TJ Cuthand is a filmmaker, video- and performance artist, writer and curator of Plains Cree as well as Scottish and Irish descent. He is credited with coining the term ''Indigiqueer'', for modern Indigenous

LGBTQ ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

people.Okanagan College Library Indigenous Studies - Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer
. Accessed 23 May 2022All My Relations Podcast - Indigiqueer
. Accessed 23 May 2022 In May 2022 he changed his name to TJ Cuthand and came out as a

trans man A trans man is a man who was assigned female at birth. The label of transgender man is not always interchangeable with that of transsexual man, although the two labels are often used in this way. ''Transgender'' is an umbrella term that incl ...

. His work as a video artist began in high school, as he experimented with a DIY and "diarist" aesthetic that he has continued to develop in subsequent works. His experimental film and videos often feature a personal perspective, voice-over narration, and storytelling that explores his experiences of identity, race, sexuality, relationships, ageism and mental health.Steven, Loft, Acquisition Proposal for Thirza Cuthand's ''Working Baby Dyke Theory: The Diasporic Impact of Cross Generational Barriers; Through hotel Looking Glass'' and ''Love & Numbers'', accession #42309; #42308 and #42307, Curatorial File, National Gallery of Canada. In 1995, when he was 16, he participated in a workshop at a queer film festival in Saskatoon, which led to the production of his first short video, ''Lessons in Baby Dyke Theory,'' which was then screened at film festivals around the world. In bios at the time, Cuthand self-described as a "bipolar butch lesbian

two spirit Two-spirit (also two spirit, 2S or, occasionally, twospirited) is a modern, , umbrella term used by some Indigenous North Americans to describe Native people in their communities who fulfill a traditional third-gender (or other gender-variant) ...

ed boy/girl thingamabob".

Early life and career

Born in 1978 in Regina,

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

, Cuthand grew up amongst artists in

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

. Cuthand credits Maureen Bradley with teaching him how to make his first video. Other early mentors include

Dana Claxton Dana Claxton (born 1959) is a Hunkpapa Lakota filmmaker, photographer, and performance artist. Her work looks at stereotypes, historical context, and gender studies of Indigenous peoples of the Americas, specifically those of the First Nations. ...

, Shawna Dempsey and Lorri Milan. In 1995, Cuthand's first short, experimental film, ''Lessons in Baby Dyke Theory'', was screened to international audiences when he was just 16. In 1999 he was selected for an artist residency at Videopool and Urban Shaman where he completed ''Through the Looking Glass,'' a work that plays off Lewis Carroll's novel of the same title, and sees Cuthand play the role of Alice, in conversation with the Red Queen (played by Cosmosquaw AKA

Lori Blondeau Lori Blondeau (born 1964) is a Cree/Saulteaux/Métis artist working primarily in performance art, but also in installation art, installation and photography. Blondeau is a member of the Gordon First Nation, and is based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Lif ...

) and the White Queen ( Shawna Dempsey) as a device to discuss cultural heritage and the construction of race. Following this early success, he went on to complete a BFA in film and video at the Emily Carr University of Art & Design in Vancouver. Cuthand's work has been presented at numerous festivals and exhibitions including the Whitney Biennial (USA), Walker Art Centre (Minneapolis), Mackenzie Art Gallery (Regina), Oberhausen International Short Film Festival (Germany), San Francisco Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, Optic Nerve (Peterborough) The Women's Television Network, MIX NY, the Walter Phillips Gallery (Banff), Mendel Art Gallery (Saskatoon), MIX Brasil Festival of Sexual Diversity, New York Exposition of Short Film and Video, 9e Biennale de l'Image en Mouvement (Geneva) and the 70th Berlin International Film Festival. He was featured in the 2019

Whitney Biennial The Whitney Biennial is a biennial exhibition of contemporary American art, typically by young and lesser known artists, on display at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, United States. The event began as an annual exhibition in ...

, and the film program, ''What Was Always Yours and Never Lost'', yet shared his disappointment in the controversies of Whitney Museum Vice- Chair, Warren Kanders's implication in war profiteering. Cuthand moved to Toronto to be closer to more industry resources, help develop his practice and continue to work on short films. He has self-funded many of his own projects though he increasingly works with larger budgets. Cuthand is credited with coining a term for Indigenous

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

people, that is now in use in addition to, or as an alternative for, ''

two-spirit Two-spirit (also two spirit, 2S or, occasionally, twospirited) is a modern, , umbrella term used by some Indigenous North Americans to describe Native people in their communities who fulfill a traditional third-gender (or other gender-variant) ...

'' - ''Indigiqueer''. Originally spelled ''Indigequeer'', Cuthand coined the term for the title of the 2004 Vancouver Queer Film Festival’s Indigenous/two-spirit Program. He has written that he came up with ''Indigiqueer'' "because some LGBTQ Indigenous people don’t feel as comfortable with the two-spirit title because it implies some dual gender stuff, which some people just don’t feel describes their identity."Okanagan College Library Indigenous Studies - Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer
. Accessed 23 May 2022All My Relations Podcast - Indigiqueer
. Accessed 23 May 2022

Awards

In 2017 Cuthand was awarded the Hnatyshyn Foundation’s REVEAL Indigenous Art Award. In 2021 his short film ''Kwêskosîw (She Whistles)'' won a Golden Sheaf for Short Subject- Fiction at the

Yorkton Film Festival Yorkton Film Festival (YFF) is an annual film festival held in late May in Yorkton, Saskatchewan, Canada. In 1947, the Yorkton Film Council (YFC) was founded and in 1950 the first international documentary film festival officially opened in we ...

, the Mana Advancement of Indigenous Rights Award at the

Wairoa Maori Film Festival Wairoa is a town and territorial authority district in New Zealand's North Island. The town is the northernmost in the Hawke's Bay region, and is located on the northern shore of Hawke Bay at the mouth of the Wairoa River and to the west of ...

in New Zealand, and the Bronze Audience Award for Best Canadian Short at

Fantasia Fantasia International Film Festival (also known as Fantasia-fest, FanTasia, and Fant-Asia) is a film festival that has been based mainly in Montreal since its founding in 1996. Regularly held in July of each year, it is valued by both hardcore ...

References

External links

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Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cuthand, Thirza Canadian people of Scottish descent LGBT artists from Canada First Nations filmmakers Living people LGBT First Nations people Film directors from Saskatchewan Artists from Regina, Saskatchewan Canadian film directors 1978 births Cree people Canadian Métis people