Ma-Nee Chacaby (born July 22, 1950) is an Ojibwe-Cree lesbian writer and activist from Canada.[1] She is most noted for her memoir, A Two-Spirit Journey: The Autobiography of a Lesbian Ojibwa-Cree Elder.
She suffered physical and sexual abuse from various adults in her life, and turned to alcoholism in her teen years. At twenty, she escaped an abusive marriage by moving to Thunder Bay, Ontario with her children.[4] She also lived in Winnipeg and Manitoba. While living in Thunder Bay, she sparked a local controversy when she openly identified herself as a lesbian in a television news story for Thunder Bay Television in 1988.[2]
She eventually reached sobriety, and worked as a counselor for alcoholics.[4] She remained a local activist on 2SLGBTQ+ and indigenous issues, and later began to create and exhibit work as a painter,[5] before writing and publishing A Two-Spirit Journey. She is fluent in both Cree and Ojibwe.[6]
A Two-Spirit Journey: The Autobiography of a Lesbian Ojibwa-Cree Elder was co-authored by Mary Louisa Plummer and published by the University of Manitoba Press in 2016.[2] It is the 18th title in the Native History Series published by the press. Methodologically, it combines social science and indigenous oral history.[7] The authors conducted over one hundred hours of interviews as part of their writing process, and the book deals with themes of child abuse, alcohol abuse, sexuality, and post-traumatic stress disorder.[8]
Critical acclaim
The biography was awarded the U.S. Oral History Association's 2017 Book Award,[9] as well as the Ontario Historical Society's 2018 Alison Prentice Award for Best Book on Women's History in Ontario.[10] In addition, A Two-Spirit Journey was a shortlisted Lambda Literary Award finalist for Lesbian Memoir/Biography at the 29th Lambda Literary Awards in 2017,[11] and was shortlisted for the Mary Scorer Award for Best Book by a Manitoba Publisher at the 2017 Manitoba Book Awards.[12]
In 2019, A Two-Spirit Journey was published in French as Un Parcours Bispirituel by Les éditions du remue-ménage.[13] That same year, Chacaby served as one of the grand marshals of the Fierté Montréal parade.[5]
In 2025, A Two-Spirit Journey was named as a finalist for Canada Reads, where it was advocated by actress and podcaster Shayla Stonechild.[14] It was the winner of the competition.[15]
↑ Leung-Pittman, Emily. "A Two-Spirit Journey: The Autobiography of a Lesbian Ojibwa-Cree Elder by Ma-Nee Chacaby with Mary Louisa Plummer." The Goose, vol. 16, no. 2, article 26, 2018, https://scholars.wlu.ca/thegoose/vol16/iss2/26.
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