In Cherokee Asegi udanto refers to people who either fall outside.of men’s and women’s roles or who mix men’s and women’s roles. Asegi, which translates as “strange,” is also used by some Cherokees as a term similar to “queer.” For Qwo-Li Driskill, asegi provides a means by which to reread Cherokee history in order to listen for those stories rendered “strange” by colonial heteropatriarchy.

Qwo-Li will discuss gender and sexuality in Cherokee cultural memory, how they shape the present, and how they can influence the future.