I'm queer, Two Spirit, and Indigenous, and I grew up urban in a pretty conservative household. Growing up, it was pretty hard to find role models in any of these categories, and being honest about it with my parents just wasn't an option at the time. I had feelings that I didn't know how to define because I never saw them represented. I didn't have words for things or anything that felt like it could relate to how I felt. Later in life, as I traveled more and met more people, I started to finally piece it all together and began to understand myself and finally find some love for myself. I started Like Water, because I wanted to provide an easily accessible story that I would have wanted growing up, to see representation of queer, Indigenous people's that aren't the stereotypes of indigenous people and stereotypes of queer people in mass media (because let's be real I want one of ya'll to point to me an easily found queer indigenous care racist/stereotypical or no that I could have feasibly had ready access to when I was a kid, that unicorn don't exist. I tried.) And, I wanted to really show a demonstration of a relationship where neither is perfect and neither is expected to be, that we make mistakes, but we communicate and grow and have strong roots in the relationships with all our relatives and ancestors and descendants that transcendent of time and based in reality, cause as a kid I wanted to know that it was ok for me to exist as I am in the real world and choosing between my sexual/gender identity and being Indigenous wasn't actually a decision I had to make or that anyone has to make and was instead one instilled by colonialist history and oppression of queer, indigenous peoples. So, I wanted to have all of it, the strong relationships with all our relatives: friends, family, animals, the earth, and even all the emotions, wants and desires that come with love and romance and that these feelings are ok. Even though I might have some elders giving me a talk to later on about some of the scenes that will come up
Ultimately, this story has been one of self-discovery for me, learning more about myself and dealing with some personal traumas from my youth and prior generations and better understanding my existence and relationship with my relatives and overall growing as a person. And, while everyone has there own experiences and beliefs, I hope my story can bring joy to others as well, and that maybe there are some other queer, indigenous people out there that can find something in this story that's helpful to them as it unfolds.