My Blog

Happy Happy Joy Joy

LandaLakes — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 03:22:13 GMT

Mr Poonie Jonesin is having a Bday. House of Glitter talk this morning has been how to say that special Happy Bday, but aren't in a hurry knowing how he stretches his birthday for two weeks if not a month.... I think we will be doing a party soon....

I love Wendy Ho

LandaLakes — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 19:07:41 GMT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bL-iWz2VhTw

Rain and Heat

LandaLakes — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 04:50:03 GMT

Okay, it's currently raining in Oklahoma and it is 88 degrees.... like omg... crazy... okay, so its the humidity... tomorrow starts the Quapaw PowWow and their Hand Drum contest prize is $1,000.... I wanna win so I gotta be real sneaky....

National Native AIDS Awareness Day

LandaLakes — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 07:44:34 GMT

It was beautiful..... I didn't think that I would get choked up over my brothers and sisters that I have lost since AIDS made its way into Indian Country, but I cried....

Fresh... fresh.... fresh....

LandaLakes — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 02:06:31 GMT

Each April The FRESH FRUIT FESTIVAL gives awards to the entries in the past year's festival voted best by audiences and the Board of Directors. Also presented at that time are special lifetime awards for those who have supported LGBT arts. For performance in a Two-Spirit Evening held at New York's Conscious Collective in 2006, Landa Lakes and Samantha Richards of the San Francisco based Native American drag troupe the Brush Arbor Gurlz will be awarded Outstanding Artist Awards at the upcoming Fourth Annual Fruits of Distinction Awards. Murry Hill will host the Awards to be held on Monday, April 16th, at the Metropolitan Room in New York City starting at 9:30pm. Landa and Samantha will perform in a short segment during this formal event. Landa Lakes, the matron or mother of the Arbor, explained the origin of the troupes name is derived from Southeastern tribal culture. During the summer and early fall months also known as stomp dance season, Southeastern tribes erect brush arbors. Girls often seek shade under the arbors which gives them ample opportunity to flirt with the roaming boys. The troupe includes dragsters from the Chickasaw, Cherokee, Navajo, Tohono O'odem, Metis and Choctaw Nations. Upon learning that she will be receiving an Outstanding Artist Award, Samantha exclaimed that she was honored and excited. As a long time performer in both drag and the theatre world, Samantha said that she loved performing with her Native American brothers and sisters and having the opportunity to share a slice of something traditional and personal with diverse audiences. If you would like to learn more about the Fourth Annual Fruits of Distinciton Awards or get tickets, you may go to the website at www.freshfruitfestival.com.

Chikasha okla sia hoke!

LandaLakes — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 19:10:27 GMT

Oh, what fun! Samantha and I just received word that we won an award for our performances during the Fresh Fruit Festival in New York City. I feels really good and I know that Samantha has been a little down so hopefully this is a pick her up! Okay, so I am doing a few things after Trannyshack Hawaii, I will be a contestant for the Gay Jeopardy at the Cinch (a game show from NYC that Artemis was a contestant in and is re-creating in San Francisco), then Coco Canal's Lucky Pierre at the Stud on Friday the 2nd in which I will be in the Landa Lakes' Indian Gaming Strip Poker Casino room.... come and join me for something.... don't be so lazy... bwah hahhahahaha

