A Note from the Rainbow Story Hub Foundation

This story is told from the perspective of one person who was there. It reflects their memories, their vantage point, and the part of the work they saw first-hand. Any organization’s history is larger than any single account — it belongs to everyone who built it, volunteered for it, argued about it, and kept it going.

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The Edmonton 2 Spirit Society (E2S) did not begin with a strategic plan or a government grant. It began in ceremony. It began in recovery circles. It began in the quiet, courageous moments where Indigenous queer and trans people reached for teachings that colonialism tried to take away. It emerged from sweat lodges, from kitchen‑table conversations, from the deep ancestral pull of Two‑Spirit identity.

E2S is, and has always been, a collective story. It is a story of people who found one another in places where Indigenous queer and trans people gather to heal — in community centers, in inner‑city volunteer programs, in anonymous recovery groups, in university hallways, and in ceremony lodges. It is a story of many hands, many teachings, and many moments of courage. And within that collective story, the organization eventually welcomed its first Executive Director, Jeffery Chalifoux — not as the center of the narrative, but as one of the people who helped carry it forward.

This is the story of how E2S came to be, how it grew, and how it reached the point where it could sustain its first Executive Director. It is a story of community power, cultural reclamation, and the resurgence of Two‑Spirit identity in Edmonton.

A Beginning Rooted in Identity and Ceremony

Before E2S existed, there were individuals across the amiskwaciwâskahikan region, also known as Edmonton, quietly searching for cultural teachings that affirmed their queerness, their Indigeneity, and their place in the world. Among them was Jeffery Chalifoux (Jeff) who — who identifies as ihkwêw – one of many Cree genders teachings by Elder Joanne Saddleback as she shared in ceremony — was navigating shame, closeting, and the search for belonging. He lived and volunteered in Edmonton’s inner city, attended recovery meetings, and learned from ceremony and culture. His journey mirrored the journeys of many Indigenous queer people reclaiming teachings that had been interrupted by colonialism.

He describes this period as one of awakening: “I was still learning about my own identity and what it meant to understand myself as an Indigenous queer person.”

During this time, he learned about a small community collective called 2SpiritYEG, where one of the visible figures was Dr. James Makokis. Jeff reached out, and they met at the University of Alberta North Campus. Seeing Two‑Spirit identity reflected publicly — proudly, visibly — planted a seed. It was a reminder that Two‑Spirit identity was not only valid, but powerful.

But E2S did not emerge from one person’s awakening. It emerged from many.

The Invitation: A Collective Vision Takes Shape

It was through a recovery group, Jeff met Kisik (Boyd Whiskeyjack), who was also exploring Two‑Spirit identity. Their conversations deepened, and Kisik eventually asked a question that would ripple outward: Would you help build a Two‑Spirit organization?

This was late 2017. But the idea was not simply to create something new — it was to carry forward an intergenerational lineage of Two‑Spirit organizing. Earlier efforts like 2SpiritYEG, and the foundational work of Richard Jenkins, had already laid groundwork. E2S would become the next chapter.

Together, they began gathering people. They recruited community members, Elders, knowledge keepers, and volunteers. They drafted bylaws, policies, and governance structures. They incorporated the organization under the Alberta Societies Act in April 2018. This was grassroots work — unpaid, volunteer‑driven, fueled by ceremony, community, and the belief that Two‑Spirit people deserved a place to gather, heal, and lead.

It was not just organizational development. It was cultural reclamation. It was Indigenous queer resurgence. It was community building in its most ancestral form.

Building E2S: Governance, Ceremony, and Community

E2S’s early years were defined by collective effort. Many people contributed to shaping the organization’s identity, governance, and cultural grounding. Jeff co‑chaired the board. Kisik carried teachings through a four‑year knowledge transfer protocol. Elders guided ceremony, governance, and cultural direction. Community members volunteered countless hours.

E2S built relationships with grassroots organizations, with ISMSS (Institute for Sexual Minority Studies & Services), the Pride Centre of Edmonton, the Government of Alberta, and federal representatives including Randy Boissonnault. At the time, Randy Boissonnault was the Edmonton Centre federal MP and served as the Special Advisor on LGBTQ2 issues to the Prime Minister and led the 2SLGBTQI+ Secretariat within the Privy Council Office. The organization also entered national conversations when testimony was delivered to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health on May 19, 2019 — the first time E2S had a national presence in federal policy discussions.

