Pacoima resident Ethan Molina is one of the newest ambassadors for the California Native Youth Collective (CNYC), a platform for Native Youth to connect, network, improve leadership skills and discover opportunities.
The program aims to help youth amplify the work they are already doing within their respective communities. Simultaneously it works as a space for ambassadors to network with other Indigenous youth. To qualify, youths between 18 to 24 years old need to self-identify as Native or Indigenous and currently reside in California.
“I hope to always be in Native spaces,” said 19-year-old Molina, who identifies as Indigenous, Chicanx and gender-nonconforming.
Gender-nonconforming people are sometimes referred to as “they/them.”
CNYC is an initiative under the Generation Indigenous Network (Gen-I), which was established by the Obama administration as a means to “improve the lives of Native youth by prompting a national dialogue, and policies and programs to mobilize and cultivate the next generation of Native leaders.”
Molina was awarded the ambassadorship partly for their work with the Two Spirit Initiative, which provides resources, support and curriculum relevant to issues that Two-Spirit (gender-variant) youths are navigating in their education and communities.
Molina said different Indigenous communities use their own terminology, and that Two-Spirit is now used more as a way to communicate the concept within Eurocentric spaces. They added that Two-Spirit is not just about gender, but encompasses carrying masculine and feminine energy and more importantly, is about the roles – including caretakers and mediators – that Two-Spirit people occupy within the community.
Molina hosts a Two Spirit Initiative affinity group, “to help other folks who are Two-Spirit or Indigiqueer throughout North America,” and “some folks that are from Central and South America.”
“I feel like a lot of the time, we don’t always know what resources we have,” said Molina, who helps connect people to resources if they want to do something like change their name or get on hormones.
Molina is simultaneously studying Chicana/o and Native American studies at California State University, Northridge (CSUN), where they also work at the study center for Native youth.
“That’s my biggest thing. I always want everyone to have equal access to education,” said Molina. “I want them to be able to chase those dreams. And I’m trying to do that myself, too.”
Growing up in Pacoima, Molina said people had to travel outside the neighborhood to gain a better education, adding that there aren’t any high schools within its borders.
“I shouldn’t be having to leave my zip code or my area to have better access to education,” said Molina.
When people make it into higher education, Molina said a lot of times they drop out because growing up in neighborhoods like Pacoima, youths deal with outside factors that impact education such as poverty or deportation of loved ones. But despite the hardships the community faces, Molina feels the most comfortable and loved in their community.
“In Pacoima, I love it there,” said Molina. “And yeah, there is machismo, and yeah, there is queerphobia. But I don’t really feel like I experienced that. I feel very loved in my community.”
And that’s partly because Molina feels Pacoima honors indigeneity more than other neighborhoods, noting the murals depicting “all the indigenous warriors that have rebelled against the missionaries.” They added that indigenous resistance is within their ancestry and that it “comes with a lot of pain, and a lot of knowing, and walking in two worlds.”
Molina has worked locally with TUTČINT, a youth empowerment program run by the Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians (FTBMI). This is where they first heard about the opportunity with CNYC.
“I feel like a lot of the time people don’t understand what it’s like to have an Indigenous point of view or mentality,” said Molina. “I feel so appreciative to be there [CNYC], because we’re all valued, and all knowledge is valued.”
When Molina is in spaces that don’t honor “Indigenous methodologies” and favors euro-centric teachings, what they call “colonial spaces,” they often feel like a lot of work needs to be done before their viewpoints can be respected. Conversely, when conversations start in a space of common Indigenous understanding, it can become more productive because people are starting from a point of being valued for their knowledge. And they feel valued not only for having an Indigenous or queer perspective but also for their perspective as a young person.
At CNYC Molina can share and learn from other Native youth doing similar work in other communities. Sharing these experiences makes them hopeful about the future.
“I would love a world without colonial borders. I would love to see more access to education, I would love to see more access to transgender health care and I would love to see Two-Spirit people being celebrated all over,” said Molina.