Māhū, the Third Gender Peoples of Polynesian Culture
In traditional Hawaii, gender is not binary
In October 2021 the United States issued its first passport with an X designation for gender, giving administrative lip-service at least to the idea of more than two genders. However, this is not the first country to recognize the need for this. “At least 15 countries have already allowed people to amend their gender to a legalized non-binary or third gender identifier on their passport, including Argentina, Austria, Australia, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Malta, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan, India and Nepal.”
In many indigenous cultures, however, third or non-binary genders have been recognized for hundreds if not thousands of years. This is a well-known and long-standing aspect of Polynesian cultures.
“In Native Hawaiian and Tahitian cultures (māhū) are third gender people with traditional spiritual and social roles within the culture. Māhū were particularly respected as teachers, usually of hula dance and chant. In pre-contact times māhū performed the roles of goddesses in hula dances that took place in temples which were off-limits to women. Māhū were also valued as the keepers of cultural traditions, such as the passing down of genealogies. Traditionally parents would ask māhū to name their…
