Two-spirit (also two spirit, 2S or, occasionally, twospirited) is a modern, ,

umbrella term In linguistics, semantics, general semantics, and ontologies, hyponymy () is a semantic relation between a hyponym denoting a subtype and a hypernym or hyperonym (sometimes called umbrella term or blanket term) denoting a supertype. In other wor ...

used by some Indigenous North Americans to describe Native people in their communities who fulfill a traditional

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 ...

(or other

gender-variant Gender variance or gender nonconformity is behavior or gender expression by an individual that does not match masculine or feminine gender norms. A gender-nonconforming person may be variant in their gender identity, being transgender or non-bina ...

) ceremonial and social role in their cultures. The term ''Two Spirit'' (original form chosen) was created in 1990 at the Indigenous lesbian and

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 ...

international gathering in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749, ...

, and "specifically chosen to distinguish and distance Native American/First Nations people from non-Native peoples". The primary purpose of coining a new term was to encourage the replacement of the outdated and considered offensive, anthropological term, ''

berdache 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-varian ...

''. This new term has not been universally accepted, having been criticized as a term of erasure by traditional communities who already have their own terms for the people being grouped under this new term, and by those who reject what they call the "Western"

binary Binary may refer to: Science and technology Mathematics * Binary number, a representation of numbers using only two digits (0 and 1) * Binary function, a function that takes two arguments * Binary operation, a mathematical operation that ta ...

implications, such as implying that Natives believe these individuals are "both male and female". However, it has generally received more acceptance and use than the anthropological term it replaced.Two Spirit 101
" at ''NativeOut'': "The Two Spirit term was adopted in 1990 at an Indigenous lesbian and gay international gathering to encourage the replacement of the term berdache, which means, 'passive partner in sodomy, boy prostitute.'" Accessed 23 Sep 2015 "Two Spirit" was not intended to be interchangeable with "LGBT Native American" or "Gay Indian"; rather, it was created in English (and then translated into Ojibwe), to serve as a pan-Indian unifier: to be used for general audiences instead of the traditional terms in Indigenous languages for what are diverse, culturally-specific ceremonial and social roles, that can vary widely (if and when they exist at all). Opinions vary as to whether or not this objective has succeeded. The decision to adopt this new, pan-Indian term was also made to distance themselves from non-Native gays and lesbians, as the term and identity of two-spirit "does not make sense" unless it is contextualized within a Native American or

First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: **First Natio ...

framework and traditional cultural understanding. However, the gender-nonconforming, LGBT, or third and fourth gender, ceremonial roles traditionally embodied by Native American people and Indigenous peoples in Canada, intended to be under the modern umbrella of two-spirit, can vary widely, even among the Indigenous people who accept the English-language term. No one Native American/First Nations' culture's gender or sexuality categories apply to all, or even a majority of, these cultures.

Terminology

Etymology

The

neologism A neologism Greek νέο- ''néo''(="new") and λόγος /''lógos'' meaning "speech, utterance"] is a relatively recent or isolated term, word, or phrase that may be in the process of entering common use, but that has not been fully accepted int ...

''two-spirit'' was created in English, then translated into Ojibwe language, Ojibwe, in 1990 at the third annual Native American/First Nations gay and lesbian conference in

, Manitoba, Canada, as a replacement for the offensive, anthropological term, ''

''. The Ojibwe translation was proposed to honor the language of the Peoples in whose territory the conference was being held. This term had not been previously used, in either Ojibwe or English, until this conference in 1990, nor was this term ever intended to replace the traditional terms or concepts already in use in any Native cultures. The decision to adopt this new, pan-Indian term was deliberate, with a clear intention to distance themselves from non-Native gays and lesbians, as well as from non-Native terminology like ''berdache'', "gay", "lesbian", and "trans". The primary purpose of coining a new term was to encourage the replacement of the outdated, and offensive, anthropological term ''berdache'', which means "passive partner in sodomy, boy prostitute". Cameron writes, "The term two-spirit is thus an Aboriginal-specific term of resistance to colonization and non-transferable to other cultures. There are several underlying reasons for two spirited Aboriginals' desire to distance themselves from the mainstream queer community." Lang explains that for Aboriginal people, their sexual orientation or gender identity is secondary to their ethnic identity. She states, "at the core of contemporary two-spirit identities is ethnicity, an awareness of being Native American as opposed to being white or being a member of any other ethnic group". It is unclear who first coined the term ''two-spirit'' in English. Pember notes the involvement of non-Native

