Decolonizing Drag with Lady Shug

Lady Shug is a proud Indigenous drag artist, born for the Diné (Navajo) Nation, raised in the Four Corners area of New Mexico. Lady Shug has been entertaining audiences for over 10+ years, beginning her career with nightly performances on the Las Vegas Strip. Recently, Lady Shug felt called to return home to the Navajo Reservation and now lives along the Arizona-New Mexico border. As a community activist, Lady Shug works with grassroots collectives to fight for equal rights for her 2SLGBTQ+ Indigenous relatives living in rural areas and on reservations that have long denied them equal treatment. Lady Shug uses her platform to connect her passions for drag and activism to raise awareness and stand in solidarity with social movements.

In and out of drag, Shug uses both voices to challenge and make change for inclusion, acceptance, decolonization – always within the frame of indigenous resistance. Shug worked alongside many grass root groups helping with indigenous resistance – a particular stand-out being the Taala Hooghan Infoshop in Flagstaff, AZ, where Shug then gained the skills necessary to organize in the four corners area – and from this work, the #ShugChallenge was born. The #ShugChallenge is a mutual aid program that supports the border towns and communities within and alongside their reservation – relatives and folks who are forgotten in the main spectrum of living can find services and support through the #ShugChallenge.

She was the first drag artist to host a pop-up powwow in Bentonville, AR with Live in America. Lady Shug was recently featured in the Emmy awarded series HBO’s We’re Here. Currently, Lady Shug is touring the US & international territories with Landa Lakes on the all-Indigenous LaLa Land Back tour #LaLaLandBack Tour.

The LaLa Land Back Tour welcomes Indigenous, queer, Two-Spirit, and trans artists into theaters, museums, and community centers – venues where these voices have been historically excluded – and offers education alongside compassion for those who are curious about but uninitiated on the topic of intersectionality. The LaLa Land Back Tour delivers two accessible and exuberant experiences for all audiences, from the youngest members of our communities, to the young-at-heart at the LaLa Land Back Tour Indigenous Show.

Following her performance, Lady Shug will be in conversation with Irene Mata, Director of the Newhouse Center and Professor of American Studies, about the possibilities for resistance and decolonization in the art of drag.