Native American Sacred Traditions and Western Culture

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Westerners confronting the limitations of our own dualistic culture regarding gender, often rush to appropriate Native "two-spirit" traditions ("berdache", etc) as examples of the acceptance and affirmation we long for in our own culture. Yet, in our excitement and ignorance, we often trample on the very same sacred traditions we are trying to honor.

While usually unintentional, this trend is a modern form of racist imperialism.

Explore with joy -- but if you honor and value the traditions, then please take the time to engage and learn with respect...

• Listening to Native Americans: Making Peace With the Past for the Future by John Barry Ryan

An article by a professor of religious studies discussing the need to listen carefully...

• Wanting To Be Indian: When Spiritual Teaching Turns Into Cultural Theft by Myke Johnson

  An article exploring the ethical questions raised by White peoples' exploration of the religious ceremonies and beliefs of American Indians

• Free to be Responsible by Russell Means

In my culture we have people who dress half-man, half-woman. Winkte, we call them in our language, but gay people are dressing up as women in our dances, and that's not the way. ...If you are Winkte, that is an honorable term, and you are a special human being. And among my nation and all Plains people, we consider you a teacher of our children, and are proud of what and who you are. If you're going to sing my songs, and do my dances, then ask us. Quit butchering my songs, my dances, and the things that I am proud to wear. It means nothing now.

Trying to Understand

• Deconstructing Gender Dichotomies: Conceptualizing the Native American Berdache by Lisa L. Diedrich

A strong exploration of the conceptual difficulties Westerners face in understanding sacred Native gender traditions

The Basics

• Many Native American Tribes have three, five, or even seven genders.
• These duel-sexed people, or "two-spirited" are seen without stigma and considered emmisaries from the Creator. They are treated with deference and respect, even considered sacred.
• They are sacred for many reasons, not the least of which being that they embody both Mother Earth and Father Sky. They may be found as a vital part of almost any ceremony involving the entire band. They "hold both a masculine and feminine heart within their souls, and therefore twice the power."
• As androgyne beings, it is thought that they are better able to be fair -- seeing into the hearts of both males and females. They are often called on to play the role of mediator.
• In regards to duty, relationship and dress, physical sex is not important. The "spirit" is the determinate.
• "Two-spirit" is the closest thing to an appropriate umbrella term for referring to these gender traditions among Native peoples. However, even "two-spirit" is contested in modern usage.

Cultural Misunderstandings

• The Western/European worldview is fundamentally different from Native perception. The Western/European worldview is dominated by dualistic/binary thinking (e.g. male-female). Native perception is not. Native perception typically insists that all things are connected, whereas Western approaches focus on independence. We (westerners) are being racist when we try to cram Native experience into Western categories.
• There is no universal singular Native tradition. There is a great deal of diversity among Native nations in respect to gender diversity. Overgeneralizations about "the" tradition is another way we (westerners) display our shallow approach to Native experience.Not all tribes had a "berdache" tradition. The Iroquois and some other nations had a strong warrior expectation with no room for sissies.
• "Berdache" remains a term used by many anthropologists, but is considered (by many Native Americans) to be a European, racist slur, indicative of a long history of Native oppression at the hands of European colonists (who never took the time or interest to understand Native culture on its own terms).
• Each Native nation (i.e. each with its own language) would have a specific term (and practice) which referred to those we (westerners) might call "other-gendered."

I-coo-coo-a (Sauk and Fox); Agokwa (Ojibwa); Hee-man-eh (Cheyenne); Ougokweniini (Anishnawbe); Winkte (Sioux and Lakota); Ihamana (Zuni); Nadleeh (Navajo); Tanowaip (Shoshoni); Kwidó (Tewa); Manly Hearts (The North Piegan)

• More Resources: First Nations Spirituality

Sexual/Gender Misunderstandings

• Western cultural and moral terms do not apply. Equating Western categories with these Native practices and understandings tends to result in racist and homophobic expressions -- simplifications which allow us to avoid really listening to the alternative assumptions found in Native cultures.
• To the Western mind, "two-spirited" persons would be "other-gendered" -- i.e. neither male nor female. However, the worldviews are so different that there is really no comparable category that applies directly.
• Because such Native persons are not considered male or female, they cannot be rightly categorized as "homosexuals." Such labels were applied inappropriately by European colonists.
• Such Native persons are not "transexuals." They are not trapped in the "wrong" body. From a Native perspective, they represent a natural and accepted gender identity within the created order.
• Such Native persons are not "crossdressers" or "transvestites" -- their dress was culturally appropriate for their given gender identity and not considered transgressive within Native culture.
• "Transgendered" is the closest western concept that would apply. However, "transgender" implies some crossing over of the gender dualism -- a dualism which does not exist in the Native worldview. "Other-gendered" has the same problem, in that it assumes "male" and "female" as normative. In addition, "transgendered" fails to communicate the sacred role affiliated with such individuals in Native cultures.