National Native AIDS Awareness Day

LandaLakes — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 05:01:25 GMT

Bay Area American Indian Two-Spirits This year the Spring Equinox will be celebrated on March 21st. The equinox occurs when both day and night are equally long and in many Native cultures can be viewed as beautifully balanced. Fittingly seen as a time of change and new beginnings, the Native American community has chosen this day to commemorate the National Native AIDS Awareness Day. By choosing this day, we remind our communities that regeneration is possible through taking an active role in our health. Examining the increase of HIV/AIDS, we find that American Indian/Alaska Natives have the third highest rate behind the African American and Latino populations. Testing is often a real challenge as it is more likely for Native people to live in rural areas. Rural areas often mean facing stigma, limited HIV testing services and health care facilities that are shared by a closely tied community. Native Americans living in San Francisco have the highest AIDS incidence (cases per 100,000) of any non-white ethnic group in the city. This diagnosis, compounded with other conditions such as homelessness, substance abuse and general poor health, require a sustained and culturally-sensitive response. We extend many invitations to you. We invite you to write or call you tribal Nation to find out how your Nation will commemorate this day. We invite you to call out and seek support for increased treatment and care options. We invite you to contact your local or tribal papers and media to create a greater awareness of the risks of HIV/AIDS in the Native community. We invite you to gather in groups or individually for a sunrise ceremony to remember those who have passed and acknowledge those who are infected and affected by HIV/AIDS. We invite you to ask for culturally relevant materials, to see a need and fill it. We invite you get involved in prevention because we need to protect our community and HIV/AIDS does not discriminate between male, female, gay, straight, rural or urban. The Bay Area American Indian Two-Spirits, the Native American Health Center and the Native American AIDS Project would like you to join us in a sunrise ceremony with the NAAP drum circle and prayer in Dolores Park (18th St and Dolores St) on March 21st, 2007. Breakfast will be served at the Native American Aids Project located at 470 Carolina St. between 18th St and Mariposa. Get the latest info at www.baaits.org or contact Miko Thomas at admin@baaits.org

Geez

LandaLakes — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 07:08:39 GMT

By a closely divided 4 - 3 vote, the California Supreme Court has allowed the state's Fair Political Practices Commission to sue tribes in state court for violating state election campaign reporting laws. This decision flies in the face of federal law guaranteeing tribes immunity from lawsuits without their consent, as well as language in the U.S. Constitution committing Indian affairs to the federal government, not the states. It also fits a pattern of California carving out exceptions for itself from federal Indian law. As early as the first years of statehood, when California's governor was literally calling for the extermination of Indian people, the state defied U.S. Supreme Court precedent in extending state authority over tribal groups still living on their ancestral lands. In more recent times, California has refused to recognize tribal jurisdiction in the wake of Public Law 280, a position it reversed less than 10 years ago. What may be most distwurbing about the California Supreme Court's decision, however, is its treatment of the sovereign gestures that the tribe involved, the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, made to the state to resolve the dispute without litigation. The Agua Caliente offered to make voluntary compliance with the state's campaign reporting laws, and to enter into a government-to-government agreement with the state binding them to adhere to state requirements. As the tribe pointed out, this arrangement would satisfy all of the state's needs for election monitoring while respecting tribal sovereignty. Yet the California Supreme Court dismissed the tribe's proffered alternative as inadequate and "uncertain." "Absent the threat of a lawsuit," said the court, "we see no incentive for the tribe to agree to comply with the [state's] reporting requirements." That assertion could not be further from the truth, as one look at the area of tribal/state tax agreements reveals. If it were true that Indian nations refuse to make agreements unless they are subject to suit, one would expect to see no such tax agreements. Although the U.S. Supreme Court has said that states can apply their sales taxes to on-reservation cigarette or gasoline purchases by non-Indians, and tribal sellers can even be required to collect these taxes on behalf of the state, there is no way for states to sue tribes that refuse to turn over the tax money. Tribal sovereign immunity - the same sovereign immunity that the California Supreme Court should have recognized - protects Indian nations from such suits. Nevertheless, tribes regularly make tax agreements with states regarding collection of such taxes. In fact, as the National Conference of State Legislatures recently noted, ''Nearly every state that has Indian lands within its borders has reached some type of tax agreement with the tribes.'' Thirty-four such agreements exist with the state of Oklahoma alone. Why do tribes make such agreements, even without the threat of litigation? They do so for the same reason that governments make agreements in the international realm - to achieve gains through cooperation, avoid conflict and curry favor with powerful actors. For example, the tribal/state tax agreements provide creative ways to improve the economic situation of both tribes and states, often facilitating economic development and developing revenue streams that would not otherwise exist. In the case of Indian nations, the additional incentive to make agreements is the plenary power that Congress claims in the realm of Indian affairs, a power that Congress has often used to the detriment of tribes. Given the greater representation and influence that states have in the Congress, Indian nations must always be mindful of the possibility that Congress will act to strip tribes of their jurisdiction or sovereign immunity if they appear to be too uncooperative. Even apart from such threats, however, tribes have reason to make agreements because they must coexist in the United States with states, counties, municipalities and other units of government. All of these governments are interdependent. For example, no one unit can effectively regulate in areas such as zoning and the environment, which transcend political boundaries. Elections and initiative campaigns perfectly illustrate the reasons why tribes would want to make compacts with states. The whole purpose of campaign contributions is to influence outcomes in the donor's favor. But if Indian nations acquire a reputation for flouting state campaign-reporting requirements that the general public views as necessary for fair elections, tribally favored candidates and causes will be rejected. Indian nations in California, as elsewhere, depend on state government support to achieve important goals, such as beneficial gaming compacts, adherence to the Indian Child Welfare Act, and retrocession of Public Law 280 jurisdiction. A state government that views tribes as undermining state elections will be less favorably disposed on such matters. The California Supreme Court could only imagine Indian nations responding to a show of force through lawsuits against them in state court; it could not envision California tribes as responsible actors making agreements with the state on a government-to-government basis. The state needs to break out of its old pattern, and join the modern era of federal Indian law. Carole Goldberg directs the Joint Degree Program in Law and American Indian Studies at UCLA, and is the Faculty Advisory Committee Chair of the UCLA Law School's Native Nations Law and Policy Center. <http://www.kumeyaay.com/news/news_detail.html?id=4335>

