' (also spelled ') is the contraction of an old

Lakota Lakota may refer to: * Lakota people, a confederation of seven related Native American tribes *Lakota language, the language of the Lakota peoples Place names In the United States: * Lakota, Iowa * Lakota, North Dakota, seat of Nelson County * La ...

word, ', meaning 'wants to be like a woman'. Historically, the ' have in some cases been considered a social category of male-bodied individuals who adopt the clothing, work, and mannerisms that Lakota culture usually considers feminine. However, in contemporary Lakota culture, ' is usually used to refer to a

homosexual Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to pe ...

man, whether or not that man is in other ways gender non-conforming. Contemporary ' may or may not consider themselves part of the more mainstream

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term ...

, or

pan-Indian Pan-Indianism is a philosophical and political approach promoting unity, and to some extent cultural homogenization, among different Indigenous groups in the Americas regardless of tribal distinctions and cultural differences. This approach to ...

two-spirit Two-spirit (also two spirit, 2S or, occasionally, twospirited) is a modern, , umbrella term used by some Indigenous North Americans to describe Native people in their communities who fulfill a traditional third-gender (or other gender-varia ...

communities. Historically, sometimes the direction to adopt the social and spiritual aspects of this role has come in a series of dreams. While historical accounts of their status vary, most accounts treated the ' as regular members of the community, and not in any way marginalized for their status. Other accounts held the ' as sacred, occupying a liminal,

third-gender Third gender is a concept in which individuals are categorized, either by themselves or by society, as neither man nor woman. It is also a social category present in societies that recognize three or more genders. The term ''third'' is usually ...

role in the culture, and born to fulfill ceremonial roles that could not be filled by either men or women. In contemporary Lakota communities, attitudes toward the ' vary from accepting to homophobic.

Etymology

Beatrice Medicine Beatrice Medicine (August 1, 1923 - December 19, 2005) (Sihasapa and Minneconjou Lakota) ( Lakota name Hinsha Waste Agli Win – "Returns Victorious with a Red Horse Woman") was a scholar, anthropologist, and educator known for her work in the fiel ...

writes:

In my childhood, we were aware of this social category, which was referred to as ''winkte''. Linguistic analysis of this Lakota word is: :''win'' – "woman" :''kte'' – "to be like" :''kte'' – "to kill" (a deeper structural form) :"The common vernacular usage was ''winkte'' "wants to be like a woman." :We, as children, were instructed, "There are these individuals – in all cases males (''wicasa''). They are different. They are ''winkte''. Don't make fun of them. They are also Lakota," said our parents and grandparents.

References

{{Gender and sexual identities Lakota words and phrases Two-spirit Lakota culture Gender systems