Indian Blood: HIV and Colonial Trauma in San Francisco's Two-Spirit Community

<P>The first book to examine the correlation between mixedrace identity and HIV/AIDS among Native American gay men and transgendered people, Indian Blood provides an analysis of the emerging and often contested LGBTQ "twospirit" identification as it relates to public health and mixedrace identity.</P><P>Prior to contact with European settlers, most Native American tribes held their twospirit members in high esteem, even considering them spiritually advanced.

However, after contact and religious conversion attitudes changed and social and cultural support networks were ruptured.

This discrimination led to a breakdown in traditional values, beliefs, and practices, which in turn pushed many twospirit members to participate in highrisk behaviors.

The result is a disproportionate number of twospirit members who currently test positive for HIV.</P><P>Using surveys, focus groups, and community discussions to examine the experiences of HIVpositive members of San Francisco's twospirit community, Indian Blood provides an innovative approach to understanding how colonization continues to affect American Indian communities and opens a series of crucial dialogues in the fields of Native American studies, public health, queer studies, and critical mixedrace studies.</P>