North Bay Indigenous, LGBTQ+ organizations partner for youth kayak event

After paddling for more than an hour on the choppy waters of Tomales Bay, nearly two dozen kayakers glided into a serene cove where the Indigenous Támal-ko used to greet visitors arriving in tule reed canoes.

The inaugural September event was part of the Indigenous Youth Kayak and Navigation Program put on by Alliance For Felix Cove in partnership with North Bay organizations Blue Waters Kayaking, LGBTQ Connection and Bay Area American Indian Two-Spirits.

Slung low in one of the two-person kayaks, Theresa Harlan, 63, exhorted the group to raise their paddles and voices in unison. Harlan, the executive director of Alliance For Felix Cove, advocates to protect and restore one of the only remaining 19th century Tomalko (Coast Miwok Tomales Bay) — built homes at Point Reyes National Seashore.

“Land back! Protect Felix Cove!” they shouted above the brisk sea breeze.

The 21 kayakers, ranging from teens to 60-year-olds, disembarked on a sandy beach shadowed by dense forest. Most of the attendees belong to LGBTQ+ organizations in Napa and Sonoma counties.

Harlan invited the group to her ancestral home on this Friday morning in mid-September seeking more allies in her fight to restore and protect the land. The unique outing touched more broadly on themes of inclusivity, resistance, identity and belonging, something the LGBTQ+ and Indigenous communities, have in common.

Harlan’s husband, Ken Tiger, who is Seminole, lit a sage stick, which he walked around the group for a ceremonial blessing. One man who wore a rainbow-colored bandana closed his eyes while fanning the fragrant smoke into his face.

“We want voices, just like our voices, back on the water,” Harlan said at the conclusion of the ritual. “You’re part of that.”

History of Felix Cove

Felix Cove, which is a part of Point Reyes National Seashore, is the informal name of the place where partners Domingo Felix and Euphrasia Valencia were the first recorded residents in 1861.

According to Harlan, Valencia was a member of the Támal-ko. She and her husband had two sons who built homes at Marshall Beach and Laird’s Landing while their extended family lived on other coves in the bay.

Then, in 1965, the government forced the remaining descendants to leave at the behest of ranching interests.

Felix Cove is northwest of the town of Inverness, and in addition to water landings, is accessible by hiking roughly a mile from Marshall Beach Road.

Several unoccupied cabins dot the hillside of tangled growth in the cove, their windows broken and the walls defaced by graffiti.

2 communities holding space

Harlan, who was adopted at birth by the Felix family and now lives in Vallejo, is seeking restoration of the site through the Alliance for Felix Cove. Harlan is Támal-ko by adoption, as well as Kewa Pueblo and Jemez Pueblo.

“Some would call it conservation and restoration,” she said to the group assembled on the beach. “We’re calling it rematriation because we’re going to bring back Indigenous relatives, ecologists and ancestral skills educators to help us restore, to give it the tender care our ancestors provided.”

Harlan’s message appeared to resonate with her audience.

Drew Crawford, program coordinator of Santa Rosa’s Positive Images, said he signed up for the outing because he was intrigued to learn more about Felix Cove, and more broadly, about the challenges facing people who identify as Indigenous and queer.

Nearly 2.7 million United States residents identify as American Indian and Alaska Native alone, and 6.3 million as American Indian and Alaska Native alone or in combination with one or more other races from 2017 to 2021, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2021 American Community Survey.

Also, Indigenous peoples represent 7% of the nation's total homeless population, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. And nearly half of Indigenous LGBTQ+ youth have experienced homelessness or housing instability at some point in their lives, according to the Trevor Project. In turn, this group has higher rates of mental health challenges, compared with their LGBTQ+ peers in more stable living environments.

“It’s an important part of our (Indigenous and queer) community that doesn’t often get enough recognition,” he said. “I just wanted to help uplift and be able to be in this sacred space, honoring this land.”

The Sept. 22 outing culminated from a chance meeting between Harlan and Solicia Aguilar, the program director of LGBTQ Connection Napa-Sonoma, at an event in American Canyon honoring volunteers.

