T-S, T-s: Two Spirit / Two Spirited GLBTQ: Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer To Section Index

For Explorer Browser: Best Viewed With "Smaller" Font Setting! Go to "Page" & "Text Size"

 American Indian, First Nations,
Aboriginal Two Spirit / GLBTQ
Internet Resources

Page Index

General Information & History
Academic
Health / HIV AIDS
Movies / Videos / The Arts
Internet Resources
Bibliographies
Books

General Information

.What are Two-Spirits/Berdaches? : "Alternative gender roles were among the most widely shared features of North American societies. Male berdaches have been documented in over 155 tribes. In about a third of these groups, a formal status also existed for females who undertook a man’s lifestyle, becoming hunters, warriors, and chiefs. They were sometimes referred to with the same term for male berdaches and sometimes with a distinct term—making them, therefore, a fourth gender. (Thus, “third gender” generally refers to male berdaches and sometimes male and female berdaches, while “fourth gender” always refers to female berdaches.) Each tribe, of course, had its own terms for these roles, such as boté in Crow, nádleehí in Navajo, winkte in Lakota, and alyha: and hwame: in Mohave. Because so many North American cultures were disrupted (or had disappeared) before they were studied by anthropologists, it is not possible to state the absolute frequency of these roles. Those alternative gender roles that have been documented, however, occur in every region of the continent, in every kind of society, and among speakers of every major language group. The number of tribes in which the existence of such roles have been denied (by informants or outsider observers) are quite few. Far greater are those instances in which information regarding the presence of gender diversity has simply not been recorded. .."  - 'Two spirit' people greatly respected. - Two-Spirit. - Berdache Origin Myth.   - The Berdache Tradition. - The Berdaches. - Berdaches N/A. - Berdaches ... and Assumptions About Berdaches. - The Berdache Spirit by Wendy Susan Parker. (Alternate Link) -  Same-Sex Marriages with Berdaches.  - What's the problem with 'Berdache'? - Two-spirited history. - We'wha (1849-1896). - We-wha of Zuni. - Zuni Berdache. - Le Berdache 20 ans après: Colloque et exposition, Université du Québec à Montréal 13 novembre 1999. - Two-Spirit vs. Berdache : acknowledging self-identity (2005).

The Disappearance of the Two-Spirit Traditions in Canada (2009). - Acceptance is crucial for two-spirit people (2008): After more than two decades of living mostly in Vancouver, Evan Adams has returned home to his Sliammon band reserve near Powell River. A prominent gay actor who finished a medical degree and is now British Columbia’s first aboriginal-health physician adviser, Adams is settling in with his partner and their son in their own house. “It was a big homecoming,” Adams, 41, told the Georgia Straight about the warm welcome he and his family received from band members when they moved in on April 4. It was quite a different world for Adams, who, like many young Natives, had to leave his ancestral community for an urban area because he felt his sexuality wasn’t accepted by his own people. For many, acceptance is hard to come by even in the cities, where they also face discrimination because they’re aboriginal. These are the challenges that Adams and other Native leaders hope to bring to the forefront through a conference held in Vancouver (April 6 to 8) that organizers described as the first-ever national aboriginal gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, two-spirit (GLBTQT) summit... - Native identity & tribal sovereignty (2008): The Two Spirit Society of Denver works with non-Native LGBT audiences to understand Native traditions and Two Spirit realities, and with Native populations to establish stronger relationships. Crisosto Apache (Mescalero Apache) and Richard Lafortune (of the Two Spirit Press Room in Minneapolis, MN) discuss Native/Two Spirit history and the dearth in foundation dollars to Native people...

Sense and Sensuality - Two-Spirit: Alternative Sexuality in Native Culture (2008). - Native American concepts of gender and sexual orientation. - A Spirit of Belonging, Inside and Out (2006). - Berdach to Two-Spirit: The Revival of Native American Traditions (2007). - Oregon tribe to allow same-sex marriages (2008): Likely the first American Indian tribe to sanction them, specialists say. - Two Spirit and Queer Liberation Movements: From Radical Revolt to Freedom Fighting Justice (2009). - Gay Native Americans Reclaim Two-Spirit Culture (2009). - Two-Spirit: A Look into Aboriginal Queer Issues (2010). - More on gender, Part 2: “Two-Spirit” (2010).

Two-spirited people: "The Two-spirited person is a native tradition that anthropologists have been able to date to some of the earliest discoveries of Native artifacts. Much evidence indicates that Native people, prior to colonization and contact with European cultures, believed in the existence of three genders: the male, the female and the male-female gender, or what we now call the Two-spirited person. The term Two-spirited, though relatively new, was derived from interpretations of Native languages used to describe people who displayed both characteristics of male and female..." - What's the problem with 'Berdache'?: "While 'berdache' is in common use among white gays, Native Americans find the term offensive as it comes ultimately from the Arabic where it means roughly, 'male prostitute'. We do not appreciate having our sacred people referred to in this way. The consensus of opinion is that 'berdache' should not be used and the tribal name should be used when known. There is no consensus of opinion on a generic term, it is safest to refer to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered Native Americans. However, some use the term GAI (Gay American Indian) or Two Spirit..." - Appropriate Terms.

Two-Spirit Peoples. - Two spirited. - Two-Spirit Identity Theory. - Evolution of identity for a `Berdache Boy' N/A. - Two Spirited People of the First Nations. - Native American Berdache as Mediator: Towards a Culturally Specific Understanding. - Learning about "Two-Spirited People" in the American Indians Studies Library. - Queer American Indians from New York to San Francisco are showing both their spirits (2004). - A life of Two-Spirits (2006):  "I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what it means to be a gay man and native American. We were once revered on the reservation. Can we find the same respect again?' (More Articles) - Native vs. White Sex Cosmologies: Sex and Gender Variability vs. Variance in Inter- vs. Intracultural Perspective (1998). - First Nations and American Indian Societies and Gender: a primer for whites. - Two-Spirited People’s Struggles. - Gay Native Americans Rediscover 'Two-Spirit' Identity (2005): Young, gay American Indians are rediscovering tribal heritages that often revered "Two-Spirits," people who manifested both masculine and feminine traits. - Two Spirit: One World With Multiple Possibilities: Centering the Self in ones Spirit (2009, by Cameron Greensmith, Download Page).

The traditional concept of Two-Spirited people: A First Nations perspective (2004): "Historically, Native communities have thought of Two-Spiritedness as a gift. It was not necessary to define or impose roles on members of the community. Rather than imposing strictly binary gender roles, it was more important that everyone perform their specific role in relation to the overall survival of the community. This social philosophy led to a respect for T-S people, which allowed them to have unrestricted relationships—a respect which was spoiled by colonization. As Sue-Ellen Jacobs, a professor at the University of Washington, explains: "North Americans fit into their own varying categories of sexual identity until the strict social and gender structure of the colonies imposed a gender hierarchy rather than a continuum." Unfortunately, negative treatment of T-S people still occurs both inside and outside of Native communities. Whether Two-Spiritedness is a genetic or a psychological state of being is still a topic of debate. This thinking arises from the Western social values and discrimination that have been normalized through the North American colonization and assimilation of First Nations People. Eurocentric values tend to be black and white—a person is assigned one of two genders at birth, determined by their physiology. In doing so, the predetermined identity of female or male is expected to become reality. However, in Native communities that have maintained their unique philosophies on gender, these rigid concerns are not important. The role of T-S people in Native communities was at one time respected but, upon colonization, this respect was largely destroyed. - A place of honour: Two-Spirited people in our communities (This article was once available online from: Metis Voyageur magazine) - Decolonizing the Sodomite: Queer Tropes of Sexuality in Colonial Andean Culture (2005). - Two Spirits, Two Cultures: Shifting Navajo Gender Identity N/A. - Directions in gender research in American Indian societies: Two spirits and other categories (2002). - Two-Spirit & Two-Spirit like identities outside of North America N/A. - Making the American berdache: Choice or constraint? - Third Genders: A Sampler. - Locating Third Sexes. - Two spirits, one purpose: Gay and lesbian American Indians look to the past to shape a better future on the reservation (2009). - Gay First Nations Canadian Says House Burning Was Hate Crime (2010). - Home blaze a hate crime: gay man (2010).

Two-Spirits Rising Historically, Native American Tribes Thought Gays Were Great! (Alternate Link): " Recently, there has been a rekindling of Two-Spirit traditional practices, but the effort has not been without the slings and arrows of controversy... Not only is there a rift between Native and Non-Native Two-Spirit people, many "straight" Native Americans take a familiar post-colonialism posture (see Missionary Position), and wish the Two-Spirits would shut up and go away altogether. Hall believes, even though there is a long-standing tradition of Two-Spiritedness among Native American tribes, and that Two-Spirits once enjoyed set and honored roles in tribal structure, "Nowadays, they don't have that role." "I (will) always remember when Randy Burns and the group out in San Francisco established Gay American Indians, and I think they're celebrating something like their 25th anniversary. They set up their little table with their information on gay and lesbian activities and information on things, and a lot of the Indian people wouldn't accept it. They'd say, 'Oh, you people are an embarrassment. Why don't you leave?' and they'd spit on you and cuss at you. And that was from our own people! That homophobia still pervades most reservations. It isn't 'hello la-la land' out there." Bo Young is quick to note that any current Native American bigotry against gays and lesbians is a direct and lingering result of post-colonialism's cultural destructive influence. He believes anti-homosexual sentiments have been shoved down their throats. - A Walker Between Two Worlds. - A History of 2-Spirited People: PDF Download. - Sacred Circles A Group For Two Spirit Native Americans and Their Companions. - The Tragedy of the Holy Two-Spirited Fag. - Background & Recent developments in Two-Spirit organizing N/A. - Two-Spirit Drag King is None of the Above. - Rainbow and red: Queer American Indians from New York to San Francisco are showing both their spirits. - Shaking Our Shells: Cherokee Two-Spirits Rebalancing the World (by Qwo-Li Driskill) . -  Two-Spirits: the original phoenix of Sacramento (2010). - Two-Spirits in ancient Sacramento (2010).

Two Spirit Gatherings: - International Two Spirit Gathering. - Two-Spirit Gatherings (YouTube Videos). - Chrystos on Queer Native America: "Though queer Native Americans, or two-spirit people, as we call ourselves, have huge gatherings every year, we don't tend to be as cohesive as other queer communities, which is more typical of the way native people are in general. We aren't as institutionalized. A lot of what happens is based on personal relationships. I'm in the process of making a film about two-spirited women, and we'll be filming this summer out on the reservation. One of the women we'll be focusing on is called Smiley. She lived for years as a butch-identified dyke in Seattle. Hopefully, the film will make our lives more visible. You don't see native people on the 6 o'clock news, and queer native people are entirely invisible even in the gay community where, I have to tell you, I thought it would be different... We don't have access to media power. There is no national native news anchor, for instance, when there are Asian, Latino and black anchors. We don't have a history month. We do not have the ear of the American public, for specific reasons: because the original intent of the "Founding Fathers" was to eradicate native people from the earth. There was never any intention to eradicate African people, though they were treated as property, which is horrible enough. But they weren't systematically murdered because they were in the way... And having all the known queers being white is also repulsive to me. I don't think mainstream queer culture has even noticed that yet. Not too long ago they had some show on TV about lesbians, a women's program, maybe Vanessa Redgrave was in it. In the paper ad, all of them were white, all blond. That really scares me, the German Reich values." - Two-spirit people and sexual diversity (Aboriginal Nuse, 2002).

Building a stronger two-spirited community: Groundbreaking event aims to bring queer aboriginals together (2006)... Next week, Mack, who is two-spirited, will don the regalia of a pow-wow dancer for Embracing Our Spirits: A Gathering of Two Spirit, Family, and Friends. It's the first-ever gathering of its kind in the Vancouver area. - There are no closets in a tipi (2006): A gathering of two-spirit people celebrated their unique journey through life and saw the society take its spiritual place in the circle during the Fourth Annual Elders and Two Spirit Gathering held in Edmonton on Oct. 20 to 22. It was the culmination of a three-year ceremonial process of reclamation Reclamation  A claim for the right to return or the right to demand the return of a security that has been previously accepted as a result of bad delivery or other irregularities in the delivery and settlement process. The Two Spirit Society called upon Elders to remember how to be true to their spirit and reclaim their role in the Aboriginal community as spiritual leaders. . - 19th Annual International Two Spirit Gathering “Returning To the Land” (2007). - Sacred Rights of the International Two Spirit Gathering (2009). - Making Traditional Spaces: Cultural Compromise at Two-Spirit Gatherings in Oklahoma. - Two-spirited gathering aims to heal (2010). - A celebration of the spirit (2010): A group of two-spirited people and their supporters named the Wabanaki Two-Spirit Alliance is organizing the first regional gathering of its kind for next July [2011]. The alliance is comprised mostly of First Nations people from the Maritimes, Quebec and New-England who identify as two-spirited. Its Facebook group has 44 members. First Nations people that embody both traditional male and female roles who also identify as part of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community are considered to be two-spirited...

"--and we are still here": from berdache to two-spirit people (1999). (Alternate Link):  "As we begin to unpack the great diversity of genders in Native North America and the ways in which sexuality informs performance of gender roles, we are drawn back to the original definition of berdache. Our research shows that there are indeed individuals today appropriately called berdache by researchers. We refer specifically to feminine boys and young males living on reservations and in urban places, both in Native and non-Native communities, who are passive sexual consorts of heterosexual and homosexual adult men. The emphasis in these relationships is sex.... On some reservations, feminine boys are used sexually by married men. In studies of male juvenile prostitutes in Seattle, Washington, it is primarily heterosexual adult males who seek out boys for passive anal and oral sex. In both Seattle and on reservations, such behavior is negatively sanctioned. It is not glamorous; it is not romantic; it is "sex for survival." These boys (aged nine to seventeen) are berdaches in the literal, original meaning of the word: boys used for sexual purposes. The married "heterosexual" men on reservations who engage in sex with boys retain their heterosexual status; they are never considered to be bisexual or homosexual. In some urban gay settings, these men are commonly called "Men who have Sex with Men (MSMs)." Reference: "Debra Boyer, "Male Prostitution: A Cultural Expression of Male Homosexuality," Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation (Seattle: University of Washington, 1986). Related Note: "We are not referring to all intergenerational male-to-male relationships, but only to exploitative pedophilia, which falls in the legal domain of child abuse: the "children" are not of legal sexual consent age. We are also not describing or referring to relationships that teenage boys have with older men as they are discovering and testing their homosexuality; that is the subject of another paper." Source: American Indian Culture and Research Journal.  23(2): 91-107. - The 'berdache'/'two-spirit': a comparison of anthropological and native constructions of gendered identities among the Northern Athapaskans N/A (Reference). - Berdach to Two-Spirit: The Revival of Native American Traditions. - Culture taboos has made the discovery of the Illinois berdache a extraordinary encounter. - The Two-spirited Rebirth of Indigenous Nations: An Interview with Waawaate Fobister (2009). - Summit gives voice to queer aboriginal priorities, TWO-SPIRIT / 'We're not here simply asking for a role': Adams. - Lost souls: The myths, murders and mysteries of 'two-spirit' people.

