Gay Native Americans Reclaim Two-Spirit Culture
by Adam Amel Rogers
Published November 24, 2009 @ 09:34AM PT
http://gayrights.change.org/blog/view/gay_native_americans_reclaim_two-spirit_culture (http://gayrights.change.org/blog/view/gay_native_americans_reclaim_two-spirit_culture)
The Navajo used the word "nádleehí" to describe people who embodied both masculine and feminine traits. They were among the hundreds of Native communities that celebrated and revered tribe members who lived outside binary male/female restrictions. As today's Native communities fight to revitalize the culture that was beaten out of them, gay and transgender Natives are reclaiming this aspect of their ancestry by identifying as two-spirit –- a unifying term that serves as a catch-all for the many variations of sexuality and gender identity.
Two-spirit people were seen as a gift in Native American culture, viewed as a third gender with a heightened spiritual connectedness and a significant role to play. However, the forced Western colonization injected tribal communities with strong anti-gay attitudes that, for the most part, continue to reign supreme today. As two-spirits try to reclaim their historical culture, it is vital for the LGBT community to start paying attention to history as well.
I've heard about how white man came to America, and as part of the first things that they did to destroy Native American life, they smothered the "Two-Spirit" belief of American Indians. I am part Cherokee, myself, and I KNOW that caucasian (of which I am part), patriarchy practices are some of the worst scourges unleashed upon all humanity of Mother Earth.
Gvgeyui (pronounced guh-gay-you-ee, meaning: I Love You),
Rachel
OK, this is a huge and long standing pet peeve of mine, so let me say it again.
THERE WAS NO NATIVE AMERICAN CULTURE.
Rather, there were a host of Native cultures, vastly different, ranging from highly 'civilized' (in terms of urban living, agriculture, political associations and languages) to extremely primitive, almost Stone Age.
To lump all of them together is to do a disservice to all. So, where some cultures revered 'two spirit' that practice was not universal by any means. We can find the practice in some (but not all) of the Southern/Southwest cultures, but not at all in the Northeast or West. Some of the historical records even indicated that in some tribes, far from being 'revered' they were held in very low esteem, and often faced outright prohibition.