Will Roscoe Will Roscoe (February 8, 1955) is an American activist, scholar, and author based in San Francisco, California. Early life Will Roscoe was born on February 8, 1955. He grew up in Missoula, Montana. Gay activism Roscoe helped found the Lambda Alli ...

who, like his also non-Native mentor Harry Hay, is involved in the hippie/counterculture gay men's group, the Radical Faeries, a "non-Native community that emulates Native spirituality" and engages in other forms of cultural appropriation: "Non-Native anthropologist Will Roscoe gets much of the public credit for coining the term two spirit. However, according to Kristopher Kohl Miner of the Ho-Chunk Nation, Native people such as anthropologist Dr. Wesley Thomas of the Dine or Navajo tribe also contributed to its creation. (Thomas is a professor in the School of Dine and Law Studies.)" More recently, Myra Laramee, (

Anishinaabe The Anishinaabeg (adjectival: Anishinaabe) are a group of culturally related Indigenous peoples present in the Great Lakes region of Canada and the United States. They include the Ojibwe (including Saulteaux and Oji-Cree), Odawa, Potawat ...

) has said that she proposed the term at the 1990 gathering after the phrase came to her in a dream. Some who enthusiastically took up the term and used it in the media said that this new, English-language term carried on the full meaning and implications of the Indigenous-language terms used in-community for the specific traditional, ceremonial roles that the anthropologists had referred to – emphasizing the role of the Elders in recognizing a two-spirit person, stressing that "Two Spirit" is not interchangeable with "LGBT Native American" or "Gay Indian", and that the title differs from most Western, mainstream definitions of sexuality and

gender identity Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent, and consistent with the ...

in that it is not a modern, self-chosen term of personal sexual or gender " identity", but is a sacred, spiritual and ceremonial role that is recognized and confirmed by the Elders of the Two Spirit's ceremonial community. Talking to ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' in 2006, Joey Criddle said, "The elders will tell you the difference between a gay Indian and a Two-Spirit ... underscoring the idea that simply being gay and Indian does not make someone a Two-Spirit."

Criticism of the term

Even though it has gained far more mainstream recognition and popularity than any of the traditional terms in Indigenous languages, the term has never met with universal acceptance. While use of the term to replace ''berdache'' proceeded, the word also began to replace tribally-specific terms and cultural teachings, leading to criticism, largely from more traditional members of Indian Country: "Nations and tribes used various words to describe various genders, sexes and sexualities. Many had separate words for the Western constructs of gays, lesbians, bisexuals, intersex individuals, cross-dressers, transgenders, gender-variant individuals, or 'changing ones', third genders (men who live as women), and fourth genders (women who live as men) Even these categories are limiting, because they are based on Western language and ideas rooted in a dichotomous relationship between gender, sex, and sexuality. This language barrier limits our understanding of the traditional roles within Native American/First Nations cultures." Even at the series of conferences where the term was gradually adopted (1990 being the third of five), concern was expressed by a number of the Native attendees that traditional Natives back in the reservation communities would never agree to this newly-coined concept, or adopt the neologism being used to describe it: "At the conferences that produced the book, ''Two-Spirited People'', I heard several First Nations people describe themselves as very much unitary, neither 'male' nor 'female', much less a pair in one body. Nor did they report an assumption of duality within one body as a common concept within reservation communities; rather, people confided dismay at the Western proclivity for dichotomies. Outside Indo-European-speaking societies, 'gender' would not be relevant to the social personae glosses 'men' and 'women', and 'third gender' likely would be meaningless. The unsavory word 'berdache' certainly ought to be ditched (Jacobs et al. 1997:3-5), but the urban American neologism 'two-spirit' can be misleading." Other concerns about this pan-Indian, English-language term have centered around the binary nature of ''two-spirit'', a sense not found in the traditional names for these individuals or their roles in traditional cultures: "It implies that the individual is both male and female and that these aspects are intertwined within them. The term moves away from traditional Native American/First Nations cultural identities and meanings of sexuality and gender variance. It does not take into account the terms and meanings from individual nations and tribes. ... Although ''two-spirit'' implies to some a spiritual nature, that one holds the spirit of two, both male and female, traditional Native Americans/First Nations peoples view this as a Western concept." ;Indigiqueer Another contemporary term in use, as an alternative to ''two-spirit'', and which does not rely on binary conceptions of gender, is ''Indigiqueer''. Originally spelled ''Indigequeer'', the term was coined by

