The term Two-spirited has been connected to the pre-contact era of North American Indians. It refers to the same-sex relationship between there tribe members. This allowed men and women to not have to choose between the gay community and their native community. These communities were like any other tribe in there geographic location, but were specific to the needs and social acceptance of the LGBTQ people. As found in an article from the Canadian Journal of Law and Society, after colonization the aboriginal communities had become less welcoming to the two-spirited people, compared to the pre-contact times. Thus forcing them to create these Two-spirited communities outside their normal tribes. Now although "societies were born out of the Two-Spirited social movement in the 1990's" (Gilley, 2010). Two-spirited people have always walked this earth. Gilley also gave an example pertaining to the Lakota tribe. This example stated that "among the Lakota a male-bodied child who showed interest in women's work would be socialized into a socially gendered role named winkte. Throughout adolescence a winkte would participate in rites of passage and education specific to their role." (Gilley, 2010). This showed that although they were known to exist, and weren't punished for their lifestyle, they were not always welcome in regular tribal communities. The definition of comes from the Lakota language. "Its meaning is "two-souls-person," or more directly, "to be as a woman" and applies to male-bodied individuals. It generally refers to someone who is either homosexual or transgender (i.e. male-bodied humans who do not conform to the ordinary man's gender role). The winkte are not marginalized, but rather, they are considered to be people with special spiritual and other talents that fulfill some needs of the community that other people could not fill." (Wikipedia 2012). It has been found in historic documents that the male "winktes" would often find relationships with non-winkte men. It was also discovered that there was a lack of interest in Two-spirited females, and that the males were the most discussed and focused on. These "primary sources of information about sexual orientation and transgender issues for Aboriginal cultures in North America date back to the time of the Spanish exploration, with the earliest known western source originating in 1555." (Napoleon, 2002). This has made it rather difficult for people to really grasp the true lifestyle of the pre-contact two-spirited people after that time because the description of their life comes from the European or Spanish people. In conclusion, although it is said to believe that the life of two-sipirited was always accepted even after contact with European Christian people, it can't be said that the Two-spirited have always been seen as equal members of the tribe to the rest of their tribe members.
- Elysha
Gilley, B. (2010). Native Sexual Inequalities: American Indian Cultural Conservative Homophobia and the Problem of Tradition. Sexualities 13: 47. http://sex.sagepub.com/content/13/1/47
Napoleon, V. (2002). Raven's Garden: A Discussion about Aboriginal Sexual Orientation and Transgender Issues. Canadian Journal of Law and Society, 17(2), 149-171
Wikipedia. (2012) Winkte. The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved September 18, 2012 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winkte
I think sexuality and gender can easily be confused, and the term two spirit, embodies the idea of gender, and the unique capabilities instilled with a person who may identify with more than one gender. Gender does not always equal sexuality, and a person that recognizes a second spirit within themselves may not consider themselves to be gay or lesbian. being able to differentiate between the two completly different realms of gender and sexuality takes a deep understanding, but could be thought of as gender is whats between the ears (thoughts, emotions, feelings) and sexuality is what is between the legs(desire, passion, attraction)
ReplyDelete