To learn more there is a great website authored by a great man, Will Roscoe. Click Here.
What does it mean to be Two-Spirited?
The term Two-Spirit is a direct translation of the Ojibwe term, Niizh mandioowag. "Two-Spirited" or "Two-Spirit" is usually used to indicate a person whose body simultaneously houses a masculine spirit and feminine spirit. The term can also be used
more abstractly, to indicate the presence of two contrasting human spirits (such as Warrior and Clan mother).
Two-Spirit People (also Two Spirit or twospirit), an English term that emerged in 1 990 out of the third annual inter-tribal Native American/First Nations gay/lesbian American conference in one of many mixed gender roles encompassed by the term, historically included wearing the clothing and performing work associated with both men and women.
Issues that may effect Two-Spirit/LGBTQ Individuals
-Cultural identity
-Rejection
-Depression
-Alienation from family and friends
-Suicide/Self harm
-Not reporting sexual assaults due to self blame or embarrassment
-Homophobia
-The coming out process
-Hate crimes
-Sex addiction
-Bullying
-Drug and alcohol abuse
-Discrimination
-HIV infection
The rate of victimization of American Indian, Alaskan Native adults is
more than 2.5 times that of the overall US population.
What does it mean to be Two-Spirited?
The term Two-Spirit is a direct translation of the Ojibwe term, Niizh mandioowag. "Two-Spirited" or "Two-Spirit" is usually used to indicate a person whose body simultaneously houses a masculine spirit and feminine spirit. The term can also be used
more abstractly, to indicate the presence of two contrasting human spirits (such as Warrior and Clan mother).
Two-Spirit People (also Two Spirit or twospirit), an English term that emerged in 1 990 out of the third annual inter-tribal Native American/First Nations gay/lesbian American conference in one of many mixed gender roles encompassed by the term, historically included wearing the clothing and performing work associated with both men and women.
Issues that may effect Two-Spirit/LGBTQ Individuals
-Cultural identity
-Rejection
-Depression
-Alienation from family and friends
-Suicide/Self harm
-Not reporting sexual assaults due to self blame or embarrassment
-Homophobia
-The coming out process
-Hate crimes
-Sex addiction
-Bullying
-Drug and alcohol abuse
-Discrimination
-HIV infection
The rate of victimization of American Indian, Alaskan Native adults is
more than 2.5 times that of the overall US population.
The Way Of The Two Spirited People
Native American concepts of gender and sexual orientation By Sandra Laframboise and Michael Anhorn
The two-spirited person is a native tradition that researchers have identified in some of the earliest discoveries of Native artifacts. Much evidence indicates that Native people, prior to colonization, believed in the existence of cross-gender roles, the male-female, the female-male, what we now call the two-spirited person.
In Native American culture, before the Europeans came to the America's, "two-spirit" referred to an ancient teaching. This type of cross-gender identity has been documented in over 155 tribes across Native North America (Roscoe 1988).
Our Elders tell us of people who were gifted among all beings because they carried two spirits, that of male and female. It is told that women engaged in tribal warfare and married other women, as there were men who married other men. These individuals were looked upon as a third and fourth gender in many cases and in almost all cultures they were honoured and revered. Two-spirit people were often the visionaries, the healers, the medicine people, the nannies of orphans, the care givers (Roscoe 1988). They were respected as fundamental components of our ancient culture and societies. This is our guiding force as well as our source of strength. This is the heart of Two-Spirited People of the 1st Nations (2 Spirit Nation of Ontario) This paper explores what we know of the past of two-spirit people, compares that to the present experience and looks forward to the role that two-spirit people could play in the future of First Nation's people in Canada and across North America.
Before beginning our discussion on two-spirit people and their roles, it is necessary to take a moment to discuss the terminology used here. Native and Native American are used to refer to the peoples who inhabited North America before European contact. Certain quotations also use the term First Nation's to refer to the same. These terms are in common usage among First Nation's people in Canada to refer to themselves. In addition, the term two-spirit refers to the concepts of gender variant people in Native America traditions. Early explorers of North America refered to this concept as berdache. Two-spirit is preferred as it emerged from Native American people whereas berdache was imposed upon Native American's by the colonial explorers.
The Past - Uncommon gender identity integrated into society Most tribes were aware of the existence of two-spirit people, and many still have a name in their traditional language for them.