Western Misappropriation of "two-spirit"

• Because Western culture can be so oppressive, it is easy to rush towards other cultural traditions which appear more enlightened. But we are still responsible for our actions. We who know what it is like to be misunderstood, labeled and re-presented by others in regards to gender identity, should appreciate the similar experience of Native people in regards to cultural experience.
• Because these sacred traditions are integral to very specific cultural traditions, it is wrong to appropriate Native terms for general use in Western settings. It is important to respect the fact that Native and Western cultural presuppositions differ so drastically that we need an altogether different term for those of us who would claim a similar sacred role (as othergendered -- i.e. not male, not female, with sacred significance) within Western culture(s).
• I offer "OtherWise" as a functional Western alternative, which does not misappropriate sacred Native traditions.
• Native Americans are burdened with sustaining their culture(s) in the face of Western Imperialism. It is our burden as Westerners to transform our own culture -- beginning with ourselves.

Making Amends

• Native Americans owe us NOTHING. Our culture's spiritual poverty is our own responsibility to explore and address creatively.
• Our first task is to be silent. We must learn how to listen. Even (especially) to the rage. Without imposing our own definitions. Without rushing to conclusions or defense.
• By listening deeply and not rushing to apply our own categorical explanations, we begin the second task -- which is to taking responsibility for the damage done by our own ancestors as well as by us. We must own our own histories.
• In claiming our past, we open ourselves to the future. Our third task is to be about the work of transforming our own culture from its very roots.

• And when we have done our own work in earnest, let us begin it again.

Modern Manifestations

• Ultimately, it is the perogative of Native Americans to define themselves. Some terms used include "two-spirit," "transgendered Native American," and GAI (Gay American Indian).
• But because these folks exist within affirming and accepting Native cultures (and also because they play sacred roles), often they will not identify publicly at all. For most, engaging in Western identity politics is simply not on the agenda.

Special Thanks to Berdache Jordan, Gary Bowen, Walter L. Williams, Paula Gunn Allen, Will Roscoe, Russell Means, Diane Way, Marlon NoHeart, Fire Carrier

Conflicting Terminology

What's the problem with "berdache"? by Gary Bowen

By a transgendered Native American

What are Two-Spirits/Berdaches? by Will Roscoe

An introduction by a gay anthropologist who continues to use "berdache"

Native Americans Speak for Themselves

Please note: For too many centuries, we Westerners have set the parameters for discussion. For too many centuries, Westerners have preferred our own imaginations to the truth of Native speakers. It is simple really. It is time for us to shut up and listen.

Transgendered Native Americans by Gary Bowen (Gary)

A brief introduction to Native traditions by a transgendered Native American

GENDYS Network, Conference Papers, by Marjorie Anne Napewastewiñ Schützer

• Winyanktehca: Two-souls person
• The Growing Rend in the Fabric of Western Society
• Narcissism is not a dirty word - or the spiritual aspects of transsexualism

Free to be Responsible by Russell Means

In my culture we have people who dress half-man, half-woman. Winkte, we call them in our language, but gay people are dressing up as women in our dances, and that's not the way. ...If you are Winkte, that is an honorable term, and you are a special human being. And among my nation and all Plains people, we consider you a teacher of our children, and are proud of what and who you are. If you're going to sing my songs, and do my dances, then ask us. Quit butchering my songs, my dances, and the things that I am proud to wear. It means nothing now.

åsowaha by Ahasiw Maskegon Iskwew

Meet Cherokee Rose

Related resources: Native Trans Resources (by American Boyz); Two Spirit Voices; Queers for Reconciliation; Queers and Indigineous in Canada, Whitewolf's Den

General Native American Resources: First Nations Histories

On White Privilege

White privilege by Robert Jensen

Why learn about this history? (author?)

Brief Introductions to "berdache"

Please note: "Berdache" is an accepted anthropological term, but many Native Americans consider it an example of residual European colonialism. The term is steeped in a history of racism, imperialism, and misunderstanding. It also suggests an overgeneralization -- that there was a singular practice found among all Native nations. In fact, practice varied significantly between various Native nations.

What are Two-Spirits/Berdaches? by Will Roscoe

An Introduction to Berdachism

The Berdache Spirit by Wendy Susan Parker

The Berdache Tradition

Berdache by Chelsea Fischer

We'wha: Zuni Man/Woman by Laura Darlene Lansberry

Artistic rendition of We'wha, extraordinary Zuni man/woman, 19th cent. CE

Native vs. White Sex Cosmologies: Sex and Gender Variability vs. Variance in Inter- vs. Intracultural Perspective. by Heike Bödeker, Kiira Triea, Teresa Binstock

An academic article by German authors with detailed treatment of gender in Native and Western contexts

Native American Berdache: A Symbol of Identification and Power for Native and Non-Native Gay Men? by Andrea Maldonado

The Spirit Path of a Modern Winkte by Georgie Jessup

Two Spirit

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