Local transgender woman explains her wolf identity to Dori

After a week’s worth of international media attention, Naia Ōkami — a Seattle-area transgender woman who identifies as a British Columbia wolf — came on The Dori Monson Show to explain how her wolf identity makes her good at her job.

Naia is a Georgia native who was born biologically male and transitioned to being a female a few years ago. She told Dori that her gender change and her wolf identify are “two completely, distinctly different things.”

“My wolf identity is more of a spiritual thing,” Naia said. “I don’t feel like I’m physically a wolf. I know I am a human.”

Naia told London’s “This Morning” TV show that she works as an online investigator for a nonprofit organization.

“Obviously, I don’t go into work wearing ears and a tail,” Naia told Dori.

Then, Dori asked, how does this manifest itself?

“Do you dress up and run in the woods like a wolf would?”

“Occasionally, when I’m being expressive on my free time,” Naia replied.

And while in the woods, Dori asked, does Naia’s wolf identity ever want to chase or eat a runt member of another herd?

“Not necessarily,” Naia responded. “That could potentially be very unhealthy.”

Instead, she said, her wolf identity hunts “people who hurt children and animals.”

“My prey just happens to be a bad person, so I kind of feel like a wolf on the hunt, but I’m putting them in jail rather than consuming them,” she said.

On Facebook, Naia cites her job as a crowdsource security researcher.

“Are you sexually attracted to wolves?” Dori wondered.

“Oh, h— no,” Naia responded while laughing.

She also called it a misconception when people call her “the wolf girl that goes around biting people.”

“That’s not aligned with reality,” she said.

Dori explained that many of his questions for Naia were based on his limited knowledge of therians – people who identify as a non-human animal.

“You’re the first wolf I’ve ever talked to,” Dori told Naia. “This whole world is all so very foreign to me. … I’ve heard of furries. I don’t know the difference between someone like you, who puts on the tails and ears, and furries. Is there a difference?”

“Being a furry is a completely different concept,” Naia explained.

Unlike therians, a furry is a fan of an anthropomorphized animal “fursona” – a character that’s not usually a four-legged animal — will dress up and go to conventions.

“A lot of times they’re cartoonish,” Naia said.

“Before I let you go,” Dori asked Naia, “do you howl like a wolf?”

Hear Naia’s howl and Dori’s entire interview with her here:

Listen to Dori Monson weekday afternoons from noon – 3 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.