CELEBRATING WHO YOU ARE

A conversation with Navi Ho

Niche Editor Svea Conrad spoke with drag performer, activist, Sister of Perpetual Indulgence and former Empress of the Imperial Court, Navi Ho to chat about their work, Navajo tradition, and fighting for justice in all they do. Navi Ho will be one of many performers at this year’s Pride in the Pines. The interview has been edited only for length and clarity.

Svea Conrad: Where did you grow up and where do you live now?

Navi Ho: I grew up in Phoenix. My mom is from Tuba City and my dad is from White Cone, both on the Navajo reservation.

SC: What is your involvement in Pride? Both this year and years previous?

NH: A few years ago I was very active with Flagstaff Pride…With COVID everything ceased a little. Then, last year, when they brought Pride in the Pines back, the Native community was very upset at the lack of Indigenous performers. This year I got a message asking me to be part of it, though. This was wonderful because Flagstaff’s was my first

Pride.

Pride is not something that is a week or a month, it is every day and we should celebrate it no matter what. Being part of a Pride celebration like I am this year is such an honor. I am looking forward to being there and showing my Native side and showing people who I am.

SC: Tell me a little bit about what you do and who you are.

NH: I became a fully professed Sister [of Perpetual Indulgence] in 2011. Since then I have been a huge advocate for the community. First dressed as a clown nun, that evolved into me becoming part of the drag community as well.

In 2014 I was voted Empress of the Communal Court [part of the LGBTQIA+ rights organization known as the Imperial Court System] and I was the first Native American to be elected. That piqued my interest in the whole drag community so I have been performing as both my characters [Navi Ho and Miss Demeanor]. I kept the name Navi Ho because everyone knew me as Navi Ho, it helped evolve my drag in that I started to link it to my tradition and culture. I recently learned about Two-Spirit people and what it is and I have been incorporating that into my performances and my drag aesthetic ever since. That has allowed me to be a beacon of hope for our Indigenous community.

SC: How does Navajo tradition play into your activism as well as your art?

NH: First,I definitely have started using the music of Native people.

Recently, I also ran in a pageant where I incorporated my tradition and culture; I wore a Blanket Dress and had my hair up in a Navajo bun. That is very traditional to the women in our community. In Navajo culture, we praise and give thanks to our women. I feel that in using that look [in my performances] I am praising them in a way too, and it is a way that is close to me. My mom was so happy with the look. She said to me, “You look beautiful, nice, traditional and beautiful.” I want to not only do drag but also intertwine it with my culture and tradition. I feel people will get to know me a little bit more and I can stand out a little so those who are looking for inspiration or help can look at me and see how I have been incorporating it into my drag.

SC: How do you identify yourself and why is that important?

NH: I tell people I don’t have pronouns; she, he, they, you, as long as we are having a good conversation it doesn’t matter. But the TwoSpirit identity that I carry, was something I learned through my path of being a Sister of Perpetual Indulgence. As I have been learning and watching videos and attending conferences, I learned that the Two-Spirit culture was very alive and prevalent in our Native communities–not only in Navajo communities but others all over the world.

I have always thought about myself as different, while never fully understanding what that meant. Then I watched the movie Two Spirits. In it, one person talks about being with his grandma, how she was always cuddling him and protecting him and had him by her side. This brought me back to my grandma in Flagstaff. I was always with her. She always told me I was special and I never fully understood what she meant. As I was learning about Two-Spirit people I learned they were individuals in the community that helped out in whichever way was needed. The whole concept is having both entities of the female and masculine spirit in one person and this notion of them filling in wherever help is needed.

The story goes that a Two-Spirit person would step into the place of a mother, say if she died, they would step into her place. Or if a father was hurt and unable to care for himself or his family, they were the filler in the community to help it keep running. They were seen as shamans, as medicine people, as spiritual people. I’m learning that other Native communities have that too it is a beautiful thing because now I have a spot, it not only emulates who I am but encourages me to learn more about my culture and more about my traditions.

SC: What do you love about drag?

NH: I love the fact that there are no boundaries. There is no cookie-cutter definition of what a drag person–king, queen, entertainer–must be. To see the different aesthetics of drag, to see the mashup that happens is just beautiful. It’s a nonstop entity that continues to evolve and will continue to evolve long after I am gone.

SC: Why is it important that Black Indigenous People of Color be part of drag performances, other Pride events and queer spaces?

NH: I think it is very important because it shows the diversity within drag. For me being Navajo, drag allows me to teach others who I am and what my culture is. The more we learn and the more we understand, the more our world will be a better place. With Pride bringing in other People of Color too, it just shows what a wonderful representation of the rainbow we have. And then, even with the colors on the rainbow, there is so much in between. It is those in-betweens that are just going to make the world a better place.

SC: Is there anything you want to add?

NH: Something I am proud of is noticing on Facebook and other social media that Indigenous performers are coming out of the shadows and also the communities themselves. I saw Havasupai is going to have their first Pride in June. They’re even having a drag show! Dine Pride is going on its fifth or sixth year. Just seeing these different Native communities including their Two-Spirit and lesbian and trans and bi communities and celebrating who they are is so incredible because it also goes back to these things that were almost erased because of colonization. The more we continue to embrace that, the stronger we will be.

I am very proud of my fellow Native American Community members for stepping up and doing that. We will continue to teach others about us and who we are and I am so glad to be a part of that.