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Two-spirit

Umbrella term for gender-variant Indigenous North Americans

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Coined in 1990 as a primarily ceremonial term promoting community recognition, in recent years more individuals have taken to self-identifying as two-spirit. Two-spirit, as a term and concept, is neither used nor accepted universally in Native American cultures. Indigenous cultures that have traditional roles for gender-nonconforming people have names in their own Indigenous languages for these people and the roles they fill in their communities.

The initial intent in coining the term was to differentiate Indigenous concepts of gender and sexuality from those of non-Native lesbians and gays and to replace the pejorative anthropological terms that were still in wide use. Although the term "two-spirit" has been controversial since its adoption, it has experienced more academic and social acceptance than the term berdache, which it was coined to replace. The government of Canada officially uses 2SLGBTQI+ as an alternative to the established acronym of LGBTQI+, sometimes shortened to 2SLGBT or a similar variant.

Early adopters stated that a two-spirit identity does not make sense outside of a Native American or First Nations cultural framework and its use by non-Natives is seen as a form of cultural appropriation.

The gender-nonconforming or third-gender ceremonial roles traditionally embodied by some Native American and Indigenous peoples in Canada that may be encompassed by modern two-spirit people vary widely, even among the Native individuals or cultures that use the term. Not all of these cultures have historically had roles for gender-variant people, and among those that do, no one Indigenous culture's gender or sexuality categories apply to all Native people.

Two-spirit as a term

Etymology

The neologism two-spirit was developed over a series of five conferences, concluding in 1990 at the Third Annual Inter-tribal Native American, First Nations, Gay and Lesbian American Conference, held in Winnipeg. Credit for developing the term is usually given to several participants in the gatherings. The term was first developed and proposed in English, and later the Ojibwe translation niizh manidoowag was constructed and proposed to honor the language of the Indigenous peoples in whose territory the conference was being held.

Both the English and Ojibwe terms were coined at the 1990 conference, and are not found in the historical record. Two-spirit, in English or translated into any other language, is a general term for wider audiences, and is not intended to replace the traditional terms or concepts already in use in Indigenous cultures.

For early adopters, the term two spirit was a deliberate act to differentiate and distance themselves from non-Native gays and lesbians, as well as from non-Native terminology such as gay, lesbian, and transgender. Particularly offensive was the term berdache, which had previously been the preferred term among non-Native anthropologists to refer to Indigenous people who did not conform to standard European-American gender roles. Berdache, which means "passive partner in sodomy, boy prostitute", has always been offensive to Indigenous peoples. Journalist Mary Annette Pember (Red Cliff Ojibwe) and others have written that conference participants were motivated by the desire to coin a new term that could take the place of the outdated and offensive anthropological term.

Two-spirited woman Michelle Cameron (Carrier First Nations) writes, "The term two-spirit is thus an Aboriginal-specific term of resistance to colonization and non-transferable to other cultures. There are several underlying reasons for two-spirited Aboriginals' desire to distance themselves from the mainstream queer community." German anthropologist Sabine Lang writes that for Aboriginal people, sexual orientation or gender identity is secondary to their ethnic identity. "At the core of contemporary two-spirit identities is ethnicity, an awareness of being Native American as opposed to being white or being a member of any other ethnic group".

While initially focused on ceremonial and social roles within the Indigenous community, as a pan-Indian, English-language umbrella term, for some it has come to have similar use as the terms queer (modern, reclaimed usage) or LGBTQ in encompassing lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Native peoples in North America.

Disputed origins

Primary attribution of the term two spirit, since 1990, has been ascribed to Albert McLeod (Nisichawayasihk Cree), who also acknowledges the input of those who participated in the series of five conferences that culminated in the discussions at the Third Annual Inter-tribal Native American, First Nations, Gay and Lesbian American Conference in 1990. In 2021, Myra Laramee (Fisher River Cree) reported that she proposed the term at the 1990 gathering after the phrase came to her in a dream.

