By Dr. Will Moreau Goins

Hundreds of Native American tribes coexist in the United States, each with unique languages, histories and cultures, each proudly claiming its identity as Indian Nations or tribal groups. Still, common threads wind through the spiritual inheritances and experiences of the many tribes, nations, communities and Indian families. These threads are manifested in the ways Native Americans experience Creator God – in what the dominant society calls "spiritual disciplines." Despite experiencing physical and cultural genocide for several centuries, we are holding onto our beliefs by reclaiming many of our pre-contact cultural traditions, such as the sweat lodge ceremony, pipe ceremonies, sun dances, vision quests, naming ceremonies, story telling and native traditional teachings. One of the active agents, leaders or participants within this movement is the indigenous group referred to as "Two-Spirit." Many First Nation people of Aboriginal or Native American Indian descent in both the U.S. and Canada are using the term "Two-Spirit" to identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) individuals.

Two-Spirit is a cultural and social Native term – not a religious one – that encompasses alternative sexuality, alternative gender and an integration of Native Spirituality. Historically, Two-Spirits described transgender Native Americans but today includes gay men, lesbians and bisexual people. The term Two-Spirit is preferred over lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender, which are culturally biased and focus more on sexual orientation. Natives living in large multi-ethnic urban areas more commonly use Two-Spirit. Those living in rural areas or reservations often have their own terms to identify non-heterosexual people. Meanwhile, the term "berdache," long used by academics, media and others is no longer an acceptable catch-all for Native American gender and sexual behaviors. Contemporary Native Americans have come to consider berdache derogatory and insulting to the image and identity of Two-Spirited people.

Two-Spirited people have existed in many different cultures, including Native American and Aboriginal, in ancient times and in contemporary times. Traditionally, Native American culture has embraced the notion of an opposite gender identity different from one's anatomical sex without any implied sexual orientation. Tribal elders and chieftains often consulted Two-Spirited individuals because they were thought to have a kind of "universal knowledge" and special connection to the "Great Spirit." Two-Spirited males could also become one of the multiple wives of Indian braves and, in rare cases, of genetic females who became "men" by proving themselves as warriors. Two-Spirited people were called by different terms depending on the tribe. They were "winktes" in the Lakota Sioux, "Nadle" in Navaho tribes, "Shamans" in the Mojave and "Mahu" in the Polynesian culture of Tahiti. Two-Spirited people from various Nations, tribes, bands, communities and families performed the following duties: giving of sacred names, cooking for special ceremonies, telling of the sacred stories during specific times of the year, doctoring of wounds, chanters, teachers of the young, matchmakers, intermediators (between humans and spiritual entities), counselors in civic matters and personal matters, adopter of orphans and prayer for special protection. With the exception of some of the more warlike tribes like the Apache and Comanche, Two-Spirited people comfortably coexisted in almost every single North American tribe, especially in the Midwest, Great Plains and the Southwest.

Even though Two-Spirited people have historically been held in high-regard in Native American culture, European and Western cultural influences have injected homophobia into present-day Native American attitudes. Some Two-Spirits experience homophobia in their homes and on the reservation, causing them to withdraw and isolate themselves from their communities. Many of them move to urban centers in hopes of making a connection with people of comparable gender and sexual identities, if not of the same racial, ethnic and class identities. Some of them find that they are less understood, become more isolated and victims of gay bashing in their new, non-Indian community.

The media's stereotypical and largely invisible representation of Native Americans has made it more difficult for Two-Spirited people to find their place in the world. For too long, mainstream media has ignored the history, contribution and presence of Native American Indian people. Of the meager representations churned out by Hollywood, Native Americans were typically cast as merciless savages in Western films or as always being on the warpath, scalping soldiers and settlers in "historic" films. However, it was the Europeans, not the Native Americans, who introduced scalping to America. The media failed miserably to reflect the complex and diverse lives of Native Americans, including Two-Spirited people. It was easy for the media and historians to distort history and the Native-American experience, because Native Americans couldn't defend themselves in a dominant culture that didn't care to accurately depict their stories. Until recently, we didn't have control over these images because we didn't play an active role in the decision-making process in the studios or in the newsrooms.

Today, there are some Native American Indian media sources and national newspapers telling our stories in a fair and inclusive manner. Native American Indians are playing a larger role in how we are depicted, understood and accepted by asserting ourselves more aggressively than ever before in interpreting for the rest of the world our own heritage and cultures, and in relating our own histories. In recent years, Native Americans have tried to promote awareness through observances like the National Native American Indian Heritage Month. As partners of non-Indian scholars and media producers, modern day Native American writers, artists, scientists, teachers, tradition-keepers, Two-Spirited people and tribal cultural leaders are illuminating Indian perspectives of the past, making known and understandable much of what Anglos and other non-Indians had not grasped, and on the whole providing a far greater measure of objectivity and truth to the telling of the Indian story.

Today, Two-Spirited gatherings occur regularly across North America, part of the effort to renew the bond between Two-Spirits and their nations. It is important to also note that more than 85 percent of Native American Indian people live in urban environments and not in reservations. Consequently, the experiences of Native American Indian people who are Two-Spirited are as diverse as all other people in the Americas and yet still have undeniable influences and connections to their culture and heritage.

Will Moreau Goins, Ph.D., the chief executive officer of the Eastern Cherokee, Southern Iroquois & United Tribes of South Carolina, Inc., has worked with Native American people, organizations and agencies for more than 27 years.

BOOKS, RESOURCES & BIBLIOGRAPHY on "Two-Spirited"

Two-Spirit People: Native American Gender Identity, Sexuality, and Spirituality by Sue-Ellen Jacobs, Wesley Thomas, Sabine Lang
http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/biblio?inkey=7-0252066456-0

Changing Ones: Third and Fourth Genders in Native North America by Will Roscoe
http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/biblio?inkey=62-0312224796-0

Living the Spirit: A Gay American Indian Anthology Edited by Will Roscoe
http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/biblio?inkey=17-031203475x-0

Spirit and the Flesh: Sexual Diversity in American Indian Culture by Walter Williams
http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/biblio?inkey=7-0807046159-1