychiatrist John F. Oliven of Columbia University in his 1965 reference work Sexual Hygiene and Pathology; the timeline includes events and personalities that may be viewed as transgender in the broadest sense, including third gender and other gender-variant behavior, including ancient or modern precursors from the historical record.
Molly Neptune Parker was an American basket weaver. She became well known for her artistry, with her works selling for thousands of dollars. As a co-founder and president of the Maine Indian Basketmakers Alliance, she tutored young people in the traditional craft and also educated four generations of her own family. She was also the first woman lieutenant governor of Indian Township, one of the two governing bodies of the Passamaquoddy tribe.
Taylor Small is an American politician. Small is a member of the Vermont House of Representatives and is the first openly transgender legislator elected in Vermont and the 5th elected in the United States.
Tomah Joseph, a.k.a.Joseph Tomah and Tomah Josephs, was a Passamaquoddy artist and governor of communities in Maine in the United States. He taught the future US president Franklin Delano Roosevelt how to canoe.
Margaret Mary Mitchell Gabriel was a Passamaquoddy basket maker from Maine. She was awarded a National Heritage Fellowship in 1994.