In American society today there is some debate over gender and sexual identities. While there are some who feel that there are only two genders—male and female—and this should define the natural order of things, there are others who point out the wide variety of sexual orientation. To add to this discussion, I would like to add some information about Native American gender identities.
Indian cultures in general did not view gender/sexuality as being restricted to just two categories. While some modern writers speak of the Indian berdache or Two Spirit as a third gender, it’s not quite that simple. The berdache or Two Spirit was not a third category, but a way of referring to a continuum of human behavior that doesn’t fit neatly into the European notions of male and female.
At the beginning of the European invasion of North America, there were more than 500 distinct Indian cultures in North America, so making broad generalizations about the role of the berdache or Two Spirit in traditional Indian societies is risky. In what follows below I will make some generalizations about the Two Spirit among the Northern Plains tribes—groups such as the Blackfoot, Crow, Cheyenne, Gros Ventre, Sioux, and others.
Like most cultures, the Indian nations of the Northern Plains defined specific roles for men and for women. In general, women gathered wild plant foods while the men were hunters and warriors. However, the roles were not rigid: there were many women who hunted and went on war parties and were still considered women. Just doing things normally done by the opposite gender did not make one into a berdache or Two Spirit.
Among most of the Northern Plains cultures, there were some boys who preferred the company of girls and who eventually dressed as girls. Older ethnographic literature about these individuals generally refers to them as berdaches. Among the Crow, at about the age of 10-12 a young boy might take on the female clothing and female work. As a male who dressed and acted like a woman, this individual was accepted in Crow society and would often marry a man. In describing the male berdache, Edwin Thompson Denig, writing in 1856, says:
“He is not to be distinguished in any way from the women.”
However, in Crow society the
berdache was neither male nor female, but an individual who had characteristics of both—hence, a Two Spirit, a person with two spirits.
In the 1876 in the Battle of the Rosebud, one Crow Two Spirit put on male clothes and distinguished himself/herself in battle against the Lakota. For this he/she was given the name Osh-Tisch which means “Finds Them and Kills Them.”
Since the Two Spirit was neither male nor female, in many of the Northern Plains tribes the Two Spirit had an important role in the ceremonial life of the tribe. In was generally felt that the Two Spirit has special spiritual powers and in ceremonies could take on either male or female roles. In the Sun Dance, for example, there were certain rituals which could be performed only by a Two Spirit.
Shown above is a painting by George Catlin of a Berdache Dance.
Among many of the Plains tribes, the Two Spirit was felt to have strong curing powers. Among the Cheyenne, for example, war parties often included a Two Spirit whose job was to care for the wounded. In addition, the spiritual powers of the Two Spirit were felt to bring good luck. The presence of a Two Spirit in a war party was also desired because of their special spiritual powers. Large war parties were seldom without at least one Two Spirit.
While much of the literature about the role of the Two Spirit in Northern Plains cultures focuses on men, there were also many instances of women who wore men’s clothing and took men’s roles. Some of these women married other women, some were warriors, and some were chiefs. Among the Blackfoot, women who took on the aggressive roles of men were referred to as “manly hearted women.” They would usually begin to take on these roles as teenagers when they would join war parties. They would wear male dress, marry women, and often obtain leadership positions as warriors and/or spiritual leaders.
What was/is the American Indian Two Spirit or berdache? Too often there is an attempt to use European categories to understand the Two Spirit and thus to assume that they were homosexual. Undoubtedly, some were homosexual, but the role of the Two Spirit was not a sexual one. Sometimes the Two Spirit has been described as a transvestite or as a transgender person. Again, this is not a totally true image of who they were. Gender and sexuality in Indian cultures allowed a wide range of variation and the concept of the Two Spirit simply shows that cultures exist which allow a great deal of freedom with regard to gender identity.
Cross Posted at Native American Netroots
An ongoing series sponsored by the Native American Netroots team focusing on the current issues faced by American Indian Tribes and current solutions to those issues.