TJ Cuthand TJ Cuthand is a filmmaker, video- and performance artist, writer and curator of Plains Cree as well as Scottish and Irish descent. He is credited with coining the term ''Indigiqueer'', for modern Indigenous LGBTQ people.

, and popularized by author

Joshua Whitehead Joshua Whitehead is a Canadian First Nations, two spirit poet and novelist. An Oji-Cree member of the Peguis First Nation in Manitoba, Cuthand first used ''Indigiqueer'' for the title of the 2004 Vancouver Queer Film Festival’s Indigenous/two-spirit Program, and has written that he came up with this alternative term, "because some LGBTQ Indigenous people don’t feel as comfortable with the two-spirit title because it implies some dual gender stuff, which some people just don’t feel describes their identity."Okanagan College Library Indigenous Studies - Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer
. Accessed 23 May 2022All My Relations Podcast - Indigiqueer
. Accessed 23 May 2022 Additional issues with ''two-spirit'' that others have voiced is that they see it as a capitulation to urbanization and loss of culture that, while initially intended to help people reconnect with the spiritual dimension of these roles, was not working out the way it had been intended. In 2009, writing for the ''Encyclopedia of Gender and Society'', Kylan Mattias de Vries wrote:

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

While some have found ''two-spirit'' a useful tool for intertribal organizing, "the concept and word ''two-spirit'' has no traditional cultural significance". Not all tribes have ceremonial roles for these people, and the tribes that do usually use names in their own languages.Two Spirit Terms in Tribal Languages
" at ''NativeOut''. Accessed 23 Sep 2015

Traditional Indigenous terms

With over 500 surviving Native American cultures, attitudes about sex and gender can be diverse. Even with the modern adoption of pan-Indian terms like two-spirit, and the creation of a modern pan-Indian community around this naming, not all cultures will perceive two-spirits the same way, or welcome a pan-Indian term to replace the terms already in use by their cultures. Additionally, not all contemporary Indigenous communities are supportive of their gender-variant and non-heterosexual people now. In these communities, those looking for two-spirit community have sometimes faced oppression and rejection. While existing terminology in many nations shows historical acknowledgement of differing sexual orientations and gender expressions, members of some of these nations have also said that while variance was accepted, they never had separate or defined roles for these members of the community. Among the Indigenous communities that traditionally have roles for two-spirit people, specific terms in their own languages are used for the social and spiritual roles these individuals fulfill. The following list is not comprehensive. *

Aleut The Aleuts ( ; russian: Алеуты, Aleuty) are the indigenous people of the Aleutian Islands, which are located between the North Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea. Both the Aleut people and the islands are politically divided between the ...

: ''tayagigux, "Woman transformed into a man." *Aleut: ''ayagigux, "Man transformed into a woman." * Blackfoot: , "Manly-hearted-woman." This term has a wide variety of meanings ranging from women who performed the roles of men, dressed as men, took female partners, or who participated in activities such as war. *Blackfoot: , "A male homosexual." *Blackfoot: , "Acts like a woman." There are historical accounts of individuals who engaged in homosexual relationships, or who were born as men but lived their lives as women, possibly for religious or social reasons. These individuals were viewed in a wide variety of ways, from being revered spiritual leaders, brave warriors and

artisan An artisan (from french: artisan, it, artigiano) is a skilled craft worker who makes or creates material objects partly or entirely by hand. These objects may be functional or strictly decorative, for example furniture, decorative art ...

