Stonecutters and Pollinators: Reimagining Neurodivergent and Gender-Diverse Indigenous Care

This article examines the intersection of Two-Spirit, neurodivergent, and sexual and gender minority (SGM) youth through the Understanding Affirming Communities, Relationships, and Networks (UnACoRN) survey, engaging Indigenous and settler scholarship in a Métis approach that weaves together multiple epistemologies. The metaphor of the stonecutter is used to describe the way colonial biomedical and social systems are designed to carve apart individuals for colonial purposes, severing them from relational and community-defined roles. Naming the historical presence of the stonecutter is essential to understanding how the presence of self-identified Two-Spirit and neurodivergent youth in the UnACoRN study indicates the failure of the stonecutter and the return to a land steward paradigm. UnACoRN data reveals high rates of self-identification as neurodivergent among SGM and Two-Spirit participants, reflecting not pathology but a collective resurgence. This reclamation is explored through teachings from Diné, Potawatomi, Anishinaabe, and Cree traditions. Rather than divergence from a norm, these identities are reframed as integral to balance within social and ecological systems. Like night-blooming plants relying on unseen pollinators, neurodivergent Two-Spirits contribute in ways often overlooked yet fundamental to community well-being.