Sex and Spirit: Native American Lesbian Identity: "Native American and First Nations lesbians have to deal with unique issues as a result of their history, cultural status, and perceptions as Natives. They come out of a history of genocide; their people have been persecuted, killed, kidnapped, and assimilated for hundreds of years and still face lingering aspects of genocide. They face homophobia and sexism from their own people; racism from lesbians; and racism, homophobia, and sexism from the dominant society, not to mention the classism many Native Americans have to deal with. It is important to remember that Native lesbians today are not the same as the Natives that lived before the arrival of the white man. Interaction with whites and the cultural genocide perpetrated on Natives has changed Native Americans’ perception of gender and sexuality. Though it is interesting to speculate about how two-spirits were treated in traditional Native American cultures, a focus on such speculation can hide the lives of Native American lesbians today. Unfortunately, despite the encouraging things written about the acceptance and honor of the "berdache" of the past, Native lesbians today face homophobia in their own communities. This is not a traditional Native American value, but a result of the forcing of European culture and religion on Natives. The attempts of whites to destroy any tolerance and respect for female two-spirits is well reported. Writings exist from missionaries about how Native women were told not to have sexual relations with other women (Katz 298). Also, one can find how Native stories about lesbians change from positive to very negative, depending on where and when the story came from. Allen and Cavin cite creator stories in which women have the most important roles. Cavin argues that these are lesbian stories, or at the very least non-heterosexual stories (45). According to Cavin’s sources, lesbians were described in origin myths positively as being in control of the wealth and were in charge of the household and property. They were considered an asset to her family and community. Later, after Native Americans where pushed onto reservations, stories are found where relations between lesbians end in tragedy..." - MyStory: Two-Spirits, One Woman.

Waters KL, et al. (2006). "My Spirit in My Heart": Identity Experiences and Challenges Among American Indian Two-Spirit Women. Journal of Lesbian Studies, 10(1/2): 125-149. PDF Download. their sexuality and gender expression. By analyzing the narratives of five two-spirit women who are Native activists, we explored contemporary understandings of the concept and what it means for Native communities. The incorporation of the identity within indigenous worldviews, its manifestation in terms of (be)coming out, and the triple stressors of heterosexism, racism, and sexism emerged as key themes. Many Native women embrace the term two-spirit to capture... Historically, Native societies incorporated gender roles beyond male and female (Brown, 1997; Lang, 1998; Little Crow, Wright, & Brown, 1997). Individuals embracing these genders may have dressed; assumed social, spiritual and cultural roles; or engaged in sexual and other behaviors not typically associated with members of their biological sex. From the community’s perspective, the fulfillment of social or ceremonial roles and responsibilities was a more important defining feature of gender than sexual behavior or identity. Although there were exceptions, many of the individuals who embodied alternative gender roles or sexual identities were integrated within their community, often occupying highly respected social and ceremonial roles. Western colonization and Christianization of Native cultures, however, attacked traditional Native conceptions of gender and sexual identity. The colonizing process succeeded in undermining traditional ceremonial and social roles for two-spirits within many tribal communities, replacing traditional acceptance and inclusivity with shaming condemnation (Tinker, 1993)...

Cruz. Louis Esme (2011). Medicine Bundle of Contradictions:  Female-man, Mi’kmaq/Acadian/Irish Diasporas, Invisible disAbilities, masculine-Feminist. In: Feminism for REAL edited by Jessica Yee. PDF Download.

Similarly, Two-Spirit people are not allowed to participate in societies as our full selves and then we are shamed and blamed for the ways we are hurt by this. When people say that a space is "women-only" they are assuming that women are always sensitive to each others’ needs, are always able to understand each others’ experiences, these experiences are always the same and women are not violent. Explicity, this says that all women are safe; all men are unsafe. The inclusion of Two-Spirit people in women-only space is arbitrary, shifting with who has the power to define this space. This person in power is rarely Native. From what I have seen, women who parade feminist ideals are the ones who decide who experiences gender oppression. Two-Spirit people can talk about our oppression only when it parallels women’s experiences. When our lives get too complicated we are judged, ignored, punished, humiliated. Whether it’s women-only or men-only space, the naming of a space as only one gender encourages invasion and conquest because they don’t allow people to be the complex creatures we are. This pushes Two-Spirit people to the margins simply because we are not one thing or another.We need liberation from the confines of gender baggage, too. This parallels the larger call from Indigenous sovereignty movements asking for our Native Nations to be recognized as distinct, sovereign entities. We are necessarily unique and complex for a reason.

Queer American Indians from New York to San Francisco are showing both their spirits: "What surprised Sabrina Wolf, when she came out to her American Indian grandmother, was the older woman’s lack of surprise. “I started by telling her, ‘I’m different,’” the white-haired, soft butch activist recalls. And she had this look of, ‘Yeah, I know.’ And then she said, ‘There’s people like you at home [among Indians], and it’s a good thing.” In addition, her grandmother advised her, “You’re gonna hear … a lot in your life, that’s it’s a bad thing, here (among white people), but it’s not a bad thing, and you’ll know about it later.’” Wolf, a lifelong San Franciscan and “urban Indian” of both white and Native ancestry, was taken aback by her grandmother’s nonchalant response — a response which, she later learned, was representative of many Native groups. The idea that various American Indian tribes historically recognized and even gave special roles to untraditionally gendered tribe members was written about in 1968, in an academic article by Professor Sue-Ellen Jacobs. But its wider acceptance has come about more recently with the development of vocal groups of queer Indians who, in addition to mining Indian history for traces of their presence, have created a modern name for people like themselves: “two-spirit.”..."

Making the American berdache: Choice or constraint? (Journal of Social History, Spring, 2002, by Richard C. Trexler): "While I obviously will not suggest that mature berdaches did not at times act with something like free choice, the present paper will show that, as far as the origin of any given berdache is concerned, free choice is surely an untenable proposition if it is applied to young boys and children below the "age of reason," while the making of berdaches out of adolescents among the Plains nations will prove to also be a social construction. I will try to integrate what we now know about the origins of the berdaches encountered during the Spanish Conquests, first with those documented only recently in the Inuit north, including Greenland, and then with the berdaches discovered within the borders of the present day United States from about 1800 until the present. Through the study of origins, I hope to render transparent one or more underlying characteristics of the berdache before the variety of time, place and conquest produced the incredible diversity that now makes the comparative study of the berdache so daunting.... The fundamental differences between the berdaches of the Arctic and those of Latin America are two. The first is the clear preponderance of so-called female berdaches over the not-inconsiderable number of male berdaches to the north, whereas to the south the historical sources rarely mention them... The second main difference between the two areas' berdaches is that, while homosexual behavior was common to the south, no incontrovertible evidence of its presence has yet emerged in the Inuit communities surveyed by the scholars of this area, although Robert-Lamblin does document three cases in Ammallik myth where same sexed individuals lie together... In his recent work, Roscoe does at one point actually recognize the force of the community in these visions. "Most tribal cultures," he says, "and especially those in which visions are credited with bestowing skills and inclinations," "do not view gender identities as being chosen." Yet throughout the book, the same writer repeatedly speaks of these same native individuals desiring an alternate gender identity, and would have us believe, as we have shown, that overwhelmingly, individuals did so desire. This repeated affirmation provides the best evidence of this author's determination to find his homosexual present in the deep American past... In the end, there was little room for the notion of free choice, and it was seldom enough claimed. Thus while the visions of future berdaches among the Plains nations seem to definitely announce a (later) departure from the infantile assignment of gender among most previous nations, the constraint that "forced" Plains young men into the status of berdache continued to be a dominant feature of this life "choice." Proof of these three summary points will of course rest in their validation or refutation by subsequent documentation and analyses. The present essay is one persons attempt to recontextualize the study of the berdache.." - Homosexuality: Two-Spirit People.

In Search of the "Berdache": Multiple Genders and Other Myths (Alternate Link): "Rediscovered and reclaimed as an ancestor to the queer tradition in North America, the "berdache" has come to symbolize an American past of tolerance and respect for queers. Rather than being shunned or hated, the "berdache" was often a powerful and valued member of the community; not simply male nor female, he or she was of a third or perhaps even a fourth distinctly different gender, free from the ordinary confines of a strictly male or strictly female "gender box" (Bullough and Bullough 1993:312) and at liberty to behave in concert with his or her own desires, to associate romantically and sexually with same-sex partners in relationships that were supposedly free of social stigma. Put simply, it was a wonderful life in a more enlightened age. Homosexuality was "institutionalized" (Benedict 1934:74; Devereaux 1937:498), cross-dressing was supernaturalized (Hauser 1990), and cross-gender role behavior was normalized. hese are indeed attractive propositions, for in presenting a past more pleasant than the present, they hold out positive hope for the future. In the spirit of willful belief, then, this paper set out to seek confirmation; to assess, through an anthropological lens, the relative truth or untruth of the view put forth above. Sadly, the critical re-reading it required revealed a tapestry of sweeping generalizations and mistakenly conflated, unrelated assumptions. But, while separating the strands that had been woven together revealed a fabric that was not quite as beautiful as at first imagined, its value had increased by virtue of its closer proximity to the truth... Conclusions: The cultural role of "berdache" was not, as Devereaux would have it, "institutionalized homosexuality," nor was it necessarily related to sexual orientation. As an "institution" it legitimized only the transformation of gender, but it did not even begin to address issues of homosexuality among women, homosexuals who did not cross-dress, or people whose sex assignment and gender identity were unified. The "berdache" did not constitute a distinctive "third gender" or "third sex," but rather was viewed in the main as an ambiguous combination of both male and female, the one manifesting itself biologically while the other found social expression. Many accounts cite parental reticence to allow a child to make the gender assignment transformation to "berdache," and while most children were likely cajoled into accepting their gender assignments, adults were virtually barred from questioning theirs. Once transformed, the "berdache" may have gained the limited protection of legitimization, but as Devereaux pointed out, it did not free him or his partner from the taunts and abuse of others. Homosexuality was never, in itself, validated, because the "berdache" was in fact not an homosexual; his or her gender was transformed precisely in order to avoid that designation. This must be the case if heterosexual men were able to engage in sexual activity with male "berdaches" under the auspices of heterosexuality. The sexual partner of a male "berdache" engaged in sexual activity with someone of his own biological sex, but neither his behavior nor his partner's was considered to be homosexual because they were of different genders, i.e., heterogendered. By a definition based solely on biological sex assignment, homosexuality was indeed legitimized; the problem is that such a definition is completely inapplicable. A EuroAmerican conception of "homosexuality" which equates biological sex with gender is totally incompatible with the far more complex native reality. The fact is that cultures providing a "berdache" status likely did so in order to avoid the designation of homosexuality by shifting genders, and did in most cases prohibit the equivalent of "homosexual" behavior: Homogendered sexual activity was not acceptable, and two males who both identified as men could not freely engage in sexual activity under any circumstance. Therefore, if homosexuality has ever been "institutionalized," and if there have ever been more than two genders, it has apparently not been among the peoples native to North America. - Genero y homosexualidad entre los Zapotecos del istmo de Tehuantepec. El caso de los muxe. - Metagender.

Waller MA, McAllen-Walker R (2001). One Man's Story of Being Gay and Diné (Navajo): A Study in Resiliency. In: Bernstein M & Reimann R (2001). Queer families, queer politics: Challenging culture and the state: 87-103. New York: Columbia University Press. (PDF Download) (Web Page access for PDF Download): "What is it to be gay in an American Indian family? We begin our discussion by emphasizing that the terms “Native American family” or “American Indian family” are misleading and obscure the truths about actual family realities. In the United States there are approximately 660 federally recognized tribes–360 located in the forty-eight [contiguous] states and another 300 in Alaska...As a Navajo man in a large city, Teles must navigate within a hostile dominant culture. Rather than finding an oasis in the urban gay subculture, he finds another context of marginalization. Accordingly, he looks to his Navajo family as his most important source of social support... Romanticization and Appropriation of American Indian Sexualities: The current fascination with “two-spiritedness” in the dominant gay community may be yet another instance of distortion, exotification, and exploitation of Native traditions by European Americans... Jacobs (1997) suggests that contemporary romanticization of Native American sexuality and gender diversity may be an “adventure of white homosexual males who are either appropriating cultural elements from Native cultures or imputing to Native cultures characteristics that would resolve their heartfelt desires to be recognized fully as productive and important members of their own society”(p.21). Of course, the same may be said of white lesbian researchers... Euro-centric romanticization and appropriation of Native beliefs and practices has become a psychological as well as physical health hazard to sexual minority American Indians, both on the reservation and in the city. Wright, Lopez, and Zumwalt (1997) point out that the discontinuity between Indian and dominant culture worldviews creates a sense of disorientation for many urban-dwelling Indians that is further exacerbated by deprivation of social support from family, clan, and tribe. Given these discontinuities, it is not surprising that many people report difficulty integrating their gay/lesbian and Indian identities (Chan, 1989; Espin, 1987; Garnets & Kimmel, 1991, Morales, 1989) and forging a positive sense of self (Walters, 1997).Some find that the stress associated with negotiating both gay and ethnic identity challenges their coping resources and psychological well-being (Jarvenpa, 1985; Kemnitzer, 1978). Teles describes this identity confusion as a “journey” that many gay American Indians find themselves taking... Because of the intentional and unintentional racism Teles routinely experiences with urban gay friends and acquaintances, the dominant gay community doesn’t feel like “family” to him... The same identity models that may be empowering and offer a sense of coherence to his European American counterparts discount Teles’ reality... Romanticization and irrelevant identity models contribute to the lack of accurate understanding of American Indian sexualities. This lack of understanding, coupled with poverty, generally substandard health care, racism, and other forms of oppression imposed by the dominant society, along with homophobia within some Native communities [possibly a byproduct of interaction with European Americans], may help to explain the dismal statistics that put American Indians in a class of their own as regards human suffering. One example is the rapid increase of HIV-positive and AIDS cases in Indian communities. Unlike other populations, the distribution of Native American AIDS cases has hardly changed since reporting began. The majority of cases are among men (85%). Gay/bisexual men account for 79% of thesecases (Rowell, 1997). We suggest that it is time for researchers to stop imposing European American models on Indian people and move beyond appropriating and romanticizing American Indian sexualities as “symbols of potential liberation from gender identity construction, homophobia, and sexuality containment” (Jacobs, 1997, p. 36). We concur with Jacobs (1997), who proposes an alternative motive for the study of Native sexualities, “If I can find answers... maybe the young people will stop hurting; maybe they will stop killing themselves, maybe they will be respected instead of denigrated and beaten up in their communities” (p. 26)

Bowers, Randolph (2008). Reconnecting with the Mi’kmaq (PDF Download). This led me to think of becoming a priest and minister, but during my early 20s I had to face the reality that my sexual identity was different from those around me. After finishing my first degree I moved to Toronto to ‘come out’ and face the sound of my own drum. Oddly enough, Toronto’s urban jungle crushed my small rural boy identity enough to push me to the edge of despair. It was in a very dark place that another vision came to me. This was the first time that I danced around a fire, and saw the Elders of our People. This was the first time that I saw an Elder Grandmother who I came to call Kisiku during later years. She told me it was time to come home. When I was the lowest and had a suicide plan all in place... That ‘gay’ identity never really fit for me. I am a Two Spirited Being in the Mi’kmaq tradition. This means my spirit carries the medicines of both men and women. Elders saw this in me and brought me into women’s medicine teachings. Two Spirit does not mean ‘gay’ or ‘lesbian.’ Two Spirit means we have the capacity to love both men and women, and some of us have the capacity to form intimate spiritual and physical relationships with someone of the same gender. This is a gift to the Indigenous community. In traditional times, my Elders tell me, we ‘male’ Two Spirits often became helpers of women during their moon time, carers of children and elders, and we were taken into the medicines and sometimes carried the stories, traditions, laws, customs, and some of us became highly respected leaders, teachers, craftspeople, and healers. Something tells me that today human sexuality among our people is deeply troubled – like this part of humanity among all Nations is deeply troubled. Let me just say this – Two Spirit Beings traditionally hold up the core ethical teachings of our Nation. We have been the protectors and helpers of women, children, and the Elders. This was why the European saw our people as weak, because the Mi’kmaq like many Indigenous people hold up women, children, and Elders as the heart of the Nation. We did not hide from human sexuality either – we embraced our whole-selves as human, spiritual, and sexual beings...

