Exploring Two-Spirit Identity
From pre-colonial roots to modern resurgence
Many Americans think that queer is a modern identity, but this common, colonial misconception overlooks the experiences of Indigenous individuals, such as the two-spirit people who existed and thrived before Anglo conquest.
Two-spirit, an umbrella term for nation-specific identities, is difficult to define in colonial words. Still, the Two-Spirit Nation of Denver says the term “refers to another gender role believed to be common among most, if not all, first peoples of Turtle Island (North America), one that had a proper and accepted place within native societies”.
It is important to acknowledge that any definition will generalize the nuances of two-spirit—which differs across location, Indigenous community, and person—especially considering that some groups do not recognize two-spirit as a traditional identity.
The term “two-spirit” arose in 1990 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Recognizing the danger of mapping a colonial word like “queer” onto two-spirit people, activists coined the term “two-spirit,” hoping to foster intertribal unity around this identity.
While the term came about in the 1990s, the identity has existed since pre-colonial times. Centuries ago, two-spirit people were thought to have spiritual gifts, and the fact that they embodied both the spirit of a man and woman meant that Indigenous communities recognized them as “doubly blessed”.
Beyond this spiritual role, two-spirit people provided crucial economic and social contributions to Indigenous communities. They functioned as intermediaries between men and women and served as warriors, medicine people, and matchmakers.
However, colonialism shattered this societal acceptance of two-spirit people. Earliest encounters between colonists and two-spirit people came in the 1600s, when Jesuit missionaries referred to them as berdaches or “boy slave[s] kept for sexual purposes,” which is inaccurate and derogatory.
After gaining independence and stealing Indigenous land, Americans continued to erase the two-spirit identity with strict heteronormativity and binary gender roles that aligned with their Christian values. The most significant manifestation of this came through the residential boarding schools in the 1800s and 1900s. There, Indigenous children, including two-spirit people, were forcibly removed from their reservations and assimilated into white American culture in schools that looked and functioned more like prisons.
Despite incredible resistance from two-spirit activists like We’Wha, the effects of colonialism are unfortunately apparent today. Two-spirit people not only suffer from hate and discrimination in American society but also within their reservations.
Ultimately, studying the history of two-spirit people can crucially inform us in the present. Modeling America today based on Indigenous communities that valued and embraced gender and sexual diversity will ensure inclusion and belonging for two-spirit people and the queer community more generally.
By the way, I am not an Indigenous person nor identify as two-spirit (which is reserved for Indigenous people, so don’t try to steal that too, white people). Because of this, I recognize that my understanding of the two-spirit identity and history is limited. I recommend that you continue your education by researching influential two-spirit people like We’wha or Geo Neptune, who heavily influenced this story.
