Native American Berdache
Two Spirit People
Gender Does Not Determine Sexuality
Two-Spirit People, or one called a 'Berdache', or even one of the 'third gender', are individuals not caterigorized as either gay or lesbian, transvestite or bisexual. Those who, in many Native American Cultures, who are respected and looked apon as people who are both male and female, making them more complete, more balanced than simply a man or a woman. Before those from Europe came from across the waters, and took over their land, these people were part of the 'norm', connected with the very heartbeat of the life force we are all part of. Even today, Berdaches are accepted in many American Indian societies and in other settings.
"Traditionally, a person's sexual orientation also brought gifts of vision and understanding. People who were two-spirited (i.e., homosexual) were considered to have a great gift of vision that went beyond most people's abilities. Because of the nature of the two-spirited person, it was believed that they could understand and help solve problems that both women and men have individually or between each other. They possessed the ability to see an issue from both perceptions. Two-Spirited people were not only considered normal, but a vital and much needed part of the natural world and of the community as a whole."
"In the traditional tribal sense, these roles have often been ones associated with great respect and spiritual power. Rather than being viewed as an aberration, the role was seen as one, which bridged the gap between the temporal and spirit worlds. The spiritual aspect of the berdache role was emphasized far more than the homosexual or gender variant aspect. Because of this, berdaches were highly valued by the people of the tribe."
"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 also he would have been valued as a marriage partner. Other characteristics that Natives associate with two-spirit people and that help explain their desirability as partners are a highly developed ability to relate to and teach children, a generous nature, and exceptional intellectual and artistic skills."
"In Native American cultures, people possessing characteristics of different genders were often known as "two spirit people" and were deeply respected by their Nations, speakers said in the Gerlinger Lounge on Friday."
"Some native cultures described people who have some degree of homosexuality as "Two-Spirit People." People who have both the spirit of a male and female combined in one body. In these cultures the two-spirited person was very important and very honored. They are looked at as a messenger from Spirit, the wise ones, the seers of things unseen. Their gift of having two spirits allowed them to see, feel and understand things that others could not. They were healers, the medicine men/women, the keepers of wisdom and of spiritual understandings.
"They (two-spirit people) were integral, productive, and valued members of their communities".
"The Zuni word for berdache is lhamana, denoting its closeness to the spiritual mediator who brought hunting and farming together."
"....that humans are dependent for many good things on the inventiveness of the nadle [the Navajo term for the two-spirit]. Such individuals were present from the earliest era of human existence, and they... were part of the natural order of the universe, with a special contribution to make."
"The holiness of the berdache has to do with Indian [sic] views that everything that exists is a reflection of the spiritual. If a person is different from the average individual, this means that the spirit must have taken particular care in creating this person... by this reasoning, such an individual must be especially close to the spirits."
- Will Roscoe, author of 'The Zuni Man-Woman'
"Two-Spirit People delivers an overview of the historical and contemporary Native American concepts of gender, sexuality and sexual orientation. This documentary explores the "Two-Spirit tradition" in Native American culture, in which individuals who embody feminine and masculine qualities act as a conduit between the physical and spiritual world, and because of this are placed in positions of power within the community."
"In native traditions, Two-Spirit people are those who combine male and female attributes. It is assumed we also combine other things, like the material world and the spirit world. We are said to straddle the two worlds, and were therefore sought after to become shamans. That is, before the Christian missionaries came in and taught the natives who weren't killed by smallpox and other European diseases, that everything they believed was wrong."
"Unlike European Americans, gender or sexual divergence did not threaten the Indians. Berdache males in particular often became healers, surgeons, counselors, therapists, high religious priests, shamans, witch doctors and medicine men. They were regarded as a kind of holy men."
"The existence and value of two-spirit people's difference is recognized in most Indigenous American cultures, oral histories, and traditions. In some cultures, two-spirit people were thought to be born "in balance," which may be understood as androgyny, a balance of masculine and feminine qualities, of male and female spirits. In many Indigenous American cultures, two-spirit people had (have) specific spiritual roles and responsibilities within their community. They are often seen as "bridge makers" between male and female, the spiritual and the material, between Indigenous American and non-Indigenous American."