Love is fleeting....

LandaLakes — Fri, 22 Sep 2006 21:42:43 GMT

But before you make love sometimes you might need Fleet.....

Time goes by.....

LandaLakes — Wed, 13 Sep 2006 18:55:01 GMT

Here is an old photo of me from 1989 when I lived at 87 Webster St in San Francisco. It is tattered and damaged much like my relationship with my ex from that time period. I was still in the military at the time and was freshly in SF, geez .... 17 years since then....

Poppin' Mum

LandaLakes — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 00:24:02 GMT

Parents rarely let go of their children, so children let go of them. They move on. They move away. The moments that used to define them - a mother's approval, a father's nod - are covered by moments of their own accomplishments. It is not until much later, as the skin sags and the heart weakens, that children understand; their stories, and all their accomplishments, sit atop stories of their mothers and fathers, stones upon stones, beneath the waters of their lives....... Albom

Forgiving...

LandaLakes — Fri, 21 Jul 2006 15:47:10 GMT

How do we forgive our Fathers? Maybe in a dream Do we forgive our Fathers for leaving us too often or forever when we were little? Maybe for scaring us with unexpected rage or making us nervous because there never seemed to be any rage there at all. Do we forgive our Fathers for marrying or not marrying our Mothers? For Divorcing or not divorcing our Mothers? And shall we forgive them for their excesses of warmth or coldness? Shall we forgive them for pushing or leaning for shutting doors for speaking through walls or never speaking or never being silent? Do we forgive our Fathers in our age or in theirs or their deaths saying it to them or not saying it? If we forgive our Fathers what is left? by Dick Lourie

Freshest Fruit

LandaLakes — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 18:42:23 GMT

Mark your calendar, I will be singing live at the Fresh Fruit Festival in New York City on July 13th. It is great to have a chance to finally flex my vocals once again... I will be doing some of the songs and music that I wrote during my college years and some of my old favorites that I haven't done since I was my other drag persona many years back.... hey, not that far back...

TAG by Monistat 7

LandaLakes — Thu, 15 Jun 2006 22:31:11 GMT

Here’s the game: RULES – When you are tagged, identify who tagged you. Then you post a blog giving up 8 truths about you. Things most people would be surprised to know. Lastly, tag the next 6 people. No tag backs. Eight items about ME 1) I never knew my legal name until I started first grade. 2) I never attended kindergarten and was skipped up two grade levels, which I think made it difficult to socialize with my classmates. 3) I have been an ordained minister since 1987. 4) I have one hero in my life and is the only person that can give me advice that I will actually take without arguing and it is my sister. 5) Although my father is full blood Chickasaw, my mother is non-Indian but can speak functional Chickasaw and sing in Choctaw. So, my first language was Chiclish (combination of English and Chickasaw). 6) The Caucasian side of my family treated my siblings and me like trash, so we embraced our Native heritage and rarely identify as anything other than Chickasaw. 7) I have had sex with both women and men but never with a white person... I sometimes feel that this makes me a bad person because it is a purposeful decision.... 8) I am not a bottom nor have I ever bottomed..... TAGS: Rae, Holy, JoRi, Nicole, Linah and Katya.