Sexualities and Genders in Zapotec Oaxaca by Lynn Stephen (2002: Latin American Perspectives, 29(2): 41-59, PDF): The southern Mexican state of Oaxaca provides a cross-section of the multiple gender relations and sexual behaviors and roles that coexist in modern Mexico.Looking at contemporary gender and sexuality in two Zapotec towns highlights the importance of historical continuities and discontinuities in systems of gender and their relationship to class, ethnicity (earlier coded as race), and sexuality.The various sexual roles, relationships, and identities that characterize contemporary rural Oaxaca suggest that instead of trying to look historically for the roots of “homosexuality,” “heterosexuality,” or even the concept of “sexuality,” we should look at how different indigenous systems of gender interacted with shifting discourses of Spanish colonialism, nationalism, and popular culture to redefine gendered spaces and the sexual behavior within them.Clear differences between elites and those on the margins of Mexican society underscore the importance of divisions by class andstatus...

.The Berdache of Early American Conquest: "This paper attempts to link the facet of queer theory that explains gender and sexuality as culturally constructed identities, with the presence of the berdache in the New World at the time of the Spanish conquest. By analyzing the construction of gender and sexuality among the native peoples, in contrast to the ideologies of the Spanish, I found a clash arose which explained, in some sense, the incompatibility of the two cultures. The differences between the two cultures' gender construction established support for the very "un'natural'" or "in'essential'" nature of gender, sexuality, and the body as a means of self-identity. By realizing the issue of power and where it lies within individuals and societies, hierarchical social constructions are revealed to be connected with sexual roles. This dominant/subordinate relationship present in both cultures defines and substantiates the role that power plays in the cultural context. The use of queer theory to elucidate these complicated social and sexual relationships helps to explain the way this power structure maps onto the native people's relationship with the berdache. This paper will show how the Spaniards mapped their conceptions of power and sexual relationships onto the natives. It will address this conception by carefully analyzing the presence of hermaphrodites in Theodore de Bry's copper etchings. By visualizing the berdache through the eyes of the Spaniard, the concept of sexualizing the foreign natives is revealed to be thickly imbedded in their own gender norms..." - Native American Berdache - Two Spirit People: Gender Does Not Determine Sexuality. - Native vs. White Sex Cosmologies: Sex and Gender Variability vs. Variance in Inter- vs. Intracultural Perspective.

How We Find Ourselves: Identity Development and Two-Spirit People - by Alex Wilson (Harvard Educational Review, 66:3, 1996): "The interconnectedness of sexual identity and ethnicity contributes to the complex nature of the process of identity development. As educators, we must acknowledge that fact in the supports and services we offer to our students. Although the research on lesbian, gay, and bisexual Indigenous Americans is extensive, these inquiries are typically from an anthropological perspective. Much of this research is based on the rereading and reinterpretation of early field notes, testimony, and biographical sketches, twice removed from Indigenous American experiences, and twice filtered through non-Indigenous eyes (C. McHale, personal communication, March 21, 1996). Anthropologists and historians such as Evelyn Blackwood (1984), Beatrice Medicine (1983), Harriet Whitehead (1981), Walter Williams (1986), and Will Roscoe (1988, 1991) have contributed to a body of work that describes and documents the construction of sexuality and gender in Indigenous American communities. Their work provides a critique of Western assumptions about sexuality and gender, but generally fails to recognize the existence of and to acknowledge the contributions of "two-spirit" Indigenous Americans today. From my perspective as a two-spirit Swampy Cree woman, I will critically assess current theory in identity development through reflection on my life and identity development. This reassessment has implications for developmental theorists, counselors, and educators who engage with two-spirit people..."

 How to become a berdache: toward a unified analysis of gender diversity. (Related Information): "Berdache status was not a niche for occasional (and presumably "natural") variation in sexuality and gender, nor was it an accidental by-product of unresolved social contradictions. In the native view, berdaches occupied a distinct and autonomous social status on par with the status of men and women. Like male and female genders, the berdache gender entailed a pattern of differences encompassing behavior, temperament, social and economic roles and religious specialization - all the dimensions of a gender category, as I defined that term earlier, with the exception of the attribution of physical differences (the Navajos may be one exception; see n.74). But physical differences were constructed in various ways in Native American perception, and they were not accorded the same weight that they are in Western belief. Social learning and personal experiences (including ritual and supernat ural experiences) were considered just as important in defining individual social identity as anatomy. Viewing female and male berdache roles as third and fourth genders, therefore, offers the best translation of native categories and the best fit with the range of behaviors and social traits reported for berdaches. Conversely, characterizations of berdaches as crossing genders or mixing genders, as men or women who "assume the role of the `opposite' sex," are reductionist and inaccurate." - The Berdache: Transgenderism Among Native-Americans. - Welcome, To A WebSite About An "Other" - A Berdache's Odyssey.  - A Native American Perspective on the Theory of Gender Continuum. - Winyanktehca: Two-souls person. - Narcissism is not a dirty word - or the spiritual aspects of transsexualism. - The Hyper-male/Hyper-female And The Warrior Society. - The "berdache": Multiple Genders & Other Myths. -  Two Spirit: The third gender in Lakota and Native American Cultures. - Deconstructing Gender Dichotomies: Conceptualizing the Native American Berdache (1994). - Native American Berdache: A Symbol of Identification and Power for Native and Non-Native Gay Men? (1997)

Chapter 17: Native American Societies in An Online Guide to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans* History. - Berdache or Trickster? A Reflection on Homosexuality, Myth and Culture: Proceedings of the international scientific conference 'Homosexuality, Which Homosexuality?'  - Moon: "If a man were blessed by Moon, he would have to become a berdache. If he were to refuse Moon's blessing, he would surely die." - What your dreams make you (1989). - The Plains Cree - Religion and Ceremonialism - The Supernaturals. - The Trickster and the Squirrel: Western Sexuality Between Religion and Moral (1995). - Archetypes. - Two-Spirit People: Gender and Sexual Variability in Native North America. - Changing Native American Sex Roles in an Urban Context by Bea Medicine (PPT Presentation).

Who Are the Third Sex in the 20th Century? .  - The Journey of Alvar Nuñez Cabeza De Vaca (1542). (Alternate Link) - Redefinition Of Gender and Sexuality in Pre-Columbian Times. - Gender, Sexuality, and Ceremony:  The Construction of a Pan-tribal Berdache Identity among Native North Americans (Thesis Abstract). - The Culture of Male Love (North America) The Two Spirit Tradition in Native American Experience. - The place of shamanism in ecofeminism. - Native American Sacred Traditions and Western Culture. - Free to be Responsible (Alternate Link). - Cultural Theft: When claiming one's cultural identity turns into thievery (Alternate Link). - An innovative affair of cultural genocide N/A (PDF Download) by Rev. Sequoyah Ade. - Extreme Prejudice: Examining Contemporary Genocide in America (Includes: An Innovative Affair of Genocide) by Rev. Sequoyah Ade - The Angryindian (Download Page: PDF Download. Author's Web Site).

A British GLBT "Navajo" Problem: - U.S. Navajos Protest Use of Their Name for UK Gay Rights Project. - Navajo on the war path over gay rights charter. - LGBT ‘Navajo’ project angers Natives.

The Third Gender: (Alternate Link) "In the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, on the Pacific coast of Oaxaca, some children are born neither boys nor girls. They are muxe... In striking opposition to Mexico’s dominant mestizo culture, which is racially mixed and where machismo prevails, the population of Juchitán is predominantly Zapotec and does not condemn or reject effeminate male homosexuals. On the contrary. Here muxe (the word comes from the Zapotec adaptation of the Spanish word for woman, mujer) are generally regarded as part and parcel of society, a third element or gender, combining the assets of both the female and male, and sometimes equipped with special intellectual and artistic gifts." - EL Muxeâ: male homosexual roles among the isthmus Zapotec of southern Mexico: " With the entrance of the queer community into the political arena in North America, Europe, and elsewhere, muxeâs, too, are increasingly drawn to the political realm. The convergence of highly political Zapotec culture with the emergence of homosexual politics has led many muxeâs to become politically active and organized. Las IntrZpidas, the major queer/muxeâ organization in Juchit¦n, is outspoken in local politics regarding homosexual rights, though somewhat paradoxically it is an open supporter of the right-wing PRI party, rather than the leftist Zapotec party, COCEI, that has dominated juchiteco politics for two decades. Despite the increasing influence of the outside world on the muxeâ lifestyle, it seems unlikely that it will lose its distinctive character anytime in the near future. Neither the importation of an intimidating machismo nor the muxeâsâ involvement in broader queer movements appear to be capable of undermining the sense of pride muxeâs carry for themselves as muxeâ."

Theorizing the Third Gender... Or How I Became a Queen in the Empire of Gender (1995, Will Roscoe): I became interested in the possibilities of multiple genders as a result of my research on Native American two-spirits or berdaches. The first problem I encountered when I began this research was that much of the evidence I found didn’t fit the standard anthropological definition of berdaches, which explained these diverse tribal roles as instances of “a person of one anatomic sex assuming part or most of the attire, occupation, and social—including marital—status, of the opposite sex” (Whitehead, 85). I was learning about two-spirits who did not cross-dress, or who dressed in styles distinct from both women and men, or who cross-dressed but made no attempt to “pass” or disguise their original sex. In many cases they engaged in behaviors and activities of both their anatomical sex and those of the so-called opposite sex, and many of their behaviors and activities were unique to their role, especially their ritual and spiritual lives. Finally, there were myths that accounted for the origins of two-spirit roles much as male and female genders were explained. In short, many elements of these roles were inconsistent with the idea that these were persons of one sex trying to be the opposite sex...

Medicine B (2002). Directions in gender research in American Indian societies: Two spirits and other categories. In W. J. Lonner, D. L. Dinnel, S. A. Hayes, & D. N. Sattler (Eds.), Online Readings in Psychology and Culture (Unit 3, Chapter 2). PDF Download. Indigenous social role categories that represent third and fourth gender characteristics, such as the Lakota (Sioux) winkte and the Dino (Navajo) n<dleeh and other Native terms, mark the status of these individuals. However, they are often blanketed by the term, berdache, in social science literature. Contextualization in an ethnographic frame is essential to greater comprehension of these roles. A critical review of contemporary research and the writings of the Native occupants of these categories has resulted in an all encompassing term: "Two Spirits." Coterminously, Native terms for lesbians are also emerging. However, all Native gay males and lesbians have not accepted the term. This article discusses the concerns of indigenous researchers and others or non-indigenous researchers in this discourse...

Language, Embodiment, and the ‘Third Sex’ (2009) by Lal Zimman and Kira Hall. To appear in Dominic Watt and Carmen Llamas (eds), Language and Identities. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. PDF Download. Groups whose gender identities and enactments fall outside of sociocultural norms for women and men are often described by scholars as well as group members as constituting a “third gender” or “third sex.” This chapter discusses the utility of this categorization (hereafter abbreviated as third sex) for the study of language, gender, and sexuality. We begin by acknowledging the problematic nature of this terminology as established by the critiques that have been leveled against its use within the history of anthropological scholarship. However, we maintain that a careful deployment of the concept can be theoretically illuminating when providing ethnographic accounts of gender-variant communities who themselves articulate their subjectivity through the idea of thirdness. Most notably, the way this term refocuses the analytic lens on biological sex—an issue that feminist scholars have often subordinated to their interest in the social construction of gender—highlights how sexual embodiment, no less than gender, is constructed in culturally and historically specific ways. The purpose of this chapter is to demonstrate the importance of the body in shaping the relationship between language and identity amonggender-variant groups...

Hemmilä, Anita (2005). Ancestors of Two-Spirits: Representations Of Native American Third-Gender Males In Historical Documentation: A Critical Discourse Analysis in Anthropology. Graduate Dissertation, University of Jyväskylä. PDF Download. Download Page.  The words hermaphrodite and berdache are some of the many terms that have been used in reference to certain kinds of North American natives who can be characterized as Native American third-genders. Nowadays, these kinds of natives call themselves two-spirits. In their own cultures, third-genders were, and to some extent still are, regarded as being outside the male and female genders, as if occupying a third-gender position in their society. In the past, these individuals had a visible and socially recognized position in their culture, and many Native American languages had special terms for them. These terms could be applied to real hermaphrodites and/or to those whose inner character contained the essence of both female and male characters. In the traditional native way of thinking, this gave them a unique spiritual power, supported by the ancient religious belief systems of their peoples. Nowadays, many of these Native American terms have either disappeared from use or do not have the same definition or connotations they once had. Many European and American terms applied to third-gender have fallen out of use as well. For example, the oldest one of these, hermaphrodite, was laterrealized to be a misnaming...

Young JC (1999). Alternative genders in the Coast Salish world : paradox and pattern. Master's Dissertation, University of British Columbia. PDF Download. Download Page. Abstract: The concern of this thesis is the position of people of alternative genders in Coast Salish culture, not only in the past, but in the present. How were individuals with such a difference treated? What forces constrained them? What factors afforded them opportunity? Were such genders even recognized? With these questions in mind, field work was conducted with the permission of the Std: Id Nation throughout the summer of 1998. This paper is based on interviews conducted then and subsequent interviews with people from other Coast Salish groups. In addition, local ethnographic materials—with reference to field notes whenever possible—and traditional stories were analyzed from the perspective of Coast Salish epistemology. Alternative genders need to be understood foremost in the cultural contexts in which they occur, only then can comparisons proceed from a secure foundation. Research revealed a paradoxical situation. Oral traditions in which the alternately gendered are despised, occur side-by-side with traditions in which such people were honoured for the special powers they possessed. Individuals and families operated in the space generated by this paradox, playing the "serious games" to which Ortner alludes (1996:12-13). The absence of a "master narrative" in Coast Salish culture accounts for some, but not all of these contradictions. Equally relevant are persistent patterns of secrecy, personal autonomy, kin solidarity, differential status, and differential gender flexibility that both restrict the social field and offer stress points that were, and are, manipulated in individual and collective strategies. Given a world view in which transformation was the norm, and in which the disadvantaged could become powerful overnight by revealing the power they had hidden, some alternatively gendered people were able to maximize their potential and become significant forces. No formal roles offered sanction, instead an ad hoc approach marked the response to alternative genders and the outcome rested on the position of the individual and her/his family, and their ability to maneuver within multiple constraints. It was this potential to transform a stigmatized status into an honoured role that made the position of the alternatively gendered paradoxical.

Horswell, By Michael (2005). Decolonizing the Sodomite: Queer Tropes of Sexuality in Colonial Andean Culture. Amazon. Google Books. In Part, Full Text. In the late fifteenth century there was a crisis in the succession of Inca rulers in Tawantinsuyu—a pachacuti (cataclysmic change) that became a liminal moment in the cultural reproduction of the Andean social body and in the transition of Inca imperial bodies from one generation to another. As recounted in the first epigraph above, to mediate the tension created during this time of change, the Inca summoned to Cuzco a queer figure, the chuqui chinchay, or the apo de los otorongos, a mountain deity of the jaguars who was the patron of dual-gendered indigenous peoples. While we do not know precisely why the chuqui chinchay was called to Cuzco that day, we can now appreciate that this apo was a revered figure in Andean culture, and its human huacsas, or ritual attendants—third-gendered subjects—were vital actors in Andean ceremonies. These quariwarmi (men-women) shamans mediated between the symmetrically dualistic spheres of Andean cosmology and daily life by performing rituals that at times required same-sex erotic practices. Their transvested attire served as a visible sign of a third space that negotiated between the masculine and the feminine, the present and the past, the living and the dead. Their shamanic presence invoked the androgynous creative force often represented in Andean mythology...

Klein, Cecelia F (2001). None of the Above: Gender Ambiguity in Nahua Ideology. PDF Download. In: Cecelia F. Klein and Jeffrey Quilter (eds). Gender in Pre-Hispanic America. Washington, DC: umbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection. Google Books. Amazon.

Brumfiel, Elizabeth M (2001). Asking about Aztec Gender: The Historical and Archaeological Evidence. PDF Download. In: Cecelia F. Klein and effrey Quilter (eds). Gender in Pre-Hispanic America. Washington, DC: umbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection. Google Books. Amazon.

CONNECTIONS between the queer and indigenous communities in Canada : a conversation. - The "Native Americans & Homosexuality" Forum. - A Native American Perspective on the Theory of Gender Continuum. (Alternate Link) - Chrystos on Queer Native America. - Europe Exported Lesbian/Gay Oppression to the Americas. - The fence. - "A Curious Double Insight": The Well of Loneliness and Native American Alternative Gender Traditions. - Without Reservations: Native American Lesbians Struggle to Find Their Way. - Bryce's Story: On Being a Transgender Native American. - Healing a generation of hard work (Must Scroll). - Two-Spirit People: A (Re)Weaving Healing from historical trauma. Celebrating our survival. Creating a warp and weft to weave our continuance. - GayWest Rural Two Spirit Youth CD Package Project N/A: "GayWest is now working on a CD package project which will support and inspire Two-Spirit Youth (Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual/Transgender/Intersexed) from all nations. The package will made up of series of audio CDs and one computer interactive CD. Each audio compact disk will contain eight 10 minute audio clips of messages from Two-Spirit speakers with positive perspectives and good inspirations on living as a Two Spirited person. The Interactive Compact disks will contain longer audio clips plus video, positive images of Two Spirited youth, relevant stories, and history of GLBTI community, resource links, and much more..."

Urban Two-Spirited Youth Must be Empowered: "Canada’s Indigenous People remain one of the most marginalized groups across the land... Unfortunately, the Two Spirit youth community is further marginalized and living in an oppressed state, and at-risk for suicidal tendencies... First, due to homophobic attitudes within mainstream society they are at risk of rejection and social isolation. Second, and what may be most difficult for Two Spirit youth are that they in turn also have a higher chance of being rejected and socially isolated within their own families and home communities at large. The experience of double estrangement for Two Spirit youth no doubt contributes to feelings of inadequacy, cultural confusion and a lack of a self-identity... Many, grappling with identity issues are unable to find any sense of belonging, a key attribute to youth success... In summary, it is encouraged for all to learn more about Two Spirit peoples, and their history in order to improve upon the economic, cultural, social and personal prospects of urban Two Spirit youth by the development of more awareness and research to address the high rates HIV/AIDS and other chronic diseases contracted, social inequalities, double estrangement, and lack of self-identity that Two Spirit youth experience." - Two Spirit Organization Denied By Their Own and the City of Edmonton! (PDF): "The Two Spirit Circle of Edmonton Society has been overlooked, forgotten or just downright denied inclusion in the latest edition of “A Guide To Aboriginal Edmonton”. What motivated the omission of the fact of our existence and our contact information is bewildering...Two Spirit peoples and our place in Nehiyaw culture and history in the Edmonton area is beginning to build momentum and we see this ‘oversight’ as a bump in our road to a full return to the Nehiyaw circle of life. We give thanks to all the individuals who were responsible for the Guide for forgetting us and by doing so providing us this distinct opportunity to speak our own truth”, says Mr. Jenkins. “W e’ve been overlooked, forgotten, denied, bashed, beaten, murdered or ridiculed for too long and it’s time to stop and the only way that’ll get accomplished is by taking responsibility for ourselves. Indigenous communities throughout the Americas can no longer keep their heads in the sand about the importance of Two Spirit peoples - we need each other as much, if not more, now than we ever did before.” - Two spirits, one purpose: Gay and lesbian American Indians look to the past to shape a better future on the reservation.

Date Rape: " For gay or two-spirited males, sexual assault can lead to feelings of self-blame and self-loathing attached to their sexuality. There is already a lot of homophobic feelings in society to trouble two-spirited males about their sexuality. Being sexually assaulted may lead a gay man to believe he somehow "deserved it," that he was "paying the price" for his sexual orientation. Unfortunately, this self-blame can be reinforced by the ignorance or intolerance of others who blame the victim by suggesting that a gay victim somehow attracted the assault or was less harmed by it because he was gay. Gay men may also hesitate to report a sexual assault due to fears of blame, disbelief or intolerance by police or health professionals..." - Two Spirited Peoples Forum. - Inventory of Aboriginal Services, Issues and Initiatives in Vancouver: Two-Spirit / LGBT (2007). 

Two Spirited Movement gives Hope to Vulnerable Aboriginal GLBTT Youth (2009, Albert McLeod, PPT Download). - Winnipegger speaks up for gay Aboriginals at national hearings (2010): 'In order to advance human rights you have to value identity,' says Albert McLeod. -  Two-Spirit Youth Speak Out - Analysis of the Needs Assessment Tool (2004).

Wong A, et al. (2007). Invisible Identities: Sexually Diverse Ethnic and Racial Minorities and Two-Spirited People in Quebec. Memoire presented by Coalition MultiMundo and Ethnoculture Inc., in collaboration with the Sexual and Gender Diversity: Vulnerability, and Resilience (SVR) Research Team, to the Commission de consultation sur les pratiques d'accommodement reliees aux differences culturelles. PDF.

Wong A, et al. (2007). Identités Invisibles: Diversité sexuelle des minorités visibles, des communautés culturelles et des personnes bispirituelles au Québec. Mémoire présenté à la commission de consultation sur les pratiques d'accommodements reliés aux différences culturelles par la Coalition MultiMundo et Ethnoculture, en collaboration avec l’équipe de recherche Sexualités et Genres : Vulnérabilité et Résilience (SVR). PDF. 

Kiss of the Fur Queen by Tomson Highway (2010): The Roman Catholic Church appears to be in crisis with the continued outing of homosexual pedophile priests and revelations of abuse.  The sad thing about this is that the abuse is not the crisis.  Given that abuse has been happening since the days of St. Peter, one can hardly call the status quo a crisis.  The only thing that qualifies as a crisis is the media treatment of the issue.  A tabloid fascination with lurid details coupled with global dissemination of those details has produced a media nightmare for the Vatican.  As a consequence, this Easter we have witnessed the bizarre spectacle of Easter homilies whose content is nothing more than damage control.  Religion was never so shallow... 2) This is not a Roman Catholic issue.  This is a human systems issue.  The Canadian experience with residential schools is instructive.  We learned that abuse can be perpetrated by Catholic, Protestant and secular institutions.  Their members can be gay or straight.  And the abuse they inflict can be sexual, physical, psychological, even cultural.  The defining qualities of abuse are unrelated to the religious affiliation or sexuality of the perpetrators and have nothing to do with the particular nature of the abuse inflicted.  What defines abuse is a dynamic in the relationship between perpetrator and victim characterized by an inequality of power:  dependency of the victim and breach of trust by the perpetrator... One prophetic voice is Cree novelist, Tomson Highway, who was born in northern Manitoba but was removed from his family and placed in a Catholic residential school in The Pas.  His novel, Kiss of the Fur Queen, tells the story of two brothers, Champion and Ooneemeetoo Okimasis, who are placed in a Catholic residential school where they are sexually abused by a supervising priest.  Deprived of family, community, culture, even deprived of their names, they have no supports to cope with the trauma of abuse.  The older brother, Jeremiah, watches as his younger sibling, Gabriel, comes apart at the seams.  Gabriel never comes to terms with his sexuality, engaging in extreme promiscuity, often for money, and ultimately dying of AIDS.  Jeremiah copes by burying himself in piano studies with with hope of pursuing a career as a concert pianist...

Two-Spirited Youth Program (PDF Download N/A). - Gay Lesbian Bisexual Two-Spirited Alberta Youth Outreach. - First Nations gay youth brings support to Smithers. - The Toronto Trans and Two-Spirited Primer: An Introduction to Lower-income, Sex-working and Street-involved Transgendered, Transsexual & Two-Spirit Service Users in Toronto (by Trans Programming at the 519: PDF Download). - Discrimination Against Two-Spirited People: "The Ontario First Nations AIDS and Healthy Lifestyle Survey, which was completed in 1993, contained a section that explored views of homosexuality in various Aboriginal communities (i.e., on-reserve).  In the Survey it was stated that:“The majority of respondents felt that homosexuality was wrong, and perceived their family and community to support this view.” This statement is indicative of the pervasiveness of homophobia in First Nations’ communities.  It has been our experience at 2-Spirited People of the 1st Nations that many of our members have been forced to leave their home communities due to intolerance of sexual diversity and, in many cases, at very young ages.  Many adolescent two-spirited people arrive in large urban centres with an inadequate education to find employment and many our forced into the sex trade as a means of survival.  Thus the affects of racism and homophobia often leads to high risk and self-destructive behaviour... Rejection by one's own cultural group can be psychologically devastating. “Two-Spirit[ed] People ... have experienced homophobia resulting in rejection from family and community.  Some individuals experience internalized homophobia, and an inability to accept their own sexuality due to judgemental attitudes from society in general.  Lack of acceptance produces ramifications of substance abuse, sexual, mental & physical abuse, no family or community support, internalized racism, sex trade, language barriers, low self-esteem, shame, fear, guilt, lack of work experience/education, lack of safer sex negotiating skills, sexual identity crisis and lack of peer counselling.  This scenario has produced isolation which may result in suicide.” ... As two-spirited men, you know there is not room for your life on the reserve.  Your sexuality is not tolerated and many men leave to find urban centres where they can express themselves.  Many men live a dual life: Bisexuality on the reserve is more common than you think.  If you are one strong enough to be who you are, you are ridiculed, harassed and only sometimes understood as again being “different.”

Two-Spirited & Proud: "Richard Jenkins, a 42-year-old from Alberta, formally committed himself to his long-time partner, Pierre, last month. According to my invitation, it wasn't marriage, but a "commitment ceremony" between the men. And not your run-of-the-mill commitment ceremony either, but a traditional Cree ceremony, conducted by an elder instead of a clergy member or justice of the peace. The couple and all the guests wore the usual wedding attire of suits and bright dresses. But eagle feathers were exchanged instead of rings and the elder spoke in Cree, uttering the same pledges that have been spoken for generations. No allowances or changes to Cree legislation had to be made in this case..." - Don't Follow America: Tribes Should Lift Bans On Gay Marriage: "I've long known that about half of America doesn't like gay people. It's been made pretty clear, most recently with the rejection of numerous marriage equality bills, and the approval of anti-gay marriage legislation in 37 states. But now, to my dismay, Indian Country is following the white man's lead. .." - Gay Native Americans Rediscover 'Two-Spirit' Identity.

San Diego Two-Spirit Group Seeking Members N/A (2006): "Karen Vigneault (Ipai/Kumeyaay), from the Santa Ysabel reservation, is a woman on a mission. She wants to re-establish San Diego's first Native American LGBT group, "Nations of the Four Directions." This group was active in the early to mid 90's and participated in powwows, San Diego Pride, and HIV/AIDS education. Their mission was to provide social support to the Two Spirited Native American community of San Diego. The group disbanded when the core members of the group moved away or had to devote attention to their personal lives. Over the past year, Karen has received encouragement from friends, fellow tribal members, and acquaintances, to revive the Two-Spirit support system that once existed in San Diego. After much thought and spiritual reflection, she's ready to start rebuilding..."

Sinister Wisdom: A Multicultural Journal by and for Lesbians:  "Two Spirit Women of First Nations (Deadline: March 1, 2007) - Guest Editors: Chrystos (Menominee) and Sunny Birdstone (Ktunaxa): Colonialization has marginalized Indigenous women (as well as men), making Native Dykes almost completely invisible. We celebrate the survival of Two Spirit women of First Nations in this issue. Submissions may be in any format - taped interviews, dialogues, as well as fiction, poetry, etc. Please respect certain definitions, which have often been violated - ie. we ask for work from lesbians who are Native in this lifetime only, recognized by their tribes or communities (although a BIA number is not required) and willing to use their name rather than a pseudonym (this is to help prevent submissions of non-authentic work). We define Indigenous Dykes as coming from the Americas, as well as the Pacific (Hawaii, New Zealand, Australia), with a land base (ie. reservation, ranchero, etc.) and a tribal affiliation (Maori, Koori, Cree, etc.). Government recognition of tribal status is not necessary (ie. we recognize the Duwamish). We are particularly interested in stories from dykes who were in residential schools, Elders, incarcerated, & in honor of those who have passed on (Barbara Cameron NationShield, Smiley Hillaire). Edited by Chrystos (Menominee) and Sunny Birdstone (Ktunaxa). Megwetch." - Inque[e]ry: The Lesbian, Bi, Trans and Two-Spirited Women’s Research Network of B.C. (2002). - Two Spirit Women, 2nd edition (2008).

Two Spirit Women: The More We Know, the More We Heal (2010). Presenter: Doris “Doe” O’Brien-Teengs, Regional Outreach Worker, Ontario Aboriginal HIV/AIDS Strategy, Toronto. Presentation PDF.

Abstract: Aboriginal Peoples have experienced massive cultural genocide in the last 500 years. More specifically in the last 120 years, the most affected groups are the sexually diverse. Aboriginal women and those who are now called Two Spirit people have been targeted and homophobia has been sewn into the fabric of Aboriginal People’s consciousness. Coming out as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered in any Aboriginal community, whether that is a First Nations, Metis or Inuit community, a rural community or a city is a difficult venture because most of the Aboriginal communities – even ‘traditional’ Aboriginal cultures are homophobic and proud of it. Only through telling our stories and celebrating our identities will Aboriginal communities be able to come to a place of Aboriginal balance—a place which includes Two Spirit women. The Two Spirit Women booklet 2nd Edition was written to tell the stories of our past, reveal our colonization and to demonstrate how these affect our lives along with our lived experience. These experiences may be individual, but shared; and only through telling our stories and living our lives will we reach a place of healing in our emotional, physical, mental and spiritual selves..

Academic

University Courses: Transgender Histories, Identities, and Politics. - Antropology of Sexualities (Word Download). Coloring Queer  (Word Download): "Queer Studies and Ethnic Studies often seem at odds.  While scholars of both fields tout their dedication to social justice, they frequently ignore the very issues of one another.  Myopic white privilege and homophobia within communities of color appear to lay at the root of this seemingly benign neglect.  This course addresses the disciplinary void by illuminating the very intersection of race and sexuality through queer communities of color themselves.  The course focuses less on the causes of the erasure and more on how queer individuals of color negotiate family, race, and desire, and ultimately carve out spheres of sexual fulfillment in both positive and destructive ways..." - PowerPoint presentation created by John Hawk Cocke (Osage/Peoria/Cherokee), elder of the Tulsa Two Spirits Society: Two Spirit, Then and Now (PPT Download. Download Page). - First Person Radio: Feb 9: DR. KARINA WALTERS: On Two-Spirit Health (2011).

Wilson, Alexandria M (2007). N'tacimowin inna nah': Coming in to two-spirit identities. PhD. Dissertation, Education, Havard Univerity. Abstract.

Bowers R (2007). A bibliography on Aboriginal and minority concerns: Identity, prejudice, marginalisation, and healing in relation to gender, sexuality, and the ecology of place . Counselling, Psychotherapy, and Health, 3(2), Indigenous Special Issue, 46-88. PDF Download.

Iovannone, J James (2009). "Mix-Ups, Messes, Confinements, and Double-Dealings": Transgendered Performances in Three Novels by Louise Erdrich. Studies in American Indian Literatures, 21(1). Full text.

Snyder M (2008). "He certainly didn't want anyone to know that he was queer": Chal Windzer's Sexuality in John Joseph Mathews's Sundown. Studies in American Indian Literatures, 20(1): 27-54 (Full Text): In the field of Native American literary studies, far too little work has been done that examines sexuality in Indigenous poetry, drama, and fiction. Moreover, little critical attention has been given to two-spirited,1 gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or queer Native writers and characters. For example, representations of twospirited characters in certain works of canonical, straight-identified Indigenous authors, such as Leslie Marmon Silko's Almanac of the Dead and Gerald Vizenor's Bearheart: The Heirship Chronicles, deserve critical scrutiny. And while some (but not enough) critical essays and chapters have been devoted to two-spirited women writers and poets, such as Paula Gunn Alien and Chrystos,2 less attention has been given to the output of gifted male two-spirited or queer novelists and poets such as Craig S. Womack, Maurice Kenny, Qwo-Li Driskill, and Chip Livingston. In fact, critical discourse on textual representations of Indigenous male same-sex desire is quite rare, whether referring to representations within works authored by two-spirited or avowedly heterosexual Indians. The very idea of Native male same-sex desire has proved to be challenging and subversive, in that "gay" or "queer" does not seem to correspond with the popular image of the Native American. Craig S. Womack writes, "the queer Indian, even more than contemporary Indian culture generally, defies the stereotypes of the stoic warrior, the nature-loving mystic, the vanishing American. [. . .] a queer Indian presence [. . .] fundamentally challenges the American mythos about Indians in a manner that the public will not accept" (Red 279-80). The consequence is that two-spirited people have found themselves virtually invisible in literary and cinematic representations of Native Americans, whether produced by indigenes or not. This absence, in reinforcing Euroamerican heteronormativity, contributes to what Qwo-Li Driskill has called a "colonized sexuality [. . .] in which we have internalized the sexual values of dominant culture" (54)... - glbtq: .Native North American Literature. - A tale of two spirits: First Nations actor pens award-winning tale about growing up gay 'on the rez' (2011).

The Will Roscoe Bibliography (Alternate Link). - Homepage (Alternate Link). - How I Became a Queen in the Empire of Gender. - Native American healing and spirituality, wolves, the maya and aztecs, and ancient beliefs. - An Aztec Two-Spirit Cosmology: Re-sounding Nahuatl Masculinities, Elders, Femininities, and Youth. - Dyke Psyche: Native American Two-Spirit People. - The Toronto Trans and Two-Spirit Primer: An Introduction to Lower-income, Sex-working and Street-involved Transgendered, Transsexual & Two-Spirit Service Users in Toronto: PDF Download.

Quo-Li Drilkill (2009 CV):  Call Me Brother: Two-Spiritedness, the Erotic, and Mixedblood Identity as Sites of Sovereignty and Resistance in Gregory Scofield's Poetry (pdf). Speak to Me Words: Essays on Contemporary American Indian Poetry. Eds. Janice Gould and Dean Rader. Tucson: University of Arizona, 2003. 223-234. - Creating New Ceremonies with Remembered Ones: A Commentary on Louis Esme Cruz's "Puo’winue’l Prayers"(pdf). Sexuality, Nationality, Indigeneity. Eds. Daniel Heath Justice, Mark Rifkin, and Bethany Schneider. GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies. 16.1–2 (2010): 69-92. 244-245. - Doubleweaving Two-Spirit Critiques: Building Alliances between Native and Queer Studies (pdf). Sexuality, Nationality, Indigeneity. Eds. Daniel Heath Justice, Mark Rifkin, and Bethany Schneider. GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies. 16.1–2 (2010): 69-92. - Stolen from Our Bodies: First Nations Two-Spirits/Queers and the Journey to a Sovereign Erotic (pdf). Studies in American Indian Literatures. 16.2. (2004): 50-64. (More Papers Available).

Quo-Li Drilkill: Some Courses Given: Writing: The American Ethnic and Racial Experience (WRA 125). Michigan State University: Fall, 2006... Writing: The American Ethnic and Racial Experience involves drafting, revising, and editing compositions derived from readings on the experience of American ethnic and racial groups to develop skills in narration, persuasion, analysis, and documentation. This section focused on Native people and the diverse identities and experiences that exist within Native nations, communities, histories, and intellectual traditions. Specifically, we looked at Native women, Native Gay/Lesbian/Bi/Trans and Two-Spirit identities, Native people with (dis)abilities, and Red-Black (African-Native American) experiences. We engaged with the subject matter by exploring various genres including theory, poetry, fiction, visual rhetorics, film, music, and theater. The use of interactive theater in the classroom was a common learning technique.- Writing: Men in America. (WRA 145). Michigan State University: Spring 2006... Writing: Men in America involves drafting, revising, and editing compositions (in a wide variety of genres) derived from readings on men in America to develop skills in narration, persuasion, analysis, and documentation and is a Tier One writing course at MSU. This section had a particular focus on the experiences of Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (GBTQ) identified men of color, "gender variant" people of color from a wide spectrum of gender expressions, constructions of masculinity, feminism, and anti-sexism.

Brian Gilley (Associate Professor of Anthropology): Queer Indigenous Studies: Critical Interventions in Theory, Politics, and Literature - 2011 - edited by Q-L. Driscoll. B Gilley, S. Morgenson, C. Finley. University of Arizona Press. - Becoming Two-Spirit: The Search for Self and Social Acceptance in Indian Country - 2006 - by Brian Gilley, University of Nebraska Press (Google Books).

Scott L Morgensen: .Activist Media in Native AIDS Organizing: Theorizing the Colonial Conditions of AIDS (2008). - Arrival at Home: Radical Faerie Configurations of Sexuality and Place (2008).

Tatonetti L (2010).Visible Sexualities or Invisible Nations: Forced to Choose in Big Eden, Johnny Greyeyes, and The Business of Fancydancing: This essay examines the construction of Two-Spirit identity in three contemporary narrative films, Big Eden, Johnny Greyeyes, and The Business of Fancydancing, arguing that, despite each story's focus on a queer Native protagonist, by their conclusions each film fractures Two-Spirit identities. Whereas Big Eden elides indigenous identity, Johnny Greyeyes and The Business of Fancydancing segregate indigeneity from queer sexuality, thereby relegating queerness entirely to off-reservation spaces...

Walter L William (CV, 2006 - Related Website): Founding Editor: International Gay & :Lesbian Review. - The 'two-spirit' people of indigenous North Americans (2010). - Two Spirits: A Story of Life with the Navajo: Two Spirits is an historical novel by Walter L. Williams and Toby Johnson.  - Two Spirits: A Story of Life With the Navajo - 2005 - by Walter L. Williams and Toby Johnson (Review) (Review) (Review) (Google Books). - The Spirit and the Flesh: Sexual Diversity in American Indian Culture - 1992 - by Walter L. Williams (Abstract) (Excerpts) (Amazon: 20 Sample Pages) (Review) (Google Books.

Lisa Tatonetti: - Professor's Book Is First to Explore Two-Spirit Literature in Northwest Native Groups (2010): Queering American Indian Literature: The Rise of Contemporary Two-Spirit Texts and Criticism. - Book Explores Two-Spirit Literature (2010).

Sexuality, Nationality, Indigeneity, GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies 16(1/2), edited by Daniel Heath Justice, Mark Rifkin, and Bethany Schneider (2010, Access to Abstracts).

Social Work and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Two-Sprited People. - Remembering Barbara Cameron. - The tragic murder of openly gay, Two-Spirit Navajo youth Fred Martinez, Jr., has presented many challenges and opportunities to local, regional and national media covering the story. - Canadian Caucus for Two-Spirited and Queers of Colour, Egale Canada. - Showing the True Colours of Montreal’s Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered Community: Conference to focus on issues of diverse cultures and sexualities. The Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) announced today that it will host Out in Colour, the first conference to address issues of concern to members of Montreal’s diverse cultural communities who are also lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, or two-spirited (LGBTTS)..." - Making Traditional Spaces: Cultural Compromise at Two-Spirit Gatherings in Oklahoma.

Two Spirit People: American Indian Lesbian Women and Gay Men (Monograph Published Simultaneously As the Gay & Lesbian Social Services , Vol 6, No 2, 1997) (Paperback) edited by Lester Brown (Amazon) (Google Books) (Abstracts): Book Review. - Mann, Barbara Alice  (2002). - Spirits of Sky, Spirits of Earth: The Spirituality of Chingachgook. Presented at the Cooper Panel of the 2002 Conference of the American Literature Association in Long Beach, California. - Native Sexual Inequalities: American Indian Cultural Conservative Homophobia and the Problem of Tradition (2010).

Dvorsky G, Hughes J (2008). Postgenderism: Beyond the Gender Binary. IEET Monograph Series. PDF Download. Postgenderism is an extrapolation of ways that technology is eroding the biological, psychological and social role of gender, and an argument for why the erosion of binary gender will be liberatory. Postgenderists argue that gender is an arbitrary and unnecessary limitation on human potential, and foresee the elimination of involuntary biological and psychological gendering in the human species through the application of neurotechnology, biotechnology and reproductive technologies. Postgenderists contend that dyadic gender roles and sexual dimorphisms are generally to the detriment of individuals and society. Assisted reproduction will make it possible for individuals of any sex to reproduce in any combinations they choose, with or without "mothers" and "fathers," and artificial wombs will make biological wombs unnecessary for reproduction. Greater biological fluidity and psychological androgyny will allow future persons to explore both masculine and feminine aspects of personality. Postgenderists do not call for the end of all gender traits, or universal androgyny, but rather that those traits become a matter of choice. Bodies and personalities in our postgender future will no longer be constrained andcircumscribed by gendered traits, but enriched by their use in the palette of diverse self-expression...

Health & HIV/AIDS

Health Survey of Two-Spirited Native Americans (07/2002-06/2007) (Alternate Link): "Native American (NA) gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) individuals (whom we will refer to as two-spirits) represent a population facing challenges from both within the NA and GLBT communities. They are a drastically understudied and underserved group, at risk for multiple psychological and health problems. There are no national, quantitative, representative studies of this population on any topic..." - Understanding Two-Spirits N/A: "It goes without saying that, since we are in the Native American capital of the world, that there are bound to be a few queer Indians running around. What may surprise you is the lack of funding and resources available to the Native American community when it comes to dealing with HIV and AIDS awareness and coming out support groups. One organization, the Tulsa Two-Spirited Men’s Group, is dedicated to ensuring that the Native American Gay and Lesbian Community won’t go unnoticed..." - Aboriginal Diversity: "An Approach to Aboriginal Awareness".  - Workshop addresses gay-bashing and American Indians. - Cultural investment: providing opportunities to reduce risky behavior among gay American Indian males (2005). - Sexual Partner Concurrency and Sexual Risk Among Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender American Indian/Alaska Natives (2010). - North American Aboriginal HIV/AIDS Resources Available Online.

Directions in Gender Research in American Indian Societies: Two Spirits and Other Categories. [Medicine, B. (2002). In W. J. Lonner, D. L. Dinnel, S. A. Hayes, & D. N. Sattler (Eds.)] - Walters KL, Simoni JM, Horwath PE (2001). Sexual orientation bias experiences and service needs of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered, and two-spirited American Indians. Journal of Gay and Lesbian Social Services, 13(1/2): 133-49. Journal Index. Abstract Page: PDF Download. - Darrell Joe - gay Navajo tribe member provides services for gay tribe members. - Call For Papers: Intersections of Native American Studies and Queer Studies. - Inventory of Aboriginal Services, Issues and Initiatives in Vancouver: Two-Spirit / LGBT. - North American aboriginal two-spirited sexual identity and HIV/AIDS (1998). - Protective factors related to HIV sexual risk behavior among heterosexual, gay, lesbian, and bisexual American Indian adolescents (2007).

Two-spirit women’s experience of homophobia in the context of HIV/AIDS Service provision. - Two-spirit Applies Courage to Adversity. - Aboriginal Two Spirit Women’s Domestic Violence Fact Sheet. - Mind, body, and spirit: Use of traditional healing among two-spirit Native women. - Best Practices for LGBTQ, Two-Spirited Population. - Aboriginal Youth Concepts of Healthy Sexuality in British Columbia: Final Report N/A (2008). - A Study on Issues that Impact on the Holistic Health of Two Spirit Youth in Toronto (2004, PDF Report Download). - HIV/AIDS and Indigenous Peoples: Final Report of the 5th International Policy Dialogue (2010).

Dancing To Eagle Spirit Society: The purpose of the society is to advance Native American healing and spiritual principles for aboriginal and non-aboriginal people who self identify as two spirit persons. To educate the public on the Sweat lodge ceremony and other Native American spiritual practices.

Simoni JM, Walters KL, Balsam KF, Meyers SB (2006). Victimization, substance use, and HIV risk behaviors among gay/bisexual/two-spirit and heterosexual American Indian Men in New York City. American Journal of Public Health, 96(12): 2240-5. Abstract. Full Text. Full Text."The 20 men self-identifying as gay, two-spirit, or bisexual (hereafter, "two-spirit") were more likely to report being victimized and engaging in HIV risk behaviors than the 51 heterosexual respondents, although they reported comparable levels of recent substance use. Overall, victimization was associated with lifetime HIV risk behaviors (even after control for sexual orientation) but not with substance use or unsafe sex in the past 12 months. The percentage of HIV infection was surprisingly high (10% of two-spirit men and 6% of heterosexual men)..."

Balsam KF, Huang B, Fieland KC, Simoni JM, Walters KL (2004). Culture, trauma, and wellness: a comparison of heterosexual and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and two-spirit native americans. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 10(3): 287-301. Abstract. Full Text. Abstract: In a community-based sample of urban American Indian and Alaska Native adults, 25 lesbian, gay, bisexual, and two-spirit participants were compared with 154 heterosexual participants with respect to sociodemographic characteristics, Native, cultural participation, trauma, physical and mental health, and substance use. Compared with their heterosexual counterparts, two-spirit participants reported higher rates of childhood physical abuse and more historical trauma in their families, higher levels of psychological symptoms, and more mental health service utilization. Two-spirit participants reported differences in patterns of alcohol use and were more likely to have used illicit drugs other than marijuana. Discussion and recommendations for health promotion interventions and future research are presented in consideration of an "indigenist" health model and the multiple minority status of two-spirit people..

Taylor, Catherine (2009). Health and Safety Issues for Aboriginal Transgender/Two Spirit People in Manitoba. Canadian Journal of Aboriginal Community-based HIV/AIDS Research, 2, Winter: 5-26. Abstract & Download Page: A community-based assessment funded by Public Safety and Emergency Preparadness Canada was conducted following OCAP principles in order to gain specific knowledge of the safety and security concerns, the service and support experiences, and the service and support needs of the transgender and Two Spirit people of Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario.  Full Text. Full Text.

Taylor C, et al. (2006). Nowhere Near Enough: A Needs Assessment of Health and Safety Services for Transgender and Two Spirit People in  Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario: Final Report (Word Download).  - Health and Safety Services for Transgender/Two-Spirit People (2007): A survey of this community clearly shows that there is a tremendous gap in the services for transgender folks that ultimately has a human and economic cost to all Manitobans. The one-year project was funded by the Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada department of National Crime prevention Centre and carried out by Nine Circles Community Health Centre in response to a growing demand for services. Participants in the survey came from all walks of life. Regardless of socio-economic background, person after person described blatant abuse and discrimination against members of the transgender community. Survey respondents indicated that they were often ignored, offered inferior care and/or mistreated by the health system. The research indicates there is a clear lack of knowledge and lack of comfort with the issues of transgenderism among health-care practitioners. Furthermore, participants, whether closeted or publicly trans, described school life as a long ordeal, characterized by bullying and depression that led them to under-perform or drop out altogether. Taken together, the long-term effect of discrimination and failure to provide services, not only affected the person in question, it had an impact on the community at large...

Ristock J, Zoccole A, Passante L. 2-Spirited People of the 1st Nations, Toronto (2010). Aboriginal Two-Spirit and LGBTQ Migration, Mobility, and Health Research Project. Winnipeg, Final Report (PDF Download). Purpose: This qualitative, community-based research project explored the trajectories of migration of Aboriginal people who identify as Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and/or queer (LGBTQ) and the impact of mobility on health and wellness. Our focus on migration includedmovement from First Nation reserve communities to urban centres or rural communities (and back and forth) as well as staying or moving within one place. We were interested in the intersection between sexual and gender identities with cultural/Nation and other identities within the historical and present context of colonization in Canada. More specifically this research project had the following objectives: 1. to explore the migration paths and experiences of Aboriginal Two-Spirit and LGBTQ peoples, their experiences of health/wellness in that context, and their interactions with health and social services (including mainstream, Aboriginal and LGBTQ services). 2 to generate new knowledge that may lead to future research that will be of direct benefit to LGBTQ and Aboriginal communities, Aboriginal service providers and health/social service agencies.

20th International 2 Spirit Gathering (2008): Native youth suicide was highlighted as an emerging concern of great magnitude in the Two Spirit community, in addition to unabated levels of HIV transmission during more than a quarter of a century of the pandemic. Escalating levels of cuts in federal funding directed to prevention and services among Native health and human service organizations have increasingly raised alarm across Native Country.  In 2008 Native American HIV transmission rates are equaled only by sub-Saharan Africa, it was reported at the International AIDS Conference in Mexico City.  Two Spirit Press Room presented information about the 20th  International Two Spirit Gathering at a 3 day Indigenous pre-conference in August, at the invitation of the Ottawa based Canadian Aboriginal AIDS Network.  Since 1981 AIDS has claimed 25 million people worldwide, and Native American people continue to be disproportionately impacted by HIV. - Two-Spirited but Not Accepted N/A: Two-Spirit males are at a higher risk for suicide than other aboriginal males and white gays.Two-Spirit youths in urban areas are more likely to become street kids with the guys more likely to become male prostitutes and rent-boys than their heterosexual counterparts and white gay counterparts. Finally, Two-Spirits have a much higher risk of abusing and becoming addicted to drugs, and sharing dirty needles. These kids are in many instances the highest risk group in all of Canada

Remembering Two-Spirits This Thanksgiving (Alternate Link): I am also reminded of my Two-Spirit Native American brothers and sisters who struggle with their families and tribes not approving of their sexual identities and gender expressions as many of us do with our families and faith communities. “Yes, there’s internalized homophobia in every gay community, but as Native Americans we are taught not to like ourselves because we’re not white. In our communities, people don’t like us because we’re gay,” Gabriel Duncan, member of Bay Area American Indian Two Spirits (BAAITS), told the Pacific News Service. And consequently, many Two-Spirit Native Americans leave their reservations and isolated communities hoping to connect with the larger LGBTQ community in urban cites. However, due to racism and cultural insensitivity, many Two-Spirits feel less understood and more isolated than they did back home. - Acceptance is crucial for two-spirit people: After more than two decades of living mostly in Vancouver, Evan Adams has returned home to his Sliammon band reserve near Powell River. A prominent gay actor who finished a medical degree and is now British Columbia’s first aboriginal-health physician adviser, Adams is settling in with his partner and their son in their own house. “It was a big homecoming,” Adams, 41, told the Georgia Straight about the warm welcome he and his family received from band members when they moved in on April 4. It was quite a different world for Adams, who, like many young Natives, had to leave his ancestral community for an urban area because he felt his sexuality wasn’t accepted by his own people. For many, acceptance is hard to come by even in the cities, where they also face discrimination because they’re aboriginal.

Thoms JH (2007). Leading an Extraordinary Life: Wise Practices for an HIV prevention campaign with Two-Spirit men (PDF Download. PDF Download). From Executive Summary: This study identifies the unique and complex barriers that hinder 2-Spirit men from transforming their knowledge of HIV into the adoption of consistent safer sex behaviours. The critical findings are that Two-Spirit men have lived lives of family and community shaming, estrangement, and abuse, caused in large part by Aboriginal  community homophobia. These experiences have greatly diminished Two-Spirit men’s self-esteem. An individual’s self-esteem is directly linked to their ability to change risky sexual behaviour. In other words, low self-esteem and Aboriginal homophobia are fundamental barriers to Two-Spirit men’s adoption of safer sex behaviours. The study asked: how can social marketing tools be applied to eliminate these barriers? ... The study includes a large historical chapter that documents the fact that Two-Spirit people were widely accepted, dignified, and led “an extraordinary life” in traditional times. It identifies how colonizers applied calculated methods to instill homophobia in Aboriginal communities and destroy the dignity and respect of Two-Spirit people. Today, Aboriginal community re-acceptance of Two-Spirit people is the most concrete incentive for Two-Spirit men to adopt safer sex behaviours.

What are American Indian/ Alaskan Natives’ (AI/AN) HIV prevention needs? - 2-Spirited People & HIV / Aids Strategy. - AIDS & Two-Spirited. (PDF Download): "Men who have sex with men constitute 52.4% of infections among Aboriginal males." - Part 2:  Sexual and Reproductive Health Issues of Concern to Aboriginal People: Issues for Everyone: Unit 14 — Two-Spirit People and Sexual Diversity. - Attitudes and Beliefs Towards HIV and AIDS Among Aboriginal Peoples Living in British Columbia: "Also, HIV/AIDS is associated with injection drug use, another reality that holds negative connotations within many Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal communities. We believe that an important first step in HIV/AIDS education is to dispel fear of the disease by building knowledge through culturally appropriate teaching. For HIV/AIDS, this includes addressing issues around homophobia and addictions. In the following study we use a multivariate logistic analysis to identify differences in attitudes and beliefs towards HIV/AIDS..." - Raven's Eye: The Aboriginal Newspaper of British Columbia & Yukon: " "The Two Spirit Gathering is created out of a need for a space where two-spirited people can feel safe, to have a community of our own," said Lafferty. "There's still a lot of homophobia out there, not only in the world at large but within our own community, so there is a real need for us to be together and share our stories." - Two-Spirit Voices - Volume 1(1), Volume 2(2) Newsletter by NNAAPC. (Home Page) - Two-Spirit Update Newletter by NNAAPC: 2002-03. - A Study Comparing Aboriginal Two Spirit Men Who Utilize AIDS Service Organizations Compared to Those Who Do Not. - .Native Americans & HIV/AIDS.

HIV Prevention Issues Among American Indian and Alaska Native “Two-Spirits” (2004, PDF Download): "There is a paucity of research and few culturally relevant services addressing the health concerns and HIV risk and prevention needs of two-spirits. In this article, we overview elements of an indigenist stress-coping model for use in HIV prevention research and practice, CDC surveillance data on Natives, key research findings related to two-spirits and HIV risk, and our current research project on the topic... Through December 2000, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 2,337 cases of AIDS among Natives (1897 for males and 439 for females) in the United States. Although this absolute number is relatively small, the AIDS case rate per 100,000 for Natives is 12.7 (17.3 for males and 8.3 for females), which is much higher than for Whites (7.9; 14 for males and 2.2 for females). For men, the major modes of transmission were MSM (57%), IDU (16%), and MSM and IDU (16%). For Natives, this last category is higher than for any other ethnic or racial group. Discouraging as they are, the AIDS surveillance data are likely huge underestimates for many reasons. First and most importantly, many Natives with AIDS are misclassified as non-Natives... Specific research on sexuality and sexual orientation among two-spirits is limited to a few recent studies (i.e., Saewyc et al., 1996; 1998). Findings indicate that, compared to non-Natives, Native youth have a higher prevalence of self-reported GLBT identities and a higher prevalence of sexual risk factors (e.g., histories of abuse or running away); earlier onset of heterosexual intercourse; and, among Native lesbian and bisexual girls, more frequent intercourse... There are no published studies of adult two-spirits and HIV risk... Recent anecdotal and empirical evidence suggests that, indeed, two-spirits are at higher risk for trauma than their Native heterosexual and non-Native GLBT counterparts. Two-spirits not only contend with racism and colonization from non-Natives (heterosexual as well as GLBT) but also must deal with pervasive heterosexism or homonegativity in Native communities... Our NIMH-funded HONOR Project is the first study to focus on HIV risk among urban two-spirits. Grounded in the indigenist stresscoping model, it examines the interrelationships among traumatic stress exposures, substance use, mental health, and HIV risk behaviors among 72 two-spirit community leaders and 400 two-spirit individuals across six sites: Los Angeles, San Francisco/Oakland, Seattle/Tacoma, Tulsa, Minneapolis/St. Paul, and New York City... "

Population-Specific HIV/AIDS Status Report (Rapport d’étape sur le VIH/sida et les populations distinctes : Autochtones) (2010?): Contents. 3.6 Gay, Two-Spirit, Bisexual and other Men Who Have Sex with Men. 3.7 Lesbian, Two-Spirit, Bisexual and other Women Who Have Sex with Women.

Aboriginal Strategy on HIV/AIDS in Canada II: for First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples from 2009 to 2014 (PDF Download). Aboriginal Strategy on HIV/AIDS in Canada, Draft, 2001: PDF Download. - Ontario Aboriginal HIV/AIDS Strategy: "Getting people to open up and talk about sex, homophobia and AIDS phobia are some of the biggest obstacles to dealing with this issue," says LaVerne Monette. "That, and the tendency to blame victims rather than trying to help them or giving people the information they need to keep them healthy". LaVerne is the provincial coordinator of the Ontario Aboriginal HIV/AIDS Strategy and a board member of Two-Spirited People of the First Nations. "The fears and intolerance that many Aboriginal people with HIV/AIDS experience in their communities means that many leave home and come to large communities like Toronto, Sudbury or Thunder Bay to get help or simply some understanding," says LaVerne. "Homophobia doesn?t belong to First Nations people. Before Europeans arrived, gays or two-spirited people as they are known in the Aboriginal community, were accepted and respected. The spirit of tolerance that existed was lost as foreign values were imposed on children and their families." Much of the work that goes on under the Aboriginal HIV/AIDS Strategy involves outreach and education to change biases and attitudes in the community, and providing an opportunity where people can begin to talk about it in a spirit of acceptance and openness." (Aboriginal Healing & Wellness Publications).  - Leis, Genevieve (2001). HIV Prevention from Indigenous Youth Perspectives. Master's Dissertation, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia. PDF Download.

 Addressing Homophobia In Relation To HIV/AIDS In Aboriginal Communities: "Conclusions: Preliminary results from the literature review reveal that there has been little or no advocacy done to protect the rights of Two Spirit people at-risk of HIV infection and living with HIV/AIDS, despite the fact that this population has experienced the brunt of the HIV epidemic in the Aboriginal population. Issues and rights related to gender and sexual orientation must be addressed by Aboriginal governments and communities as they increasingly take control of their health services and negotiate self-government agreements with Canada." - Addressing Homophobia in Relation to HIV/AIDS in Aboriginal Communities: PDF Download. - Embracing Our Two Spirited Relatives (Mending the Sacred Hoop Technical Assistance Project Introductory Manual 2003): PDF Download N/A. - Trauma and HIV Risk Among Urban Gay/Bisexual/Two Spirit American Indian Men: Research Findings and Decolonizing Practice Strategies: "Findings revealed that two spirit Native men were more likely to report being victimized and engaging in HIV risk behaviors than heterosexual Native men. Moreover, prevalence of HIV was surprisingly high." - HIV Vulnerability among LGBT and Two-spirited Youth who Migrate to Toronto: A Community -Based Research Project (2005). 

Ryan B (2003). A New Look at Homophobia and Heterosexism in Canada. Canadian AIDS Society. Internet (http://www.cdnaids.ca/web/repguide.nsf/cl/cas-rep-0188): "2-Spirited People of the 1st Nations (TPFN) became an organization in Toronto in 1989. They recently released a report titled, “Voices of Two-Spirited Men: A Survey of Two-Spirited Men Across Canada” (Monette, Albert & Waalen, 2001). This initiative demonstrates the new paradigm of Aboriginal commuity based research, being that Aboriginal people ask the questions, own the research agenda, and ensure that the community is aware of the findings. The survey had 189 respondents from six regions of Canada. Half reported that they were HIV-positive and most identified as Two Spirits (58%) or gay (48%), some using both terms. The report concludes, "The core issue of homophobia must be addressed if we seriously hope to see a reduction in risk-taking behaviour among Two-Spirited men. There are too many Two-Spirits who are excluded from the circle, estranged from their traditions, families, and communities. Our survey respondents have shown us their deep craving for self-esteem, familial love, community belonging, and spiritual connection. If their families and reserves reject them – if their traditional healers, elders, and teachers denounce them – they will try to find what they are seeking elsewhere. More than any other factor, it is the sense of alienation that contributes to engaging in the high-risk activities that make them vulnerable to HIV/AIDS. The painkiller used, and the dosage, is as individual as the pain and the pain threshold. - Critical issues in practice with gay, lesbian, bisexual and two-spirit people educational module for professionals in the fields of health and allied health. By Shari Brotman and Bill Ryan (2001)

Monette L, Albert D, Waalen J (2001). Voices of Two-Spirited Men, A Survey of Aboriginal Two-Spirited Men Across Canada, 2-Spirited People of the 1st Nations. Toronto. Internet: http://www.uoguelph.ca/~asa/data/Voices_of_Two-Spirited_Men-Part_One.doc -  http://www.uoguelph.ca/~asa/data/Voices_of_Two-Spirited_Men-Part_Two.doc - http://www.2spirits.com/Voice2SpiritMen.pdf : "This study is about knowledge, attitudes, behaviours and social conditions of Aboriginal, two-spirited men across Canada. It was commissioned by 2-Spirited People of the 1st Nations in Toronto and was distributed by researchers at the Centre for Quality Service Research, Ryerson University. Aboriginal people representing various communities were involved in the development of the survey questions... These two-spirited men face enormous pressures - racism, homophobia, poor housing. Many have experienced homelessness and unemployment.  Yet they are very concerned about the threat of HIV in their communities of origin.  They express a great deal of worry for Aboriginal people. Almost half of them are HIV+, yet many of them avoid medical treatment due to fear of discrimination because of their status and lack of information about where to go for services... Other factors that place Aboriginal people at risk are outlined in the Ontario Aboriginal HIV/AIDS Strategy (1996). They include the high rates of sexually transmitted diseases, non-consensual sex (sexual assault, incest, abuse), lack of self-esteem, intravenous and injection drug use (IDU), the abuse of alcohol especially in conjunction with other drugs, and limited safer sex education. "For two-spirit people, and in particular two-spirit youth, whose identity may be repeatedly assaulted by racism and homophobia, the risk for suicide is dangerously high" (Manitoba Aboriginal AIDS Task Force, 1998)... our focus group interviews seem to show that urban Aboriginal gays do not seem to identify themselves as two-spirited but rather as "gay"... In a small study of transsexuals (n=40), half of whom were of Aboriginal ancestry, Rekart et al. (1993) found that this group faced serious social difficulties including homelessness, discrimination, physical abuse, racism and homophobia. HIV risk behaviours were common including unprotected receptive anal intercourse (85%), prostitution (90%), and infection drug use with needle sharing (62%)... For some participants, disclosure of sexual orientation and HIV positive status was a difficult process. Many of the participants expressed an early realization and rejection of the (gay) "party scene." The participants also described many of the difficulties of coming out on the reserve and within the Aboriginal community... Participants identified how historically the Berdache or two-spirited people were considered important members of the community. However, the participants also described how present day attitudes, namely the lack of acceptance of gay identified individuals and people living with HIV/AIDS have manifested into ostracizing and discrimination from within the Aboriginal community and even from band leaders and Aboriginal governments. These circumstances have forced some of the participants off of their reserves... Many of the participants came from and lived in a variety of foster homes, shelters, and rooming houses and/or were involved with Children's Aid Society.  They also described their current crisis in lack of housing.  Several of the participants have lived on the streets surviving through drug trafficking and/or the sex trade... Practically all of the participants survived by working in the sex trade and/or the drug trade.  One participant described his alleged involvement in other criminal activity such as break and enters... All participants described experiencing discrimination of some form.  One participant described his experiences of racism (within the gay community). Other participants elucidated their experiences of homophobia within their respective families and Aboriginal communities... Despite many of difficulties that the participants described it seems all of them have found some way to cope and survive. Most notably many of the focus group participants used humour to deal with their circumstances. Most of the participants appeared highly independent and one participant described it as "taking care of oneself."...

Deschamps G (1998). We Are Part of a Tradition: A Guide on Two-Spirited People for First Nations Communities. Mino-B'maa:diziwin, 2-Spirited of the 1st Nations, Toronto: PDF Download. A Quebec version of the document having the same title "We Are Part of a Tradition: A Guide on Two-Spirited People for First Nations Communities" was produced by the First Nations of Quebec and Labrador Health and Social Services Commission: PDF Download N/A. "We, as the two-spirited community, must heal. We must re-learn that to be two-spirited is an honour. We have grown up with the single message that lesbians and gay men are sick. We are in the process of rebuilding a positive self-image as a result of this past. And if, as in the larger First Nations community, two-spirited people suffer from suicide, substance abuse and short life spans, then we must recognize this as symptom of a very different illness. We, as two-spirited people, identify ourselves very strongly as members of the First Nations. We take an interest in the future of our Nations and wish to play an active role in that future... Rejection by one's own cultural group can be psychologically evastating. “Two-Spirit[ed] People . . have experienced homophobia resulting in rejection from family and community. Some individuals experience internalized homophobia, and an inability to accept their own sexuality due to judgemental attitudes from society in general. Lack of acceptance produces ramifications of substance abuse, sexual, mental & physical abuse, no family or community support, internalized racism, sex trade, language barriers, low self-esteem, shame, fear, guilt, lack of work experience/education, lack of safer sex negotiating skills, sexual identity crisis and lack of peer counselling. This scenario has produced isolation which may result in suicide.” [McLeod, Albert, and Peterson, Treasure (1993) Care and Treatment of Aboriginal People with HIV/AIDS (Manitoba Aboriginal AIDS Task Force). Winnipeg, March 1993.] ... The affect of racism on Aboriginal peoples in Canada has been well documented. This oppression has resulted in many social ills that plague First Nations people today. Poverty, substance abuse, violence and suicide are all part of the reality for Aboriginal people. As in the larger First Nations community, two-spirited people suffer from the same adversities. However, these problems are compounded as many two-spirited people are rejected and ostracized by their own communities. In a world that does not honour indigenous people, two-spirited people suffer “triple oppression” -- as Natives, as homosexuals, and in the case of two-spirited lesbians, as women. In many cases, the internalization of negative stereotypes about two-spirited people has led to self-destructive behaviour... AIDS-Related Stigma has had dire consequences for two-spirited people. The effects of being both homosexual and Aboriginal are devastating. Two-spirited people face discrimination from inside and outside their communities. Problems of identity formation in the face of intense prejudice make being either homosexual or/and Aboriginal more than enough for one individual - particularly two-spirited youth - to cope with. Self-destructive behaviour among two-spirited youth in the forms of substance abuse, suicide, unsafe sexual practices, are very extensive..."

Honouring and Caring for Aboriginal People and Communities in the Fight Against HIV/AIDS: " This paper provides an organizational overview of Healing Our Spirit BC First Nations AIDS Society (Healing Our Spirit), and introduces the holistic healing and Aboriginal specific service delivery model that Healing Our Spirit uses to address the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The HIV/AIDS epidemic compels many Aboriginal communities to deal with the complex issues associated with HIV/AIDS. While in the process of strengthening and regaining cultural and social systems, Aboriginal peoples also face inter-generational, interconnected, and socio-economic issues. Specifically, these issues include sexual abuse, homophobia, shame, lack of housing, lack of education, and alcohol and drug use and addiction. In large part, these are a legacy of colonization and residential schools. Healing Our Spirit has developed culturally sensitive and relevant community development strategies to address the multiple and complex challenges in the field of HIV/AIDS..."

Youth For Diversity (Winnipeg, Manitoba, October 16-19, 2003 - Forum Report - Word 97 Download): "This report contains the ideas, knowledge and insight that took place over a three and a half day session in Winnipeg, Manitoba.  The “Youth For Diversity” Project, aims to bring approximately 25 youth together in one arena to discuss, debate and create ideas and plans around the issue of diversity.  Half of the session was spent looking at the individual and group definitions of diversity, with sessions that included both reflective and group exercises.  Small groups were formed to further flesh out concepts around diversity—racism, ageism, sexual orientation, access to resources, etc. - to further understand the impact that diversity has had on us and those around us.  To add to these sessions, three guest speakers were invited to address the group around particular issues that are present in our communities.  The guest speaker topics ranged from the particular Aboriginal issues that urban youth face today, poverty and homelessness amongst youth, homophobia and personal experiences with racial stereotyping and discrimination..."

Movies / Videos / The Arts

The Ultimate "Planet Out" Guide to Queer Movies (Subject: Native American Images). - Berdache (1997). - Two-Spirit People. - Film: Two-Spirited People. - Children of the Rainbow: Two-Spirited First Nations Group Takes Major Arts Award N/A. - Kichx Anagaat Yatx'i (Children of the Rainbow): Related Information: PDF Download. - "The Berdache" - a play by Cheryl Ann Costa: PDF Download. - Other Plays by Cheryl Ann Costa. - Cheryl Ann Costa Website. - The Work of Beth Brant. - Lambda Project tackles Two-Spirits for Upcoming Rainbow Theater Festival. - Two-Spirit People by Michael Beauchemin, Lori Levy, and Gretchen Vogel (Video: 1991). - Films: Long Eyes of Earth - Video: Honored by the Moon. - Two-Spirited and Multifaceted: Two controversial works are screened at the 2005 Vancouver Aboriginal Film Festival. - Fires Were Started: An Interview with Noam Gonick: "Noam Gonick’s new film, Stryker (2004), arrives with an immodest agenda. It wants to revise assumptions about indigenous people, and perhaps even change the way they view themselves..." - A Poet Finds His Past Is Just Where He Left It (Film Review): The Business of Fancydancing.

Visible Sexualities or Invisible Nations: Forced to Choose in Big Eden - by Lisa Tatonetti (2010): "This essay examines the construction of Two-Spirit identity in three contemporary narrative films, Big Eden, Johnny Greyeyes, and The Business of Fancydancing, arguing that, despite each story's focus on a queer Native protagonist, by their conclusions each film fractures Two-Spirit identities..." - TWO SPIRITS: Sexuality, Gender, and the Murder of Fred Martinez (2009). (Google Search). - Two-Spirit: a movie about Fred Martinez Jr (2010). - Two-spirit film criticism: Fancydancing with Imitates Dog, Desjarlais and Alexie (2010). - Two Spirit Films. - Two Spirit Videos Online. - Cal Poly to Present Film Screening and Discussion on Two-Spirited People in Native American Culture.

Two Spirited: the empowering story of Rodney "Geeyo" Poucette's shattering encounter with prejudice and his journey to overcome it. As a two spirited person (gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered), Geeyo hasn't always been so readily accepted in some Aboriginal communities. In August 2000, Geeyo registered as a dancer in the Kamloopa Powwow under the Jingle Dress category - a category normally reserved for women. After competing, an elder discovered that Geeyo was, in fact, a man and took away his championship...

Tomson Highway Website. - Tomson Highway Biography. - Tomson Highway Books. - Tomson Highway. - Tomson Highway, guest of honour at the 2006 Festival Voix d'Amériques (Word RTF Download): "He's Cree. He's gay. He spends half his time in the south of France and the other half in northern Ontario. Without a doubt, he is one of the leading Aboriginal writers in North America. And if that's not enough, he's also an accomplished pianist and an exceptional communicator who speaks English, French and Cree. He will be the guest of honour at the next Festival Voix d'Amériques, giving Montréal audiences a rare opportunity to catch this entertaining, outstanding artist and hear him perform in English and French.Tomson Highway is one of Canada's foremost playwrights. Born in a tent in a snow bank in northern Manitoba, he spent the first few years of his life in the forest before being placed in a residential school, like many of his generation. He studied at the University of Manitoba, in London, England, and at the University of Western Ontario, earning degrees in music and literature. His first play, The Rez Sisters, took the theatre scene by storm, winning the Dora Mavor Moore Award as well as representing Canada at the Edinburgh International Festival and being nominated for the Governor General's Literary Awards. He followed up with Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing, which again won the Dora Mavor Moore Award along with the Floyd S. Chalmers Award."  - Tomson Highway.

The Universe of Tomson Highway. - Tomson Highway touches many (2008). - Tomson Highway to speak on Aboriginal literature (2009). - Tomson Highway back from hiatus (2010). - Tomson Highway - Toronto Premiere - 'KISAGEETIN: A CABARET' (2010). - Tomson Highway's Kisageetin: A Cabaret (2010).  - The Tomson Highway experience (2010). - Tomson Highway at U of M for week ‘in residence’ (2010). - Tomson Highway releases plays in Cree (2010). - World Premiere of Tomson Highway’s New Musical (2011).

 René Highway (1954-1990): a Canadian dancer and actor of Cree descent from Brochet, Manitoba. He was the brother of playwright Tomson Highway, with whom he frequently collaborated during their time at Native Earth Performing Arts in Toronto, and the partner of actor and singer Micah Barnes. Highway studied dance at the Toronto Dance Theatre, Denmark's Tukak Theatre, and at the Native Canadian Centre in Toronto. René Highway helped to create the role of Nanabush in his brother's play The Rez Sisters (1986), and was the choreographer for Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing (1989).He died of AIDS-related causes in 1990. Native Earth Performing Arts started the René Highway Foundation in his memory..

Videos: Interview Tomson Highway. - Tomson Highway: Talks About the Cree Language. - Rockburn Presents - Tomson Highway. - Tomson Highway ideaCity05 Part 1. - Tomson Highway ideaCity05 Part 2. - Tomson Highway - "The Indian Woman". - Video Book Review The Rez Sisters by Tomson Highway.wmv. - Tomson Highway: On The Treeline. - Videos of Tomson Highway: 1. Tomson Highway Talks About the People. - 2. Tomson Highway Talks About Canada's Treeline. -  3. Tomson Highway Talks About Canada's Wildlife. - 4. Tomson Highway Talks About Caribou. - 5. Tomson Highway Talks About the Cree Language. 6. Tomson Highway Talks About Canada's Beauty. - Tomson Highway: Thank You for the Love You Gave (1997): A documentary portrait of the brilliant Cree playwright, musician, and novelist, Tomson Highway.

Chang, Oswald Yuan-Chin (2008). Tomson Highway's "The Rez" plays: theater as the Merging of native ritual through postmodernist displacement. Nebula, December. Full Text.

Agokwe celebrates two-spirited First Nations (2011): Nanabush, the trickster in many First Nation’s storytelling, threads together the tale of two young men battling with their sexuality, while giving context to the influence of Western influence on the changing attitudes towards homosexuality in the one-man play Agokwe. The play, which ran from Jan. 17 to Jan. 22 at the Cultch theatre, follows Jake, a shy, young, gay First Nation’s man, and Mike, a sought after hockey player who masks his homosexuality with bravado. The two locked eyes at a Warehouse One Jeans store at the Kenora Shopping Mall, but have never met because they live on different reserves and hide their sexuality... - Gay love on the rez: Hockey, powwow and two boys connecting (2011). - Review: ‘We’re all agokwe’ (2011).

Aboriginal Arts Kicks Off Summer Programs (2001) N/A:  Aboriginal Arts Program; Banff. - WagonBurner Theater Troop: An Evolving Indian Theater Experience. - Native Spring 2005: "the annual festival of indigenous events in San Francisco by the Native American Cultural Center (NACC).  This year our theme is indigenous Americas, inspired by the remarkable film "The Motorcycle Diaries."  Our theme explores interrelationships between indigenous people and lands throughout the western hemisphere.  We are very excited to welcome the Fulni-O Tribe of Brazil to San Francisco as part of this year's festival.  So enjoy the great variety of performances, lectures, nature events, and activities -- there is something in Native Spring for everyone!  And be sure to check out the Native foods before your evening show."  - An aboriginal adaptation of Romeo and Juliet  by the well-known Canadian actor and playwright Billy Merasty, the play is more commonly known as Godly's Divinia (A Love Story). Bill Merasty:  "Manitoba-born actor and writer Billy Merasty comes from a distinguished line of First Nations artists. His uncles, the late ballet dancer Renee Highway and the writer Tomson Highway provided gay-positive role models for the young Two-Spirited man growing up in a homophobic small town in northern Manitoba." - Billy Merasty.

Qwo-Li Driskill: "Cherokee Two-Spirit and Queer poet/activist/educator also of African, Irish, Lenape, Lumbee, and Osage ascent. An award winning writer, Qwo-Li's work has appeared in Many Mountains Moving, Mavin Magazine, The Raven Chronicles, Crab Orchard Review and the anthologies Nurturing Native Languages, Revolutionary Voices: A Multicultural Queer Youth Anthology and Speak to Me Words: Essays on Contemporary American Indian Poetry. Qwo-Li speaks across the country on issues of concern to First Nations Two-Spirit people, mixed-race people, queer and trans people, and people of color..." - Indigenous Literature with a Queer/LGBT/Two-Spirit Sensibility. - First Nations Literatures: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered, and Two-Spirited Native Writers.  - LGBT/TS indigenous resources.

Swanson, Kerry (2005). The Noble Savage Was a Drag Queen. Hemispheric Institute’s e-misférica forum, Fall, issue 2.2. PDF Download. Conclusion: "As Homi Bhabha writes, freedom for those marginalized by colonization exists through the creation of new hybrid spaces beyond the confines, constructs, and definitions created by the colonizers. Freedom is the act of creating and existing in a place beyond definitions, beyond black and white, somewhere in the blurry space beyond the culturally safe margins of identity. Sexuality and its many taboos are nothing more than imaginary constructs that are given codes and rules as a method to enforce power. Names, rules, and acceptance levels change according to the dominant ideology of a specific time and place. In this way, something that was once a source of pride can easily become a site of shame, as in the case of non-heterosexuality under Christianity. Monkman refuses to accept the Christian constructs that were established and reinforced by colonial rule, and continue to deny and suppress the once-celebrated sexual diversity within Native tribes.  Through his visual and performance art, Monkman successfully creates a third space, where a time-traveling half-breed drag queen can take ownership over her history and sexual identity. From this position, the margins are the center, and the power of definition belongs to the once-marginalized. In creating this space, Monkman acknowledges the rightful place of the Two-Spirited person in traditional history, and encourages discourse that reflects on and amends the loss of Native sexuality through Christian imperialism.

Internet Resources

Resources: - The International Two Spirit Gathering Website.  - 2-Spirited People of the 1st Nations. - NativeOut: Phoenix. - Tulsa Two-Spirit Society. - Minnesota Two-Spirit Society. - Bay Area American Indian Two Spirits (BAAITS). - Two-Spirit Society of Denver. - NorthEast Two-Spirit Society. - Two Spirit Circle of Edmonton Society N/A (Facebook). - 18th International Two Spirit Gathering 2006. - AIDS & Two-Spirited. - Two-Spirited People (McGill University). - International GLBT Native Press Archive. - Canadian Caucus for Two-Spirited and Queers of Colour, Egale Canada. - The Intersection of Sexual Orientation & Race: Considering the Experiences of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered People of Colour & Two-Spirited People (GLBT People of Colour & two-spirited People). - Oklahoma Gay Natives. - Ohio Valley Two-Spirit Society. - Two-spirited people of Ontario & Friends of.

Resource Links: - 2-Spirited People of the 1st Nations Links. - Two-Spirited Youth Program (Vancouver, B.C.) - First Nations and Two-Spirited People. - Two-Spirited Native People. - The Two-Spirit Tradition. - Minnesota Two-Spirit Society. - WhiteWolf's Den. -  Perceptions (the first twenty-two years 1983-2004) Indigenous People. - Native American Berdache -Two Spirit People - Gender Does Not Determine Sexuality. - Canadian Rainbow Health Coalition: Two-Spirited Documents. - Two Spirit Voices. 

Queer Native American Resources. - People of Color: Native American Links. - The Native American Resources Page by the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Resource Center, UC-Riverside. - SAADAYA: A Call to Reclaim Queer Spiritual Traditions N/A. - Yahoo Two Spirit Group. - Two Spirit Social Networking Groups. - International Two-Spirit Links.

Will Rosco Website: Books, Articles, Essays.

Bibliographies

Bibliographies: - Learning about "Two-Spirited People" in the American Indians Studies Library.  - The two-spirit tradition in native American experience: Bibliography. - Books on native homosexuality. - Indigenous Literature with a Queer/LGBT/Two-Spirit Sensibility. - American Indian Gay/Lesbian Topics. - Two-spirit articles and books. - Gay & Lesbian History: North America: Pre-Modern History. - Two Spirit People: Selected Readings: PDF Download. - U.S. Literature: Gender in Native American Literatures and Cultures.- Two-Spirit People: A Bibliography. - Two Spirit Bibliography. - American Indian Gay & Lesbian Bibliography. - Serving the Two-Spirit Community: A guide for librarians. - Two-Spirit Youth: Trauma and Healing: Citations and Additional Resources. - Queer Theory: Native American Books. - Indigenous Literature with a Queer/LGBT/Two-Spirit Sensibility.

Bowers R (2007). A bibliography on Aboriginal and minority concerns: Identity, prejudice, marginalisation, and healing in relation to gender, sexuality, and the ecology of place . Counselling, Psychotherapy, and Health, 3(2), Indigenous Special Issue, 46-88. PDF Download.

Books

Books: - Two-Spirit People Native American Gender Identity, Sexuality, and Spirituality - 1997 - edited by Sue-Ellen Jacobs, Wesley Thomas, and Sabine Lang (Google Books) (Amazon). - The Spirit and the Flesh: Sexual Diversity in American Indian Culture - 1992 - by Walter L. Williams (Abstract) (Excerpts) (Amazon: 20 Sample Pages) (Review) (Google Books) - Changing Ones: Third and Fourth Genders in Native North America - 1998 - by Will Rosco. (Review) (Review - Alternate Link) (Amazon: Excerpts) (Google Books). - The Zuni Man-Woman - 1991 -by Will Rosco (Review). (Alternate Link) (Summary)  (Summary) (Review) (Amazon: 22 Sample Pages) (Google Books) (The Zuni Man-Woman: A Documentary Drama by Will Rosco, 1998). - Living the Spirit: A Gay American Indian Anthology - 1988, 1998 - edited by Will Rosco. - Many Faces of Gender: Roles and Relationships Through Time in Indigenous Northern Communities (Northern Lights, Calgary, Alta.), V. 2. - 2002 - edited by Lisa Frink, Shepard Rita S., Gregory A. Reinhardt (Review).

Becoming Two-Spirit: Gay Identity and Social Acceptance in Indian Country - 2006 - by Brian Joseph Gilley. - Two Spirits: A Story of Life With the Navajo - 2005 - by Walter L. Williams and Toby Johnson (Review) (Review) (Review) (Google Books). - Men as Women, Women as Men: Changing Gender in Native American Cultures - 1998 - by Sabine Lang, translated by John L. Vantine (Review) (Google Books). - Decolonizing the Sodomite: Queer Tropes of Sexuality in Colonial Andean Culture - 2005 - by Michael J. Horswell (Excerpt) (Google Books). - Queer Indigenous Studies: Critical Interventions in Theory, Politics, and Literature - 2011 - edited by Q-L. Driscoll. B Gilley, S. Morgenson, C. Finley. University of Arizona Press. - Becoming Two-Spirit: The Search for Self and Social Acceptance in Indian Country - 2006 - by Brian Gilley, University of Nebraska Press (Google Books). - Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Myths from the Arapaho to the Zuñi: An Anthology - 2002 - edited by Jim Elledge (Abstract) (Review, Must Scroll).

Books: - Sex and Conquest: Gendered Violence, Political Order, and the European Conquest of the Americas  - 1999 - by Richard C. Trexler: "His book is doubtless not only the best study of the American berdache, but also a significant contribution to the understanding of the development of power and authority in human society." (Publisher Reference) (Review) (Review) (Review) (Google Books). Powers, Karen Vieira (2002). Conquering Discourses of "Sexual Conquest": Of Women, Language, and Mestizaje. Colonial Latin American Review, 11(2) PDF Download: "Finally, Richard Trexler’s book Sex and Conquest: Gendered Violence, Political Order, and the European Conquest of the Americas (1995) turns our attention away from the sexual violence suffered by indigenous women and toward that of equally abused men—European, Native American and otherwise. His main subjects of investigation are male rape, homosexual passives, and the berdache (transvestized men raised as women in some Native American cultures to serve other, more powerful men in all things, including sex). Trexler’s most important insight is that the sexual abuse of men was merely another form of using sexuality and gender to establish hierarchy, but among same-sex groups. Even outside their dominant position vis-a`-vis women, some European and Native American men sought to dominate other men through sexual penetration, thereby creating a male hierarchy by turning less powerful men into women. If, as Trexler states, male rape (or “to be turned into a woman”) was the ultimate punishment and humiliation for a man, then it is clear that this practice and the discursive formations that grew out of it were deeply embedded in misogynist ideologies. Hence, the underlying principles of Trexler’s analysis about men are intimately tied to the gender discourses of power relations that began, first and foremost, with the subordination and even abhorrence of women, regardless ofrace or class, by the men of the period."

Books: - J. Spencer Rowe, Author Web Site N/A: - The Last of the Dodo's: Voice of the Two Spirit (creative non-fiction) (Preview): "The first ever published narrative book about Two Spirit Native Americans written entirely by a Two Spirit Native American. (Ojibwa) It speaks directly to the huge costs incurred when society removes the sacred from community." - Half Breed - RAW: ...is a photographic and text journey taking us on a healing path as we view each black and white photograph of a nude and semi-nude (exposed) Two-Spirit Native American. Complimented with Poetry this essay reaffirms the existence of the sacred Two-Spirit Native American people...   

Books: - Two Spirit People: American Indian Lesbian Women and Gay Men - 1997 - edited by Lester B. Brown (Google Books) (Book Review). Also published in the Journal of Gay & Lesbian Social Services, 6(2) - Abstracts - Abstracts: Preface: Sharing the Gift of Sacred Being. - Women and Men, Not-Men and Not-Women, Lesbians and Gays: Gender Style Alternatives. - Gender Selection in Two American tribes. - American Indian Lesbians and Gays: An Exploratory Study. - Urban Lesbian and Gay American Indian Identity: Implications for Mental Health Service Delivery. - That's What They Say: The Implications of American Indian Gay and Lesbian Literature for Social Service Workers. - Developing AIDS Services for Native Americans: Rural and Urban Contrasts. - AIDS Prevention in a Rural American Indian Population: A Collaborative Effort Between Community and Providers. - Sexuality, Nationality, Indigeneity (A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies) - 2010 - edited by Daniel Heath Justice, Mark Rifkin, Bethany Schneider (Duke Uiversity Press).

Search GLBTQ: The Encyclopedia of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender & Queer Culture. - Search BGLAD. - Search the QRD. - Search all GLBT Resource Directories. - Search Google.com. - Search Google Scholar. - Search Google's G:LBT Directory. - MSN Search. - Search findarticles.com: many full text articles and papers.

Academic Searches: Search IngentaConnect: The most comprehensive collection of academic and professional publications. - Search Project Muse: Scholarly Journals Online. - Search JSTOR: The Scholarly Journal Archive. - Search The National Library of Medicine.