s, to targets of ridicule. * cr, iskwêw ka-napêwayat, ᐃᐢᑵᐤ ᑲ ᓇᐯᐘᔭᐟ, "A woman who dresses as a man." * cr, napêw iskwêwisêhot, ᓇᐯᐤ ᐃᐢᑵᐏᓭᐦᐅᐟ, "A man who dresses as a woman." * cr, înahpîkasoht, ᐄᓇᐦᐲᑲᓱᐦᐟ, "A woman dressed/living/accepted as a man."; also given as "someone who fights everyone to prove they are the toughest". * cr, ayahkwêw, ᐊᔭᐦᑵᐤ, "A man dressed/living/accepted as a woman."; possibly not a respectful term; others have suggested it is a

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 usuall ...

designation, applied to both women ''and'' men. * cr, napêhkân, ᓈᐯᐦᑳᐣ, "One who acts/lives as a man." * cr, iskwêhkân, ᐃᐢᑵᐦᑳᐣ, "One who acts/lives as a woman." *

Crow A crow is a bird of the genus '' Corvus'', or more broadly a synonym for all of ''Corvus''. Crows are generally black in colour. The word "crow" is used as part of the common name of many species. The related term "raven" is not pinned scientifica ...

: . A word that describes both

trans women A trans woman or a transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity, may experience gender dysphoria, and may transition; this process commonly includes hormone replacement therapy and s ...

and homosexual males. * lkt, wíŋkte is the contraction of an older Lakota word, , meaning "wants to be like a woman". are a social category in historical

Lakota culture 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 ...

, of male-bodied people who in some cases have adopted the clothing, work, and mannerisms that Lakota culture usually consider feminine. In contemporary Lakota culture, the term is most commonly associated with simply being gay. Both historically and in modern culture, usually are homosexual, though they may or may not consider themselves part of the more mainstream

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 ...

communities. Some participate in the pan-Indian Two Spirit community. While historical accounts of their status vary widely, most accounts, notably those by other Lakota, see the as regular members of the community, and neither marginalized for their status, nor seen as exceptional. Other writings, usually historical accounts by anthropologists, hold the as sacred, occupying a liminal,

role in the culture and born to fulfill ceremonial roles that can not be filled by either men or women. In contemporary Lakota communities, attitudes towards the vary from accepting to homophobic. * nv, nádleeh (also given as ), "One who is transformed" or "one who changes". In traditional Navajo culture, are male-bodied individuals described by those in their communities as "effeminate male", or as "half woman, half man". A 2009 documentary about the tragic murder of Fred Martinez, entitled, ''Two Spirits'', contributed to awareness of these terms and cultures. A Navajo gender spectrum that has been described is that of four genders: feminine woman, masculine woman, feminine man, masculine man. * Ojibwe language, Ojibwe: , "Women who functioned as men" / "one who endeavors to be like a man". *Ojibwe: , "Men who chose to function as women" / "one who endeavors to be like a woman". Academic

Anton Treuer Anton Treuer is an American academic and author specializing in the Ojibwe language and American Indian studies. He is professor of Ojibwe at Bemidji State University, Minnesota and a 2008 Guggenheim Fellow. Early life and education Anton Treuer ...

wrote that in Ojibwe culture " x usually determined one's gender, and therefore one's work, but the Ojibwe accepted variation. Men who chose to function as women were called , meaning 'one who endeavors to be like a woman'. Women who functioned as men were called , meaning, 'one who endeavors to be like a man'. The French called these people ''berdaches''. and could take spouses of their own sex. Their mates were not considered or , however, because their function in society was still in keeping with their sex. If widowed, the spouse of an or could remarry someone of the opposite sex or another or . The worked and dressed like women. The worked and dressed like men. Both were considered to be strong spiritually, and they were always honoured, especially during ceremonies." The Ojibwe word ''agokwe'' was used by John Tanner to describe gender-nonconforming Ojibwe warrior

Ozaawindib ''Ozaawindib'' ("Yellow Head" in English, recorded variously as Oza Windib, O-zaw-wen-dib, O-zaw-wan-dib, Ozawondib, etc.) (Ojibwe) was an early 19th century (fl. 1797-1832) male-bodied warrior. He had several husbands, at times wore attire typic ...

