We’wha #2, is a photographic work created by the Tuskigi/Dine’ photographer, academic and activist, Hulleah J. Tsinhnahjinnie (b.1954). At the centre of the work is a portrait (by John K. Hillers, 1886) of the Zuni two spirit person or alhamana called We’wha (1848-1896). We’wha was crucially influential within and outside his/her community, especially linked to the work of anthropologists who were hired by the Bureau of American Ethnology and therefore the understanding of Zuni Pueblo, as well as a recognised, valued and sometimes controversial figure within Zuni Pueblo, New Mexico. We’wha occupied both gender roles. S/he wore a mix of both male and female clothing, and demonstrated crafts, especially weaving and pottery, visiting Washington D.C. in 1886 where she was celebrated as a cisgender female. S/he was both a widely acknowledged craftsperson and a repository of traditional knowledge. There We’wha lived and worked with the anthropologist Matilda Coxe Stevenson who encouraged him/her to create pottery, some of a religious nature, which was then placed in the National Museum of Natural History. At this time s/he was frequently photographed. They continued a close relationship up until We’wha’s death. We’wha died relatively young.<BR> <BR> In her portrait of We’wha, Tsinhnahjinnie, uses a cabinet card that came into possession through e-bay/trade, having survived as a albumen print representing the thirst for such portraits in the late 19th and early 20th century, and their survival through time. The portrait is crystal clear only We’what is in the frame. Tsinhnahjinnie is a two-spirit artist, who has spoken about the nature of that identity within her own life and career and she creates an empathetic and luminous tribute to We’wha. <BR> The original black and white photograph has We’wha looking at the camera, taken in Washington D. C. in the 1880s during her visit. In the portrait We’wha has a particularly human and direct quality, her skin is visible as is the texture of her manta dress, and the slight unfocused nature of her necklace shows that she may have moved during the taking of the photograph. She is wearing a traditional Pueblo wollen dress (manta) and a floral cotton shirt, with a silver squash blossom necklace.<BR> <BR> The original purpose was the creation of a photograph for the Two-spirit Honour Project at the Native Wellness Research Center, University of Washington as well as a Two Spirit Gathering in Sandstone Minnesota (2008). This was the first edition of the We’wha portraits. In this edition, there are no cranes. In the second iteration, We’wha the beloved, which Tsinhnahjinnie created at the end of 2008/2009 for an artist gathering at UC Davis, We’wha is embedded in flowers – irises, with basket functioning a halo, and necklaces of shells and beads. The image is saturated with purples and creams. The basket and the birchbark motif, almost make We’wha look as if she is being coddled in a cradleboard. Two cranes are intertwined at the bottom lifting We’wha’s portrait. There are dragonflies against her chest, echoing the symbolism of the crosses on the necklace, a nod to issues of cultural translation. The second version was produced for the print exchange amongst indigenous photographers at the CN Gorman Museum /UC Davis, in 2009, where Tsinhnahjinnie works. The third version which will be acquired by NMVW has We’wha as a more spiritual individual, and created in response to the enquiry by NMVW. There is only one iris featured on the right. We’wha’s facial features and skin are softened, her cheeks are whirls, and her hair has more movement. Tsinhnahjinnie noted that her relationship with the image had changed, she wanted We’wha to appear less worldly and more spiritual.