For example, The Din éh (Navaho)refer to them as nàdleehé or one who is 'transformed', the Lakota (Sioux) as winkte, the Mohave as alyha, the Zuni as lhamana, the Omaha as mexoga, the Aleut and Kodiak as achnucek, the Zapotec as ira' muxe, the Cheyenne as he man eh, etc. (Roscoe, 1988).Some tribes had different names for two-spirited men and women. Other tribes, though, did not have such a concept. The abundance of terms that we find as we study various tribes testifies to the familiarity of Native Americans with gender-variant people. It is important to note that this is different than sexual orientation as such words did not exist in Native languages. Concern for appropriate terminology should always be on one's mind because 'Gender' is an obligatory grammatical category in the English/French and Latin languages. It is a linguistic term and has no connection with biological sex or social identity of an individual. This issue comes to a head in the area where 'gender' intersects with the Native people of North America. Many non-natives have misinterpreted two-spirit as referring to people with homosexual tendencies, when in fact, the ceremonies and practices were based on different genders being manifested, and not on sexual preferences or practices.
Many tribes had rituals for children to go through if they were recognized as acting different from their birth gender. These rituals ensured the child was truly two-spirit. If parents noticed that a son was disinterested in boyish play or manly work, they would set up a ceremony to determine which way the boy would be brought up. They would make an enclosure of brush, and place in the center both a man's bow and a woman's basket. The boy was told to go inside the circle of brush and to bring something out, and as he entered the brush would be set on fire. The tribe watched what he took with him as he ran out, and if it was the basketry materials they reconciled themselves to his being a 'berdache'. (Roscoe, 1988)
In another ritual, usually carried out when the child is between the ages of nine and twelve, that helped identify a child's two-spirit nature, a singing circle would be prepared, unbeknownst to the boy, involving the whole community as well as distant friends and relatives. On the day of the ceremony everyone gathered around and the boy was led into the middle of the circle. If he remained in the centre, the singer, hidden in the crowd, began to sing the ritual songs and the boy, if he was destined to follow the two-spirit road, starts to dance in the fashion of a woman. After the fourth song the boy was declared a two-spirit person and was raised from then on in the appropriate manner (Two Spirit Tradition - internet citation).
These rituals determined if the person was two-spirited and taught young boys to do women's work in addition to that reserved for men. Similar rituals applied to woman. Children of both genders would also spend time with healers, often two-spirit people themselves. Above all, their childhood was marked by acceptance and understanding by the whole tribe. Multi-gendered adult people were usually presumed to be people of power. Because they have both maleness and femaleness totally entwined in one body, they were known to be able to 'see' with the eyes of both biological men and biological women. They were often called upon to be healers, mediators, interpreters of dreams, or expected to become singers or others whose lives were devoted to the welfare of the group. If they did extraordinary things in any aspect of life, it was assumed that they had the license and power to do so, and therefore, they were not questioned.
In everyday life the two-spirit male typically would wear women's clothes and do women's work. He might take a husband from among the men of the tribe, or might have affairs with several, depending on the role of the gender the two-spirit man in his tribe. This is very different from homosexuality as we know it today. Two-spirit individuals were expected to behave within the two-spirit gender norms of his or her tribe. Roscoe reports that early ethnographers observed a Mojave two-spirit man who was also faking a woman's menstruation by scratching his inner thighs until he bled thus faking menstrual bleeding. When the partner threaten to leave the two-spirit male even mimicked pregnancy by adding clothes inside his upper shirt and stop the menstruation cycle. He would then eat foods that would give indigestion and stomach cramps thus faking some of the symptoms of pregnancy. When time came to give birth he went into the woods and came back childless under the pretence of still birth. Generally two-spirit males were not expected to have sexual relations with women. All of these rules, however, were culture specific and even within any given Native culture, there was often room for various expressions of gender variance. Throughout historical documents, we see that type of variation from the norm, change, transformation, and fluidity of roles for those who felt called to that path and yet most often they were welcome and appreciated.
Besides their spiritual abilities, their capacity for work also figured into the high status of two-spirit people. Even though a two-spirit male would have taken on the gender identity of a woman, he would still have the endurance and strength of a man. Thus his productivity was greater than that of most women, and for that reason he would have been valued as a marriage partner. Other characteristics that Natives associate with two-spirit people which help explain their desirability as partners were their highly developed ability to relate to and teach children, a generous nature, and exceptional intellectual and artistic skills.
As we begin to understand the great diversity of genders in Native America cultures, and the ways in which sexuality influenced the performance of gender roles, we are drawn back to the original pre-colonial rituals. The inner calling of contemporary two-spirited people, however, is often mixed in with modern understandings of sexuality, thus creating a perception that homosexuality was well accepted in pre-colonization instead of recognizing that these homosexual behaviours were accepted under the role of gender identity. Arguably culture is not static and thus evolves and incorporates all the experiences of life. Therefore today the modern movement of reclaiming Two-Spirit Traditions incorporates sexual orientation and sexual identity.
The Present - Colonialization takes its toll Since European colonization, the existence of the two-spirit community has been systematically denied and alienated from their Aboriginal identity. As a result, two-spirit people are often viewed as perverted, untraditional or untrustworthy and two-spirit people have lost their place in society and their dignity. Persecution began by the church and an attempt to eradicate these individuals, often the spiritual leaders and healers of the tribes, and their behaviours based on the church's moralistic code.