"I do know that two-spirit persons are sent by Creator to be of service into the world. One of the services they provide is the ability to step into whichever role will best serve a given situation. A two-spirit person will be able to offer a counseling perspective that is of significant value. They can shift into the masculine, they can shift into the feminine. But, what is really awesome is that they can shift into something altogether different. They can become a third thing--an individual who is neither male nor female. Or, you could say, an individual who is both in equal amounts--true androgeny. The true, two-spirit person carries this medicine, this spiritual relationship. No one else does."
"Two-spirit: The definition of a two-spirit person varies across the Native American cultures in which they appear. In general, two-spirit people are born one sex, and end up fulfilling the roles assigned to both sexes, or other roles reserved for two-spirit people. Some people consider two-spirit a term that can refer to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, while others think it is best used only for transgender people."
"However, all laws of nature allow for variance and change. Now and then, a person's karma dictates that both male and female are coming into substance together. These are the Two Spirit people."
"In pre-contact times, native American people had a great reverence for these Two-Spirit people. Quite naturally they viewed Two-Spirits as extraordinary sources of information about human nature. Two-Spirits were healers, artists, prophets -- whatever their personal vision impelled them to be. The native world had great respect for personal vision. If you were born a male, but came back from your first vision quest at 13 years and said your vision told you to live as a woman, your choice was honored. You even got a new name celebrating your choice! Likewise the woman who said she wanted to live as a man, love as a man, even fight as a man, was able to do that freely. "
"When Europeans arrived in North America they were shocked that native peoples often interpreted gender differently from them. Not only were many cultures matriarchal, a great many tribes accepted three genders instead of only two. Zuni Pueblo, in western New Mexico, honored three genders before the coming of protestant missionaries. Men who chose not to become hunters and warriors became Ihamana, members of an alternative gender that bridged the other two. While they were initiated into male religious societies, they became crafts specialists and wore female garb. They were nonwarriors who moved freely in the male and female worlds."
"Two-Spirit is a term used by some Native Americans to describe a person who embraces a gender identity that differs from his or her biological sex and/or a person who is attracted to members of the same sex. The term, which may be defined or used differently by various Native Americans, stems from a traditional belief that some people have two spirits, embodying both male and female gender identities."
"Two-spirit people were (mostly men) who lived their lives as the other gender. They were most of the time healers and medicine men, and villages looked at them with respect. In more recent anthropological writings, two spirit roles are seen as manifestations of construction of gender in Native American cultures that differ from western ways of defining and construction of gender. These roles for individuals that one way or another are reversing or blending genders in Native American cultures are as diverse as the cultures themselves."
"Two spirits were often peacemakers or arbitrators, shamans, spiritual advisors, healers, or name-givers; two-spirit females could become warriors."
"The two-spirit in most Native cultures has traditionally lived between the sexes, claiming both male and female, and is a healer, teacher and spiritual leader, a special and honored person in the tribe. It remains to be seen whether any such place of honor can be held in our modern culture."
LINKS
SOME ONLINE GROUPS & LISTS
The Berdache Society
c/o Nora Jean York
P.O. Box 92381
Anchorage, AK 99509-2381
Nora Jean York, Co-founder A social organization serving the crossdressing and transgendered community. Regular meeting schedule. Community service projects. IFGE fund raiser projects. Computer BBS. Alignment and participation with the local gay and lesbian community. Fun socials. Individuals will be screened prior to meeting with group.
Publishes: The Berdache Voice
Books
'Two Spirit People'
by Lester B. Brown
'Two Spirit People'
by Jacobs, Thomas & Lang
The books on this list are recommended by various Native American LGBT/Two-Spirit/Native Hawaiian leaders across the country. The leaders we surveyed felt these books most accurately represent our communities.
Back to
GRAPHICS PROVIDED BY: