And as for us Native folks, if Two Spirit feels like a good fit for you, sweet! This is tricky since many tribes experienced language decline as a result of colonization, so it’s nearly impossible to know now whether a community might have had those words or phrases at some point. It’s not that I can either identify as Two Spirit and be decolonial or I can identify as queer and be self-colonizing. If you’re thinking about claiming Two Spirit identity, it’s worthwhile to explore what the perception and belief is in your own tribe and community.
and avoid shutting down. That said, taking all of the above into consideration, some Native folks use Two Spirit solely to refer to their gender identity. By Carolyn Podruchny . Saying you’re Two Spirit tells everyone around you that you’re both queer and Native, and there can be a lot of pride in that! Ne’epapa i ke o mau; we will keep moving forward together. As a result, they would never identify as Two Spirit; instead, many of them say they are Native LGBTQIA+ as a way of still acknowledging both their queerness and their Native identity. I’ve met folks who say that Two Spirit is only descriptive of gender based on the literal meaning of the term.
Two Spirit provides an identity label that recognizes someone as being both Indigenous and LGBTQIA+. At the end of the day, it’s not better or worse to identify as Two Spirit versus LGBTQIA+ or Native LGBTQIA+. What is my gift? Is there a pattern to my life? Up until that time, (mostly White) anthropologists typically used the word berdache, which roughly translates to “kept boy,” to describe LGBTQIA+ Native folks. Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, Buyer Readiness Stages: How to Get Your Customers to Buy, 10 Low-Investment Home Business Ideas You Can Start Online for 2020, Are you thinking of starting a business but don’t know where and how to start? They are involved in organizing to end sexual violence against Native women and finding ways to strengthen Indigenous communities. Some folks have also made the case that tribes had language describing multiple genders, but not necessarily language describing different sexual orientations. I have experienced violence at the hands of people who were trying to erase that part of me, yet I have also found love and resiliency among my queer community.
Because I certainly do. Instead, for me, it’s a both/and. If you’re looking for more info, here’s a few links to get you started: ShareTweet3K Shares
← What That Trayvon Martin Costume Says About Your Idea of a ‘Post-Racial’ America, 4 Ways the US Keeps Single Moms in Poverty – And What We Can Do About It →, 20 Reminders Every Feminist Needs (But No One’s Telling Us), We’re Taking Lesbian Sexuality Back from the Male Gaze and the Result Is Awesome, 20 Facts About Living in Poverty That Rich People Never Have to Think About, This Comedian Turns the Tables on Sex Position Jokes, You’re Not ‘Oversensitive’ – Here’s How People Use Gaslighting to Dismiss Sexism, So Your Trans Friend Is Transitioning and You Want to Be Supportive – Here Are 6 Ways How, 3 Reasons Why Saying ‘Real Men Don’t Rape’ Reinforces Rape Culture, 5 Ways Taylor Swift Exemplifies White Feminism – And Why That’s a Problem, 5 Things Straight Women Should Stop Saying to Queer Women, How Tall Women in Heels Demolish Misogyny, Sociopaths, Borderlines, and Psychotics: 3 Mental Illnesses We Must Stop Hating On, Why Our Feminism Must Be Intersectional (And 3 Ways to Practice It), Do You Pull Your Hair or Pick Your Skin? Help us keep publishing more like it by becoming a member! The term was derogatory and excluded Native women and those that didn’t identify as men, so in 1990, an Indigenous lesbian and gay gathering chose the phrase Two Spirit as a uniting identity to replace berdache. This one can get confusing depending on who you’re talking to. The answer to the second question has taken me multiple conversations with other Native folks to sift through. Two Spirit was created to specifically address the experiences of Native LGBTQIA+ folks. The story at the beginning of this article is a good example of how people feel very strongly about Two Spirit identity and what it means to be queer and Native.
If you’re Native and LGBTQIA+ or questioning, Two Spirit is always available to you as an identity. I’m a queer kanaka maoli woman. 10 Benefits of Entrepreneurship, State-By-State Guide to Starting a Business, Wholesale Directory, Merchandise Suppliers and Drop shippers, How to Start a Daycare or Child Care Center: State-by-State Licensing Requirements, How to Sell More Online: 40 Tips for the Small Online Entrepreneur. So much of what makes me who I am is tied up in that identity, in that one single word, and it unsettled me to think about whether I really was self-colonizing by identifying as queer. Click to learn more, 5 Things Queer and Questioning Indigenous Folks Should Consider About Claiming Two Spirit Identity, There are people who have my same identities who, Up until that time, (mostly White) anthropologists typically used the word, The term was derogatory and excluded Native women and those that didn’t identify as men, so in 1990, an Indigenous lesbian and gay gathering chose the phrase Two Spirit as a uniting identity to replace. What makes me special? It’s just a matter of what works for different people. Two Spirit is an umbrella term in some ways, since many tribes have words in their own language to describe LGBTQIA+ or gender-variant community members.
Aboriginal spirituality Aboriginal or indigenous culture is one of the oldest recorded cultures in the world.
As Native LGBTQIA+ and Two Spirit folks we have survived centuries of struggle, and I believe reflecting on our identities and the language we use is one way of honoring where we come from while looking ahead to where we are going. I’m not trying to police who is “Native enough” to be Two Spirit; that’s something that each community addresses in their own ways. Two Spirit as a label for LGBTQIA+ Native folks started gaining popularity in 1990. Trying to decolonize something means critically examining it, seeing how colonization (aka everything since Christopher Columbus arrived) has influenced it, and then trying to realign things with our traditional community values and practices. However, there are many Native LGBTQIA+ folks that don’t resonate with or claim Two Spirit identity – myself included – and I think it’s important to dive into why that is. Someone might say they identify as Two Spirit and also claim their tribal-specific identity.
When I was sitting in the room listening to the presenter talk about how Native LGBTQIA+ folks who didn’t identify as Two Spirit were self-colonizing, I had to ask myself some hard questions. These folks might use specific tribal identities instead of or in addition to Two Spirit so that they are putting their culture and language front and center. Please enter your username or email address. LGBTQIA, Used by hundreds of universities, non-profits, and businesses. As a community of queer Indigenous folks, we shouldn’t be afraid to ask ourselves the tough questions about the language we’re using, but we shouldn’t get caught up in whether there is one right or wrong answer. Saying that any Native person who identifies as LGBTQIA+ instead of Two Spirit is self-colonizing because they’re disconnected from their culture implies that all Natives who are connected to their culture should identify as Two Spirit instead of LGBTQIA+, and that’s just not true. Will my life be rich? the time that elapses after birth talks about their expectation of the infant surviving. Sit with everything discussed here.