Born in Sacramento and raised in San Francisco, Aguilar is a member of the Chiricahua Apache tribe and identifies as Two-Spirit. Aguilar defines Two Spirit as a contemporary umbrella term that affirms an Indigenous conception of gender identity and sexual orientation variances in relation to ceremonial and social roles within tribes. She said Indigenous cultures don't universally agree, however, on whether Two Spirit exists in the context of the LGBTQ+ experience, or whether it's unique to Indigenous culture.

"Indigenous people also face our own version of transphobia," Aguilar said. "There's discrimination that exists within our communities, and the greater communities, and sometimes those overlap. A lot of time they (Indigenous and queer) youth are trying to find places or spaces where they can exist at all. It's what drives people to more urbanized areas, but that's also a really hard and difficult journey."

In some Indigenous cultures, activities such as drumming or dancing are very gender-specific. Aguilar said that's not the case with Two Spirit.

"The way we drum, the way we dance, is different," she said.

She called Crawford, with Positive Images, a valued ally in the effort to expand support and resources for Indigenous queer youth.

"I've run into him at Two Spirit conferences not realizing he had signed up to be there," she said. "It's a wonderful feeling. It helps bring awareness and cultivate a sense of supportive community."

And Aguilar jumped at Harlan’s invitation for LGBTQ Connection to participate in the Alliance For Felix Cove’s Indigenous Youth Kayak and Navigation Program. The nonprofit Bay Area American Indian Two-Spirits was also brought on board to participate in the event.

Connecting with the land

Prior to the kayak outing, the groups gathered tule reeds to construct a traditional canoe, which they plan to build and launch at a later date.

Harlan saw a natural alliance with the Indigenous and LGBTQ+ communities. She said the Támal-ko, like other Indigenous tribes, embraced everyone, regardless of gender or sexual identity.

She said the communities now share a common need to identify spaces that are safe and welcoming to all.

“All that we’re looking for really is being in community, understanding ourselves as relatives and building relationships with each other,” she said.

Aguilar said the Alliance For Felix Cove initiative helps LGBTQ Connection fulfill a goal of helping members learn more about cultural traditions. It’s also an opportunity for program managers to meet and learn about one another.

“We don’t know each other’s stories. I’m talking person-to- person,” Aguilar said. “We all have our different orgs that we work for, but who are we in the work that we do?”

Blue Waters Kayaking, based in Point Reyes Station, provided the kayaks and safety gear for the excursion.

Veteran guide and instructor Liz Wilhelm of Blue Waters Kayaking provided a brief paddling tutorial before the group shoved off from Heart’s Desire Beach and headed north along the western shoreline of the narrow bay.

Along the way, Wilhelm pointed out a leopard shark cruising beneath the water’s surface, multitudinous jellyfish and a curious harbor seal as seabirds surfed the strong sea breeze from above.

An ancestral practice

At the cove, Harlan described what life was like for her family and some of their Indigenous practices. They used plants for food and medicine, fished the bay for abalone, oysters, clams and perch, and dipped into a freshwater stream for drinking and bathing.

Handing out paper and coloring pens, Harlan invited other members of the group to share something about their ancestors by drawing a picture or writing a phrase. When they were finished, the art was strung on a cord cable attached to the porch of a cabin.

Tristan Niles, a Sonoma State University student and member of LGBTQ Connection, drew the image of a wisteria in memory of several generations of his family who used cuttings from the same flowering plant in their own yards, a connection rooted in foliage.

Niles works for SSU’s preserve and land management system.

“I think that was another reason I was really excited about this,” he said of the Felix Cove outing. “As someone who works on the land, being more aware of land tending traditions and other peoples’ relation to the land is important.”

Diana Bell-Kerr, pastor of United Church of Christ in Santa Rosa, viewed the trip as an opportunity to build community and support among LGBTQ+ organizations in the North Bay.

She said her congregation has been learning about the area’s Indigenous cultures. She planned to take what she learned on the trip back to them.

“I’m definitely going to talk about it with my church and tell them the story of the cove and the family that lived here,” Bell-Kerr said. “Not just to tell their story, but to say, ‘Hey, go check this out.’”

The Alliance for Felix Cove is hosting tule canoe workshops on Oct. 28 and Nov. 4 for Indigenous youth, with partners from Indigenous Healing Center, Bay Area American Indian Two Spirit, LGBTQ Connection Napa-Sonoma, and California Indian Museum and Cultural Center.