( fl. 1797-1832). Pruden and Edmo spell it ''agokwa'': "male-assigned: ''Agokwa'' - 'man-woman'", along with "female-assigned: ''Okitcitakwe'' - 'warrior woman'". * zun, lhamana, men who at times may also take on the social and ceremonial roles performed by women in their culture. Accounts from the 1800s note that , while dressed in "female attire", were often hired for work that required "strength and endurance",Matilda Coxe Stevenson, The Zuni Indians: Their Mythology, Esoteric Fraternities, and Ceremonies, (BiblioBazaar, 2010) p. 380 while also excelling in traditional arts and crafts such as pottery and weaving.James, George W. New Mexico: The Land of the Delight Makers. Boston: Page Co., 1920. Notable We'wha (1849–1896), lived in both traditional female and male social and ceremonial roles at various points in their life, and was a respected community leader and cultural ambassador.Suzanne Bost, Mulattas and Mestizas: Representing Mixed Identities in the Americas, 1850-2000, (Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press, 2003, pg.139Matilda Coxe Stevenson, The Zuni Indians: Their Mythology, Esoteric Fraternities, and Ceremonies, (BiblioBazaar, 2010) p. 37 Quote: "the most intelligent person in the pueblo. Strong character made his word law among both men and women with whom he associated. Though his wrath was dreaded by men as well as women, he was loved by all children, to whom he was ever kind."

Contemporary issues

The increasing visibility of the two-spirit concept in mainstream culture has been seen as both empowering and as having some undesirable consequences, such as the spread of

misinformation Misinformation is incorrect or misleading information. It differs from disinformation, which is ''deliberately'' deceptive. Rumors are information not attributed to any particular source, and so are unreliable and often unverified, but can turn ...

about the cultures of Indigenous people, pan-Indianism, and cultural appropriation of Indigenous identities and ceremonial ways among non-Natives who do not understand that Indigenous communities see two-spirit as a specifically Native American and First Nations cultural identity, not one to be taken up by non-Natives.Cameron, Michelle. (2005). Two-spirited Aboriginal people: Continuing cultural appropriation by non-Aboriginal society. ''Canadian Women Studies'', ''24'' (2/3), 123–127.

These sort of simplified black-and-white depictions of Native culture and history perpetuate indiscriminate appropriation of Native peoples. Although the current new meme or legend surrounding the term two spirit is certainly laudable for helping LGBTQ people create their own more empowering terminology to describe themselves, it carries some questionable baggage. My concern is not so much over the use of the words but over the social meme they have generated that has morphed into a cocktail of historical revisionism, wishful thinking, good intentions, and a soupçon of white, entitled appropriation.

''Two-spirit'' does not acknowledge either the traditional acceptance or the nonacceptance of individuals in various nations and tribes. The idea of gender and sexuality variance being universally accepted among Native American/First Nations peoples has become romanticized.
Accordingly, the change from ''berdache'' to ''two-spirit'' is most accurately understood as a non-Native idealization of the social acceptance of gender variance, idealizing a romanticized acceptance of gender variance.

For

people whose lives have been impacted by the Residential Schools, and other Indigenous communities who have experienced severe cultural damage from colonization, the specific two-spirit traditions in their communities may have been severely damaged, fragmented, or even lost. In these cases there have been serious challenges to remembering and reviving their older traditional ways, and to overcoming the homophobia and other learned prejudices of forced assimilation. When Indigenous people from communities that are less-accepting of two-spirits have sought community among non-Native

communities, however, the tendency for non-Natives to tokenize and appropriate has at times led to rifts rather than unity, with two-spirits feeling like they are just another tacked on initial rather than fully included:

The term two-spirited was chosen to emphasize our difference in our experiences of multiple, interlocking oppressions as queer Aboriginal people. When non-Aboriginal people decide to "take up" the term two-spirit, it detracts from its original meaning and diffuses its power as a label of resistance for Aboriginal people. Already there is so much of First Nations culture that has been exploited and appropriated in this country; must our terms of resistance also be targeted for mainstream appropriation and consumption? Two-spirited is a reclaimed term designed by Aboriginals to define our unique cultural context, histories, and legacy. When people do not see the harm in "sharing" the term, they are missing the point and refusing to recognize that by appropriating the term they will inevitably alter its cultural context.