The attempt to exterminate Native Americans and their rituals by both the church and the government resulted in a loss of many rituals including those who identified and honour cross-gender individuals. With very few exceptions, there is no longer a place in Native cultures for a man-woman or a woman-man. The tribes have forgotten the two-spirit teachings and many of the ancient two-spirit ways are no longer being practiced. Instead, this role appears as a ghost of the past or a dirty secret. Elders who may know the stories and teachings are often afraid to talk about them because of their experiences in Residential Schools and other forms of colonialization.
Because so many Native American cultures were disrupted (or had disappeared) before they were studied by researchers, it is not possible to know how frequently these spiritual ceremonies happened or the roles ascribed to those people. These alternative gender roles that have been documented, however, occur in every region of the continent, lending credibility to the claim that acceptance of two-spirit people was relatively common among Native American cultures. Today we have to confront a very real problem - it is impossible to define precisely what two-spirit experience was. Although most people now agree that such individuals existed, the particulars of that identity remain for most part a ghost of history. Nonetheless, like many Native American rituals and traditions the two-spirit peoples are experiencing a re-awakening to the validity of their cultural and spiritual roots.
Native American Queer Communities have to deal with unique issues as a result of our history, cultural status, and perceptions as Natives. We come out of a history of genocide, our people have been persecuted, killed, kidnapped, forced into residential schools and assimilated for hundreds of years, and we still face lingering aspects of genocide. We face homophobia and sexism from our own people, racism from lesbians and gays, and racism, homophobia, and sexism from the dominant society, not to mention the classism many Native Americans have to deal with. It is important to remember that we Natives today are not the same as the Natives that lived before the arrival of the white man.
Interaction with whites and the cultural genocide perpetrated on Natives has changed Native Americans' perception of gender and sexuality. Though it is interesting to speculate about how two-spirits were treated in traditional Native American cultures, a focus on such speculation can hide the lives and realities of Native American Queer communities today. Despite the encouraging things written about the acceptance and honour of the 'Two-Spirited' of the past, Queer Natives today face homophobia in their own communities.
I remember a member of one of the agencies that I co-founded and ran for a few years, was HIV+ and living in a cross-gender role, wanting to go home and die with dignity surrounded with family members and love, so she went home and she would communicate with us letting us know that all is well and she had been well received home. When she finally passed away we found out that the tribe had rented a house outside the reserve as they did not want her on the reserve and she was not respected in the cross-gender role she had chosen. This type of behaviour is endemic of remote communities that are still healing from centuries of cultural genocide behaviours from the government policies.
In 1990 in Winnipeg, at a meeting of the members of the 2-Spirit Nation of Ontario, the Canadian Aboriginal Aids network and other Gay Native people, a consensus was reached to adopt the term 'two-spirited people' to refer to all Canadian Aboriginal gender variant people to honour our ancestral past and reclaim our Aboriginal identity. This marked the beginning of the modern movement of two-spirit people in Canada. It was also where the Aboriginal community began incorporating the words gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and transvestite for multi-gendered Natives and various sexual orientations.
The re-emergence of two-spirit people in modern context while engaging in century old ceremonial rituals has created a lot of friction between the traditionalists and those who do not see culture has being static. This has resulted in many two-spirited people facing expulsion from their tribes with no or very little communication with their families or communities. This makes the queer Indian lifestyle a difficult road to walk.
The Future - Reclaiming our place among the leaders and healers of our cultures So, what comes next for the two-spirit community? I believe there are several things we need to be conscious of and work to address as we move forward.
Our two-spirited community is unique and is starting to reclaiming our cultural roots. We also recognize that much has been lost and much has changed. Although some of our issues and concerns overlap with those of all Native Americans, there are others that are unique to our community. We are members of a group of people whose way of life has been drastically altered by historical circumstance. However like many other Aboriginal rituals and way of life, we see a strong re-emergence of the two-spirited people. We need to continue this trend to celebrate our roots while acknowledging our unique challenges in today's world.
Although the modern two-spirit movement has been very important for queer Native Americans, it leaves out members of the heterosexual community who would have been identified as two-spirited in the past. These individuals often expressed their gender through dress and work roles, however, they were celibate and so did not express it through their sexual practices. The modern two-spirit movement needs to find a way to acknowledge and incorporate these people into our movement.
While some of the Elders may speak of such acceptance of Two-Spirit individuals in the past the reality is that it is not without controversy. Although there is a rekindling of two-spirit traditional practices, the effort is not without the slings and arrows of controversy. Not only is there a rift between Native and Non-Native two-spirit people, many 'straight' Native Americans take a familiar post-colonialism posture and wish the two-spirits would shut up and go away altogether. We have come a long way to reclaim our past but need to work harder to gain acceptance and recognition today.
