Ty Defoe

Ty Defoe is an Ojibwe and Oneida performance artist, activist, and writer living in New York.

Defoe grew up in Wisconsin in the Ojibwe and Oneida communities of his parents. Defoe is two-spirit,^[1] a term used in many Native American nations to indicate gender fluidity, non-traditional gender roles, or queerness.^[2] He began his performative life as a toddler when he learned to hoop dance. Defoe continues to hoop dance in his performances, along with eagle dancing, puppetry, and other various art forms.^[3] With Lakota playwright and choreographer Larissa Fasthorse, Defoe founded Indigenous Direction, a "a consulting firm that helps organizations and individuals who want to create accurate work by, for and with Indigenous peoples".^[4] Indigenous Direction's clients include The Guthrie Theater.^[5]