Dorthy Whitedeer

LandaLakes — Fri, 12 May 2006 18:45:28 GMT

This letter was sent to the chief's after the Choctaw Nation had sponsored a luncheon for the Choctaw senior citizens in Idabel, OK. Dorthy Whitedeer,an elder, had received a new radio at the lunch as a door prize, and scribbled out a thank you. Dear Chief Pyle, Pi Shali ma! May God bless you for the beautiful radio I won at your recent senior citizens' luncheon. I am 84 years old and live at an Assisted Home for the Aged. All of my family has passed away. I am all alone now and it's nice to know someone is thinking of me. God bless you for your kindness to an old forgotten lady. My roommate is 95 and always had her own radio before I received this one, she would never let me listen to hers, even when she was napping. She is a white lady and hates to hear the Choctaw Hymns that come on every Sunday at 10am, even though I long for them. The other day, her radio fell off the nightstand and broke into a lot of little pieces. It was awful and she was in tears. She asked if she could listen to mine, and I said fuck you. Thank you for that opportunity. Sincerely, Dorthy Whitedeer

John is in town.... I didn't even know until a few moments ago...

LandaLakes — Tue, 09 May 2006 17:38:47 GMT

* Lypsinka! In “The Passion of the Crawford” @ The Plush Room - 5/10-21 * - A very special theatrical event debut performance @ The Plush Room! “The Passion of the Crawford” Wednesday, May 10th through Sunday, May 21st 8:00 PM (Wednesdays thru Saturdays) 7:00 PM (Sundays) Lypsinka! The Empire Plush Room @ The York Hotel 940 Sutter Street San Francisco Utilizing the actress's own words, The Passion of the Crawford is a fantasia on the persona of an alternately complex and simple 20th Century icon, the renowned Hollywood glamour goddess Joan Crawford. The centerpiece of the performance is a re-creation, or rather an interpretation, of a live interview Crawford gave at Town Hall in 1973. * Ticket Information - Online: http://www.EmpirePlushRoom.com Phone: 866-468-3399 This special Plush Room presentation begins tomorrow and will end on Sunday, May 21st. The show will run Wednesdays thru Saturdays at 8:00 PM, and Sundays at 7:00 PM. Get your tickets now for this very limited run, in this very intimate show place. * More About Lypsinka! - Lypsinka! (John Epperson) is a New York based theatre artist who lip-synchs to meticulously edited show-length soundtracks culled from snippets of outrageous 20th-century female performances in movies and song. Lypsinka! has appeared in evening-length solo shows Off-Broadway, including The Boxed Set and As I Lay Lip-Synching. Lypsinka! is a frequent performer at Wigstock, and in her early career performed often at the legendary Pyramid Club. Epperson has also performed an autobiographical solo cabaret show, Show Trash, out of drag, talking and singing in his own voice.

What she said....

LandaLakes — Fri, 17 Feb 2006 18:54:09 GMT

I love P-Raw!!!!! Check out her blog http://people.tribe.net/p-raw/blog?topicid=f6342c6d-3033-471d-b0ce-60438fc6a714

So they say....

LandaLakes — Fri, 06 Jan 2006 19:02:33 GMT

I went to a drag show last night. It was interested watching the old school type drag. It wasn't amazing but the some of the gurlz gave it their all and what else can someone ask for... However, I left the club to grab something to eat and ran into one of the queens and I complimented her on her performance but she said to me, "Oh, I know you... I am glad you could come and see how it is really done". OUCH! I thought about being wicked, but that is soooooo unlike me, so I said, "Nothing thrills me more than a good nights sleep and after watching your performance I am sure it could cure insomnia because half way through I nodded off, thanks so much sweetie." I actually enjoyed the show up until that moment, sometimes it isn't just about what happens on stage because you can look good up there but if your personally is vicious without real cause than you are so unpretty. There is an old Southern saying "Pretty is only skin deep, but ugly goes to the bones, beauty fades but ugly goes on and on...."

Vboa

LandaLakes — Thu, 29 Dec 2005 19:33:56 GMT

2006 will kick off my next art project, Vboa. I have began to sketch out the new ideas for the upcoming Chickasaw Southeastern Art Show. I thought I would change things a bit this year, my last project Appendage was personally disappointing. I didn't realize just how gnarly peoples feet were until I took some of the still shots.... Vboa will feature several Oklaishi, primarily from the play my sister and I wrote in 1993. I think it is boring unless you Chickasaw but it is fun to see it come to life.