Native American cultures have proved to be very resilient and adaptable. As our culture and society evolved so did our warriors. Today instead of warring in battlefields, some of our warriors became political activists, fighting in the court system for the advancement of the rights of their tribal members. It is my hope that we will see a similar resilience among our two-spirited brother/sisters and sister/brothers. We must work with those spiritual leaders and healers within the Native communities that deny our existence or our place in our cultures to reclaim our place. We must also work with non-Native leaders to ensure our rights in the wider Canadian culture within which we now live. We must be more determined, in touch with our feelings and our power now then ever before!
References
**Article taken directly from Dancing To Eagle Spirit Society Web Page
Native American concepts of gender and sexual orientation By Sandra Laframboise and Michael Anhorn
The two-spirited person is a native tradition that researchers have identified in some of the earliest discoveries of Native artifacts. Much evidence indicates that Native people, prior to colonization, believed in the existence of cross-gender roles, the male-female, the female-male, what we now call the two-spirited person.
In Native American culture, before the Europeans came to the America's, "two-spirit" referred to an ancient teaching. This type of cross-gender identity has been documented in over 155 tribes across Native North America (Roscoe 1988).
Our Elders tell us of people who were gifted among all beings because they carried two spirits, that of male and female. It is told that women engaged in tribal warfare and married other women, as there were men who married other men. These individuals were looked upon as a third and fourth gender in many cases and in almost all cultures they were honoured and revered. Two-spirit people were often the visionaries, the healers, the medicine people, the nannies of orphans, the care givers (Roscoe 1988). They were respected as fundamental components of our ancient culture and societies. This is our guiding force as well as our source of strength. This is the heart of Two-Spirited People of the 1st Nations (2 Spirit Nation of Ontario) This paper explores what we know of the past of two-spirit people, compares that to the present experience and looks forward to the role that two-spirit people could play in the future of First Nation's people in Canada and across North America.
Before beginning our discussion on two-spirit people and their roles, it is necessary to take a moment to discuss the terminology used here. Native and Native American are used to refer to the peoples who inhabited North America before European contact. Certain quotations also use the term First Nation's to refer to the same. These terms are in common usage among First Nation's people in Canada to refer to themselves. In addition, the term two-spirit refers to the concepts of gender variant people in Native America traditions. Early explorers of North America refered to this concept as berdache. Two-spirit is preferred as it emerged from Native American people whereas berdache was imposed upon Native American's by the colonial explorers.
The Past - Uncommon gender identity integrated into society Most tribes were aware of the existence of two-spirit people, and many still have a name in their traditional language for them.
For example, The Din éh (Navaho)refer to them as nàdleehé or one who is 'transformed', the Lakota (Sioux) as winkte, the Mohave as alyha, the Zuni as lhamana, the Omaha as mexoga, the Aleut and Kodiak as achnucek, the Zapotec as ira' muxe, the Cheyenne as he man eh, etc. (Roscoe, 1988).Some tribes had different names for two-spirited men and women. Other tribes, though, did not have such a concept. The abundance of terms that we find as we study various tribes testifies to the familiarity of Native Americans with gender-variant people. It is important to note that this is different than sexual orientation as such words did not exist in Native languages. Concern for appropriate terminology should always be on one's mind because 'Gender' is an obligatory grammatical category in the English/French and Latin languages. It is a linguistic term and has no connection with biological sex or social identity of an individual. This issue comes to a head in the area where 'gender' intersects with the Native people of North America. Many non-natives have misinterpreted two-spirit as referring to people with homosexual tendencies, when in fact, the ceremonies and practices were based on different genders being manifested, and not on sexual preferences or practices.
Many tribes had rituals for children to go through if they were recognized as acting different from their birth gender. These rituals ensured the child was truly two-spirit. If parents noticed that a son was disinterested in boyish play or manly work, they would set up a ceremony to determine which way the boy would be brought up. They would make an enclosure of brush, and place in the center both a man's bow and a woman's basket. The boy was told to go inside the circle of brush and to bring something out, and as he entered the brush would be set on fire. The tribe watched what he took with him as he ran out, and if it was the basketry materials they reconciled themselves to his being a 'berdache'. (Roscoe, 1988)
In another ritual, usually carried out when the child is between the ages of nine and twelve, that helped identify a child's two-spirit nature, a singing circle would be prepared, unbeknownst to the boy, involving the whole community as well as distant friends and relatives. On the day of the ceremony everyone gathered around and the boy was led into the middle of the circle. If he remained in the centre, the singer, hidden in the crowd, began to sing the ritual songs and the boy, if he was destined to follow the two-spirit road, starts to dance in the fashion of a woman. After the fourth song the boy was declared a two-spirit person and was raised from then on in the appropriate manner (Two Spirit Tradition - internet citation).