By 2019, E2S had grown into a recognizable community organization — rooted in ceremony, guided by Elders, and carried by many hands. Jeff stepped down from the board to focus on other nonprofit program coordination and graduate studies, and other co‑chairs continued the work. The organization was becoming what it had always been meant to be: a home for Two‑Spirit people.

Becoming the First Executive Director: A Collective Milestone

By late 2020, E2S had reached a new stage of growth. The board — Boyd, Gabe, Jamie, Corey, Chelsea, and Alyssa — made a historic decision: to hire the organization’s first Executive Director.

On this particular day, Jeff was on his way to delve into a stable, unionized role at the Edmonton Institution’s health department. During that drive, he received the call from E2S offering him the role. He accepted — choosing community over stability.

“I came back to E2S and was hired as ED… November 24th 2020 until March 31, 2022.”

This moment marked a shift: E2S now had paid leadership, operating funds, and a clear mandate. But the story was not about one person stepping into a role. It was about a community reaching a point where it could sustain one.

Picture below: E2S’s public statement upon the hiring of their first Executive Director
Courtesy Edmonton Two Spirit Society – Quarterly Newsletter – Fall 2020

The Work of an ED: Ceremony, Community, and Growth

Jeff’s tenure as Executive Director reflected the collective momentum E2S had built. Under his leadership — and with Elders, staff, contractors, and community members — E2S hosted circles, ceremonies, feasts, memorials, and gatherings. It created new bylaws and governance structures. It entered multiple grant streams and partnerships. It worked with Nations, governments, researchers, and advocates. It led the revival of Edmonton’s 2SLGBTQIA+ network after the Pride Parade was halted. It produced the 5‑Year Strategic Plan. It coordinated the 34th International Two‑Spirit Gathering at Métis Crossing.

“We hosted circles, events, ceremonies, gatherings, potlucks, feasts, memorials… created several grants, funding streams, projects and partnerships.”

By 2022, E2S had grown into a cultural force — visible, respected, and rooted in ceremony. The forming of a CKKC or Cultural Knowledge Keepers Council as outlined in the E2S 5 year strategic plan was pivotal to that. There were several other Elders, Knowledge Keepers, Knowledge Carriers, Ceremonialists and many others who were part of holding teachings, hosting ceremony and supporting E2S during this time. Staff and volunteers carried programs forward. Community members showed up, participated, and shaped the work.

E2S was becoming what it had always been meant to be: a home for Two‑Spirit people.

Picture below: Jeff doing an on camera interview

The Hard Parts: Colonial Systems, Capacity, and Collective Struggle

Running a Two‑Spirit organization meant navigating colonial systems that were not built for Indigenous governance. Funding pressures, community expectations, and constant requests for E2S to show up, speak, and lead created strain. The work was meaningful — but exhausting.

Jeff was navigating graduate studies, mental health challenges, and the weight of being a visible Two‑Spirit leader in a community experiencing lateral violence, conflict, and grief. Challenges in Jeff’s personal life led him to resign in February 2022.

After Leadership: Reflection, Pain, and Pride

Jeff’s relationship with some community members changed after his departure. There were painful experiences, lateral violence, and institutional conflicts. But he remains clear: “I hold love for the people and for the community, and I wish them well.”

He also emphasizes that the work mattered — deeply. “I don’t want the difficult experiences to erase the beautiful ones.”

He continues to work in leadership roles, often behind the scenes, supporting Nations, governments, Elders, and community members. He remains proud of what E2S accomplished and committed to preserving the history of that period.

Legacy: A Collective Story of Emergence and Continuity

The story of E2S’s first Executive Director is not a story about one person. It is a story about many people — Elders, volunteers, knowledge keepers, board members, youth, and community members who carried teachings, built governance, and created space for Two‑Spirit people to gather.

Jeff’s role as the first Executive Director was one chapter in a much larger narrative — a narrative of Indigenous queer resurgence, cultural reclamation, and community power.

“There is a history here that belongs to many people. I am simply grateful to have been one of the people who was there for a part of it and who helped carry it forward.”

E2S continues today because of the people who built it, the people who led it, and the people who will carry it into the future. It is — and has always been — a story of collective strength, collective identity, and collective love.