In recognition of Transgender Day of Visibility today, March 31, readers might be interested in this article from The Guardian, “The 'two-spirit' people of indigenous North America”.
Some clips
Some quotes (my bold):
- … American Indian traditionalists ... see a person's basic character as a reflection of their spirit. Since everything that exists is thought to come from the spirit world, androgynous or transgender persons are seen as doubly blessed ...
- … Quite similar religious traditions existed among the native peoples of Siberia ... ... reports of highly respected androgynous persons have been noted among indigenous Americans from Alaska to Chile, androgyny seems to be quite ancient among humans ...
- … Because their gender roles involved a mixture of both masculine and feminine traits, two-spirit persons could do both the work of men and of women. They were often considered to be hard workers and artistically gifted, of great value to their extended families and community ...
- … [Navajo and others] Two-spirit persons assisted their siblings' children and took care of elderly relatives, and often served as adoptive parents for homeless children ...
I came across the article, found it very interesting. Folks of my older generation are just now starting to come around, but this phenomenon has fairly deep history in cultural anthropology. I first came across hints of it back in the 60’s when I read The Cheyennes, by anthropologist E. A. Hoebel.
Old white cis male myself, I’ve known a good number of two-spirit friends and relatives coming out. I grew up in the 1950’s when homophobia was taken for granted.