These rituals determined if the person was two-spirited and taught young boys to do women's work in addition to that reserved for men. Similar rituals applied to woman. Children of both genders would also spend time with healers, often two-spirit people themselves. Above all, their childhood was marked by acceptance and understanding by the whole tribe. Multi-gendered adult people were usually presumed to be people of power. Because they have both maleness and femaleness totally entwined in one body, they were known to be able to 'see' with the eyes of both biological men and biological women. They were often called upon to be healers, mediators, interpreters of dreams, or expected to become singers or others whose lives were devoted to the welfare of the group. If they did extraordinary things in any aspect of life, it was assumed that they had the license and power to do so, and therefore, they were not questioned.
In everyday life the two-spirit male typically would wear women's clothes and do women's work. He might take a husband from among the men of the tribe, or might have affairs with several, depending on the role of the gender the two-spirit man in his tribe. This is very different from homosexuality as we know it today. Two-spirit individuals were expected to behave within the two-spirit gender norms of his or her tribe. Roscoe reports that early ethnographers observed a Mojave two-spirit man who was also faking a woman's menstruation by scratching his inner thighs until he bled thus faking menstrual bleeding. When the partner threaten to leave the two-spirit male even mimicked pregnancy by adding clothes inside his upper shirt and stop the menstruation cycle. He would then eat foods that would give indigestion and stomach cramps thus faking some of the symptoms of pregnancy. When time came to give birth he went into the woods and came back childless under the pretence of still birth. Generally two-spirit males were not expected to have sexual relations with women. All of these rules, however, were culture specific and even within any given Native culture, there was often room for various expressions of gender variance. Throughout historical documents, we see that type of variation from the norm, change, transformation, and fluidity of roles for those who felt called to that path and yet most often they were welcome and appreciated.
Besides their spiritual abilities, their capacity for work also figured into the high status of two-spirit people. Even though a two-spirit male would have taken on the gender identity of a woman, he would still have the endurance and strength of a man. Thus his productivity was greater than that of most women, and for that reason he would have been valued as a marriage partner. Other characteristics that Natives associate with two-spirit people which help explain their desirability as partners were their highly developed ability to relate to and teach children, a generous nature, and exceptional intellectual and artistic skills.
As we begin to understand the great diversity of genders in Native America cultures, and the ways in which sexuality influenced the performance of gender roles, we are drawn back to the original pre-colonial rituals. The inner calling of contemporary two-spirited people, however, is often mixed in with modern understandings of sexuality, thus creating a perception that homosexuality was well accepted in pre-colonization instead of recognizing that these homosexual behaviours were accepted under the role of gender identity. Arguably culture is not static and thus evolves and incorporates all the experiences of life. Therefore today the modern movement of reclaiming Two-Spirit Traditions incorporates sexual orientation and sexual identity.
The Present - Colonialization takes its toll Since European colonization, the existence of the two-spirit community has been systematically denied and alienated from their Aboriginal identity. As a result, two-spirit people are often viewed as perverted, untraditional or untrustworthy and two-spirit people have lost their place in society and their dignity. Persecution began by the church and an attempt to eradicate these individuals, often the spiritual leaders and healers of the tribes, and their behaviours based on the church's moralistic code.
The attempt to exterminate Native Americans and their rituals by both the church and the government resulted in a loss of many rituals including those who identified and honour cross-gender individuals. With very few exceptions, there is no longer a place in Native cultures for a man-woman or a woman-man. The tribes have forgotten the two-spirit teachings and many of the ancient two-spirit ways are no longer being practiced. Instead, this role appears as a ghost of the past or a dirty secret. Elders who may know the stories and teachings are often afraid to talk about them because of their experiences in Residential Schools and other forms of colonialization.
Because so many Native American cultures were disrupted (or had disappeared) before they were studied by researchers, it is not possible to know how frequently these spiritual ceremonies happened or the roles ascribed to those people. These alternative gender roles that have been documented, however, occur in every region of the continent, lending credibility to the claim that acceptance of two-spirit people was relatively common among Native American cultures. Today we have to confront a very real problem - it is impossible to define precisely what two-spirit experience was. Although most people now agree that such individuals existed, the particulars of that identity remain for most part a ghost of history. Nonetheless, like many Native American rituals and traditions the two-spirit peoples are experiencing a re-awakening to the validity of their cultural and spiritual roots.
Native American Queer Communities have to deal with unique issues as a result of our history, cultural status, and perceptions as Natives. We come out of a history of genocide, our people have been persecuted, killed, kidnapped, forced into residential schools and assimilated for hundreds of years, and we still face lingering aspects of genocide. We face homophobia and sexism from our own people, racism from lesbians and gays, and racism, homophobia, and sexism from the dominant society, not to mention the classism many Native Americans have to deal with. It is important to remember that we Natives today are not the same as the Natives that lived before the arrival of the white man.
