There has been a lot of talk about values of late, so I thought I would put in my two cents about values. I feel it is especially important since Thanksgiving is coming up and our country is celebrating the great myth of the Pilgrams and Indians
http://www.nativetelecom.org/feature.html . Indians have a different perspective on Thanksgiving than the textbooks, in fact, the nations have a different perspective on a lot of things. But the writer Sherman Alexie has pointed out that we think the internet is cool. [Translation for cowboys: internets]
Many tribes treated homosexuality and gender identity much differently than Christians. In short they were accepted and respected in Native communities. I happen to think it might have had something to do with survival. It does not make sense to reject communitity members who could make valuable contributions. So how do you make sense of people who are different than you? Well, maybe my ancestors thought, the Great Spirit made these beautiful people for a reason, they must be Gifted!
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.
(see androphile.org for more)
Natives were not necessarily trying to equate the two-spirited people with the rest of the tribe; they saw their differences and appreciated them. So, I wonder if we could apply this perspective within the democratic narrative? Of course, the way this country responds to people who are different, I am not so sure that is the best approach.
But then... everyone likes democracy and where did that come from?
I think it is time to take away the veil that has deprived Americans from realizing the Iroquois roots of American democracy. The new evidence that we have all brought to bear here is extremely exciting. I hope that it will convince people that when they look at the origins of American democracy that one can no longer look only to the ancient Greeks and John Locke for sources but you must also look to the Great Law of the Iroquois as a valid source of ideas for the formation of our nation. With evidence at hand, the question is not whether the Iroquois had an influence on formation of the American government but to what degree (from
http://www.believersweb.org/view.cfm?ID=173).
So, cross-cultural relations between the pioneers and Natives started off rough, but the early founders of the United States of America liked our democracy. More people are liking Natives' care for the environment. Maybe Native views on two-spirit people will seep into the larger nation as well.