Tonight

LandaLakes — Tue, 29 Nov 2005 22:02:44 GMT

Hey, come on down to Trannyshack tonight at the Stud, show starts at mid-night. Mary Wilson from the Supremes will be a celebrity judge for a look a like and lipsync contest. Although I will not be competing, I will be helping out a dear old, old, old, old, old, old friend, Cookie Dough, as back up, pray I don't drop any marbles.... cause as you know, there's always someone younger and hungrier coming down the stairs after you....

Moments, minutes...

LandaLakes — Tue, 15 Nov 2005 19:08:40 GMT

There are times and moments when I am incredibly and perhaps unrealistically supportive. I want so much for others to succeed that I guess that I neglect to see that their flaws are ingrained so deep that hope cannot fill the gap. I always considered it a good attribute but it was brought to my attention that sometimes it is more emotionally scarring than helpful. I guess one should expect chickens to fly with eagles, but I always believe that the chicken should be given the opportunity to try.....

Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow, it only saps today of its joy.

LandaLakes — Tue, 15 Nov 2005 07:40:32 GMT

Yet with that said, I must worry... I have given some people the push that I thought they needed to fulfill their dream only to later realize that no matter how hard I shove their dreams are just too far from the edge for them to fall into.......

Dust Devil

LandaLakes — Mon, 14 Nov 2005 18:28:46 GMT

This weekend was like a dust devil, it came blowing in getting in your eyes and hair and then was gone. The NGLTF did a good job in some things but everything always gets better doesn't it, so in the future I am looking for a bigger better brighter future in regards to Native American issues. Building Native Bridges, Native Queers and the Native American Caucus went very well. However, there are times and moment when no matter how well meaning people are, Native people must be alone. I think people have to understand that we welcome them as allies, but there are those moments when they are not welcome because there are things that WE need to do amongst ourselves. I wonder whether some people can understand....

Time goes slowly....

LandaLakes — Thu, 10 Nov 2005 01:28:25 GMT

I thought I would drop a few interesting tid bits, but then I thought this would be a perfect spot for self-promotion (thanks, Enrique for the idea).... Bench and Bar 2111 Franklin St (Google Maps, Yahoo! Maps) Oakland, California 94612 Landa Lakes (the reigning Ms. Osage Hills 2005, A Native American drag title) and her Brush Arbor Gurlz (the Bay Area's only Native American Drag Troupe) will hit the stage to raise funds for the Bay Area American Indian Two-Spirits joined by the wonderful Heklina and Trauma Flintstone. The event will feature Drag Kings, Drag Queens, Faux Queens and some Gender Benders. $8 at the door at Bench and Bar located at 2111 Franklin St, Oakland. For more info contact landalakes@pashofa.com or go to http://www.baaits.org/. BART: -Exit the 19th Street Station -Walk two blocks to 21st -Turn right at 21st, then left at Franklin Driving from SF: -From I-80 take the I-580 E ramp (Downtown Oakland/Hayward/Stockton) 1.9 mi -Take I-980 W exit to Downtown Oakland 0.7 mi -Bear right at Northgate Ave 0.2 mi -Turn left at W. Grand Ave 0.3 mi -Turn right at Webster St. 0.1 mi -Turn right at 21st., the left at Franklin From Creating Change Conference (Oakland Convention Center) -Head Northeast up Broadway 0.6 mi -Turn Right at 21st, then left at Franklin 1 minute drive or 8 minutes by foot

Town Hall Meeting with the Mayor

LandaLakes — Fri, 07 Oct 2005 21:30:29 GMT

Native American community meeting with Mayor Newsom, scheduled 1-2pm on Oct 6th. The meeting took place at the Friendship House of the American Indian Mental Health Center. Tom Phillips introduced the mayor and a drum song was played to honor him. Helen and Marty Wakazoo spoke to address the mayor and proceeded to give him a tour of the Friendship House while those in attendance just sat there to wait. At 1:50pm, I was no longer able to just hang around waiting for the mayor to finish his tour and had to leave. What happened next was rather expected, time had ran short so all questions needed to be brief, presentations from communities member cut. I felt this was indeed the worst "community meeting" that I ever attended. Input from the community will not come unless it is set forth in a neutral location not controlled by certain individuals. No Native American LGBT issues were addressed.