Interaction with whites and the cultural genocide perpetrated on Natives has changed Native Americans' perception of gender and sexuality. Though it is interesting to speculate about how two-spirits were treated in traditional Native American cultures, a focus on such speculation can hide the lives and realities of Native American Queer communities today. Despite the encouraging things written about the acceptance and honour of the 'Two-Spirited' of the past, Queer Natives today face homophobia in their own communities.
I remember a member of one of the agencies that I co-founded and ran for a few years, was HIV+ and living in a cross-gender role, wanting to go home and die with dignity surrounded with family members and love, so she went home and she would communicate with us letting us know that all is well and she had been well received home. When she finally passed away we found out that the tribe had rented a house outside the reserve as they did not want her on the reserve and she was not respected in the cross-gender role she had chosen. This type of behaviour is endemic of remote communities that are still healing from centuries of cultural genocide behaviours from the government policies.
In 1990 in Winnipeg, at a meeting of the members of the 2-Spirit Nation of Ontario, the Canadian Aboriginal Aids network and other Gay Native people, a consensus was reached to adopt the term 'two-spirited people' to refer to all Canadian Aboriginal gender variant people to honour our ancestral past and reclaim our Aboriginal identity. This marked the beginning of the modern movement of two-spirit people in Canada. It was also where the Aboriginal community began incorporating the words gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and transvestite for multi-gendered Natives and various sexual orientations.
The re-emergence of two-spirit people in modern context while engaging in century old ceremonial rituals has created a lot of friction between the traditionalists and those who do not see culture has being static. This has resulted in many two-spirited people facing expulsion from their tribes with no or very little communication with their families or communities. This makes the queer Indian lifestyle a difficult road to walk.
The Future - Reclaiming our place among the leaders and healers of our cultures So, what comes next for the two-spirit community? I believe there are several things we need to be conscious of and work to address as we move forward.
Our two-spirited community is unique and is starting to reclaiming our cultural roots. We also recognize that much has been lost and much has changed. Although some of our issues and concerns overlap with those of all Native Americans, there are others that are unique to our community. We are members of a group of people whose way of life has been drastically altered by historical circumstance. However like many other Aboriginal rituals and way of life, we see a strong re-emergence of the two-spirited people. We need to continue this trend to celebrate our roots while acknowledging our unique challenges in today's world.
Although the modern two-spirit movement has been very important for queer Native Americans, it leaves out members of the heterosexual community who would have been identified as two-spirited in the past. These individuals often expressed their gender through dress and work roles, however, they were celibate and so did not express it through their sexual practices. The modern two-spirit movement needs to find a way to acknowledge and incorporate these people into our movement.
While some of the Elders may speak of such acceptance of Two-Spirit individuals in the past the reality is that it is not without controversy. Although there is a rekindling of two-spirit traditional practices, the effort is not without the slings and arrows of controversy. Not only is there a rift between Native and Non-Native two-spirit people, many 'straight' Native Americans take a familiar post-colonialism posture and wish the two-spirits would shut up and go away altogether. We have come a long way to reclaim our past but need to work harder to gain acceptance and recognition today.
Native American cultures have proved to be very resilient and adaptable. As our culture and society evolved so did our warriors. Today instead of warring in battlefields, some of our warriors became political activists, fighting in the court system for the advancement of the rights of their tribal members. It is my hope that we will see a similar resilience among our two-spirited brother/sisters and sister/brothers. We must work with those spiritual leaders and healers within the Native communities that deny our existence or our place in our cultures to reclaim our place. We must also work with non-Native leaders to ensure our rights in the wider Canadian culture within which we now live. We must be more determined, in touch with our feelings and our power now then ever before!
References
- Androphile Project. (2004) 'The world history of male love - Two-spirit tradition in native american experience.' Downloaded from
http://www.androphile.org January 21, 2006. - Kehoe, A. (undated) 'Appropriate Terms.' Downloaded from http://www.saa.org January 21, 2006.
- Roscoe, W. [Editor] (1988) Living the Spirit: A Gay American Indian Anthology. City: Publisher
- 2-Spirited People of the 1st Nations. (undated) Information Guide. Downloaded from http://www.2spirits.com January 21 2006.
- Unknown. (undated) “The North American Two Spirit Information Page.' Downloaded from http://www.ucalgary.ca January 21 2006.
**Article taken directly from Dancing To Eagle Spirit Society Web Page
Two Spirit: The Trials and Tribulations of Gender Identity in the 21st Century
Samantha Mesa-Miles 1/13/15 Devin Etcitty, a 21-year-old from the Navajo nation, stood before a circle of 12 Native American students at Columbia University. He asked them to introduce themselves by name, tribal nation and preferred gender pronoun. “She, her, hers,” said one. “But any are welcome.” “I like the gender non-conformity,” said Etcitty. Gender identity is a common topic on college campuses these days. But this group’s focus was unusual: how to cope as a Native American gay living off the reservation. |
“Do gays here even have an indigenous experience?” Etcitty asked of these New York City newcomers.