Journalist Mary Annette Pember (Red Cliff Ojibwe) notes that "Non-Native anthropologist Will Roscoe gets much of the public credit for coining the term two spirit. However, according to Kristopher Kohl Miner of the Ho-Chunk Nation, Native people such as anthropologist Wesley Thomas of the Dine or Navajo tribe also contributed to its creation. (Thomas is a professor in the School of Dine and Law Studies.)". Roscoe, like his non-Native mentor Harry Hay, was involved in the gay hippie group Radical Faeries, a non-Native community that emulated Native spirituality and engaged in other forms of cultural appropriation.

Criticism of the term

Criticism of "two-spirit" centers on the term's Western origins, interpretations and influence, the lack of emphasis on Indigenous cultural traditions as maintained by tribal elders, and the potential to render tribal traditions indistinct or vanish them completely.

The terms used by tribes who have roles for gender-variant persons, both currently and historically, do not translate into any form of 'two spirit', and the Ojibwe form niizh manidoowag is also modern – a new translation from English that was chosen in 1990, after the term was coined in English. In fact, some Indigenous communities or tribes have their own specific terms for third-gender or non-binary gender roles.

With 574 federally recognized tribes in the United States alone, some critics say use of the term two-spirit risks erasing traditional terms specific to different, unique communities, that already have their own terminology for these individuals in their Indigenous languages (if they have them — not all cultures do). Since historically, those recorded as gender-variant individuals are often mentioned in the context of having held spiritual, ceremonial roles, the term two spirit – which may have nothing to do with those beliefs and ceremonies – can create a disconnection from, and forgetting of, the actual cultural beliefs and ceremonies.

At the series of conferences where the term was gradually adopted (1990 being the third of five), some Native attendees expressed concern that reservation communities would scorn the idea of two-spirit and never adopt the term.

Additional issues with two-spirit that others have voiced is that they see it as a capitulation to urbanization and loss of culture that, while initially intended to help people reconnect with the spiritual dimension of these roles, was not working out the way it had been intended. In 2009, writing for the Encyclopedia of Gender and Society, Kylan Mattias de Vries wrote:

With the urbanization and assimilation of Native peoples, individuals began utilizing Western terms, concepts, and identities, such as gay, lesbian, transgender, and intersex. These terms separated Native cultural identity from sexuality and gender identity, furthering a disconnect felt by many Native American/First Nations peoples in negotiating the boundaries of life between two worlds (Native and non-Native/Western). The term two-spirited was created to reconnect one's gender or sexual identity with her or his Native identity and culture. ... Some Native Americans/First Nations people that hold to more traditional religious and cultural values view two-spirit as a cultural and social term, rather than one with any religious or spiritual meaning. ... Since historically, many "berdache/two-spirit" individuals held religious or spiritual roles, the term two spirit creates a disconnection from the past. The terms used by other tribes currently and historically do not translate directly into the English form of two spirit or the Ojibwe form of niizh manidoowag.

Perception of Western gender binary

The binary nature of two-spirit, or the idea of having two spirits in one body, is not a theme found in the traditional gender roles for Native people, and concerns about this misrepresentation have been voiced since the 1990 conference where the term was adopted. Traditional Native Americans asked about the concept rejected the "Western" gender binary implications of the term "Two Spirit", such as implying that Natives believe these individuals are "both male and female".

Writing on possible misinterpretations from English speakers who hold binary gender views, Kylan Mattias de Vries says in Encyclopedia of Gender and Society: Volume 2 (2009), an academic textbook:

It implies that the individual is both male and female and that these aspects are intertwined within them. The term moves away from traditional Native American/First Nations cultural identities and meanings of sexuality and gender variance. It does not take into account the terms and meanings from individual nations and tribes. ... Although two-spirit implies to some a spiritual nature, that one holds the spirit of two, both male and female, traditional Native Americans/First Nations peoples view this as a Western concept.

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