Kyle Sebastian, 20, had an answer: “I went to a queer-based workshop, and said I identify as Two Spirit. Everyone looked at me confused.”
No one in Etcitty’s group looked confused, though. Each is grappling with the identity Sebastian named: Two Spirit, a term used in a number of Native American cultures to describe a third gender that is embraced by some non-heterosexuals.
In early Native American society, those who identified as Two Spirited were respected as spiritual leaders within the tribe. They dressed in both men’s and women’s clothing, and they often served special roles such as storytellers, counselors, and healers.
Two Spirit traditions were threatened, though, when Europeans colonized the Americas. The notion of a third, fluid, male-and-female gender conflicted with the colonizers’ heterosexual views, and in 1879, the U.S. government removed thousands of Two Spirited people from their tribes. They were sent to live in an Indian boarding school. Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, was the flagship Indian boarding school in the United States from 1879 through 1918. Founded in 1879 by Captain Richard Henry Pratt under authority of the US federal government, Carlisle was the first federally funded off-reservation Indian boarding school, according to Dickinson College historical records in Pennsylvania.
Today, views of Two Spirits vary among the more than 800 tribes in the United States and Alaska. Depending on a community’s adherence to religious traditions, Two Spirits may be respected in one tribe but not recognized in another community. To find a sense of belonging, some Native Americans seek support in urban LGBT communities.
But those communities are not always comfortable, in part because Two Spirit history predates the LGBT movement, according to Harlan Pruden, founder of New York's North East Two Spirit Society. “We’re not reinventing, unlike the LGBT community. They’re creating rights based off the examples of the civil rights movement,” he said. “For us,” Pruden continued, “it’s this reclamation in which we were honored and celebrated before colonization.” Pruden further defined Two Spirit identity as a gender analysis as opposed to an LGBT sexual orientation analysis.
In Native American societies, an individual could come out as gay first, and then begin the Two Spirit “coming in” ceremonies. Urban LGBT communities have difficulty understanding this merging of tribal and gay identities, said Pruden, which is why he founded the Two Spirit society a decade ago. The organization seeks to educate the public about the Two Spirit tradition and to revive the ceremonial “coming in” process for people like Devin Etcitty.
Etcitty says his Navajo family accepted his gay identity when he came out to them at age 18. But the family followed Mormon religion, not Navajo tradition, and did not recognize him as Two Spirited. Etcitty was relieved they accepted him as gay, even though it went against their Mormon beliefs, so he hesitated to ask his family to recognize him as Two Spirit as well. “They are OK with me being gay, but knowing I’m not part of Mormon religion creates a barrier to full-acceptance,” he said. “They say, ‘sure, you’re gay, and it’s an experience,’ but they don’t think of me as gay in the traditional Two Spirit way.”
After coming out to his family at age 19, Etcitty moved from New Mexico to New York for college in 2011. He sought support in the city’s LGBT communities. But he still felt like an outsider.
“I was this exotic or mysterious ‘other’ because I’m Native,” Etcitty said. “I didn’t feel like we were really equal.”
Etcitty turned to a book, "Changing Ones: Third and Fourth Genders in Native North America," for more understanding of what it meant to be both gay and Native American. The book told a traditional story, about a conflict between Navajo men and women. Two Spirit people – the third gender – resolved the dispute because of their ability to speak with both sides.
“I just felt this big load off my shoulders when I read about these people being respected,” said Etcitty, who described his feeling as “proud to be indigenous and gay.”
At Columbia, Etcitty organized discussion groups for Native American students to talk about identity challenges for Native American students on an Ivy League campus – including the challenge of explaining Two Spirits to non-Native Americans who have trouble with his dual identities.
“I’m either indigenous, or I’m queer,” said Etcitty. “Non-indigenous people tell me they didn’t think Natives still existed, much less could be gay. But it really shouldn’t be that complicated.”
When asked if he’s gay or Two Spirited, his shoulders tense up, and his face shows the inner confliction he feels. “Gender identity, for me, is why I want to reclaim being Two Spirited,” he said. “I don’t know if I’ll ever be in a relationship because I don’t know what it’s like to fully embrace, and be recognized, as Two Spirit. I don’t feel like I’m wanted. I don’t know if I’ll ever be happy. Maybe I will when I reach the Spirit World,” he said. The Spirit World refers to the Native American spiritual journey after death. And the need for understanding Native American gender identity is an urgent issue, Etcitty said. He continues to organize campus gatherings to help others reclaim their Two Spirit identity in an urban environment, a Native American identity few people are aware of.
Samantha Mesa-Miles, Yaqui/Chicana, is a multimedia storyteller reporting on critical issues through the lens of a culture and identity. Mesa-Miles currently studies at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2015/01/13/two-spirit-trials-and-tribulations-gender-identity-21st-century-158686
Kyle Sebastian, 20, had an answer: “I went to a queer-based workshop, and said I identify as Two Spirit. Everyone looked at me confused.”
No one in Etcitty’s group looked confused, though. Each is grappling with the identity Sebastian named: Two Spirit, a term used in a number of Native American cultures to describe a third gender that is embraced by some non-heterosexuals.
In early Native American society, those who identified as Two Spirited were respected as spiritual leaders within the tribe. They dressed in both men’s and women’s clothing, and they often served special roles such as storytellers, counselors, and healers.
Two Spirit traditions were threatened, though, when Europeans colonized the Americas. The notion of a third, fluid, male-and-female gender conflicted with the colonizers’ heterosexual views, and in 1879, the U.S. government removed thousands of Two Spirited people from their tribes. They were sent to live in an Indian boarding school. Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, was the flagship Indian boarding school in the United States from 1879 through 1918. Founded in 1879 by Captain Richard Henry Pratt under authority of the US federal government, Carlisle was the first federally funded off-reservation Indian boarding school, according to Dickinson College historical records in Pennsylvania.
Today, views of Two Spirits vary among the more than 800 tribes in the United States and Alaska. Depending on a community’s adherence to religious traditions, Two Spirits may be respected in one tribe but not recognized in another community. To find a sense of belonging, some Native Americans seek support in urban LGBT communities.
But those communities are not always comfortable, in part because Two Spirit history predates the LGBT movement, according to Harlan Pruden, founder of New York's North East Two Spirit Society. “We’re not reinventing, unlike the LGBT community. They’re creating rights based off the examples of the civil rights movement,” he said. “For us,” Pruden continued, “it’s this reclamation in which we were honored and celebrated before colonization.” Pruden further defined Two Spirit identity as a gender analysis as opposed to an LGBT sexual orientation analysis.
In Native American societies, an individual could come out as gay first, and then begin the Two Spirit “coming in” ceremonies. Urban LGBT communities have difficulty understanding this merging of tribal and gay identities, said Pruden, which is why he founded the Two Spirit society a decade ago. The organization seeks to educate the public about the Two Spirit tradition and to revive the ceremonial “coming in” process for people like Devin Etcitty.
Etcitty says his Navajo family accepted his gay identity when he came out to them at age 18. But the family followed Mormon religion, not Navajo tradition, and did not recognize him as Two Spirited. Etcitty was relieved they accepted him as gay, even though it went against their Mormon beliefs, so he hesitated to ask his family to recognize him as Two Spirit as well. “They are OK with me being gay, but knowing I’m not part of Mormon religion creates a barrier to full-acceptance,” he said. “They say, ‘sure, you’re gay, and it’s an experience,’ but they don’t think of me as gay in the traditional Two Spirit way.”
After coming out to his family at age 19, Etcitty moved from New Mexico to New York for college in 2011. He sought support in the city’s LGBT communities. But he still felt like an outsider.
“I was this exotic or mysterious ‘other’ because I’m Native,” Etcitty said. “I didn’t feel like we were really equal.”
Etcitty turned to a book, "Changing Ones: Third and Fourth Genders in Native North America," for more understanding of what it meant to be both gay and Native American. The book told a traditional story, about a conflict between Navajo men and women. Two Spirit people – the third gender – resolved the dispute because of their ability to speak with both sides.
“I just felt this big load off my shoulders when I read about these people being respected,” said Etcitty, who described his feeling as “proud to be indigenous and gay.”
At Columbia, Etcitty organized discussion groups for Native American students to talk about identity challenges for Native American students on an Ivy League campus – including the challenge of explaining Two Spirits to non-Native Americans who have trouble with his dual identities.
“I’m either indigenous, or I’m queer,” said Etcitty. “Non-indigenous people tell me they didn’t think Natives still existed, much less could be gay. But it really shouldn’t be that complicated.”
When asked if he’s gay or Two Spirited, his shoulders tense up, and his face shows the inner confliction he feels. “Gender identity, for me, is why I want to reclaim being Two Spirited,” he said. “I don’t know if I’ll ever be in a relationship because I don’t know what it’s like to fully embrace, and be recognized, as Two Spirit. I don’t feel like I’m wanted. I don’t know if I’ll ever be happy. Maybe I will when I reach the Spirit World,” he said. The Spirit World refers to the Native American spiritual journey after death. And the need for understanding Native American gender identity is an urgent issue, Etcitty said. He continues to organize campus gatherings to help others reclaim their Two Spirit identity in an urban environment, a Native American identity few people are aware of.
Samantha Mesa-Miles, Yaqui/Chicana, is a multimedia storyteller reporting on critical issues through the lens of a culture and identity. Mesa-Miles currently studies at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2015/01/13/two-spirit-trials-and-tribulations-gender-identity-21st-century-158686