In academia, there has since 2010 or earlier been a move to "queer the analytics of settler colonialism" and create a "twospirit" critique as part of the general field of queer studies.Smith, Andrea. "Queer Theory and Native Studies: The Heteronormativity of Settler Colonialism". ''GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies'' 16.1–2 (2010): 41–68. Web. However, much of this academic analysis and publishing is not based in traditional indigenous knowledge, but in the more mainstream, non-Native perspectives of the broader

communities, so most of the same cultural misunderstandings tend to be found as in the outdated writing of the non-Native anthropologists and "explorers". Claiming a viewpoint of "postidentity" analysis, supporters of " queer of color critique" aim to examine settler colonialism and the ongoing genocide of Native peoples while "queering Native Studies". However, Indigenous identity is predominantly cultural, rather than a racial classification.Russell, Steve (2002). "Apples are the Color of Blood", ''Critical Sociology'', Vol. 28, 1, 2002, p. 68 (quoting López (1994) p. 55) It is based on membership in a particular community, cultural fluency, citizenship, and Native American and

people may or may not even consider themselves to be "

people of color The term "person of color" ( : people of color or persons of color; abbreviated POC) is primarily used to describe any person who is not considered "white". In its current meaning, the term originated in, and is primarily associated with, the U ...

Definition and societal role in Indigenous communities

Male-bodied two-spirit people, regardless of gender identification, can go to war and have access to male activities such as male-only sweat lodge ceremonies. However, they may also take on "feminine" activities such as cooking and other domestic responsibilities. According to Lang, female-bodied two-spirit people usually have sexual relations or marriages with only females.

Two-spirit societies

Among the goals of two-spirit societies are group support;

outreach Outreach is the activity of providing services to any population that might not otherwise have access to those services. A key component of outreach is that the group providing it is not stationary, but mobile; in other words, it involves meetin ...

, education, and activism; revival of their Indigenous cultural traditions, including preserving the old languages, skills and dances; and otherwise working toward

social change Social change is the alteration of the social order of a society which may include changes in social institutions, social behaviours or social relations. Definition Social change may not refer to the notion of social progress or socio ...

. Some two-spirit societies (past and present) include: 2Spirits of Toronto in

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

; the Wabanaki Two Spirit Alliance in Nova Scotia; the Bay Area American Indian Two-Spirits (est. 1998) in

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

; Central Oklahoma Two Spirit Natives in

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...

; the East Coast Two Spirit Society and the NorthEast Two-Spirit Society in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

; Idaho Two-Spirit Society; the Indiana Two-Spirit Society in Bloomington; Minnesota Two Spirits; the Montana Two-Spirit Society in Browning; the Northwest Two-Spirit Society in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region ...

; the Ohio Valley Two Spirit Society of

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

, and Southern Illinois; the Portland Two Spirit Society (est. May 2012) in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...

; the Regina Two-Spirited Society in

Regina, Saskatchewan Regina () is the capital city of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province, after Saskatoon, and is a commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. As of the 2021 census, Regina had a city populatio ...

; the Texas Two Spirit Society in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

; the Tulsa Two-Spirit Society in

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...

; the Two-Spirit Society of Denver in

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

; and the Wichita Two-Spirit Society in

Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532. The Wichita metro area had a population of 647,610 in 2020. It is located in ...

Historical and anthropological accounts

Unfortunately, depending on an oral tradition to impart our ways to future generations opened the floodgates for early non-Native explorers, missionaries, and anthropologists to write books describing Native peoples and therefore bolstering their own role as experts. These writings were and still are entrenched in the perspective of the authors who were and are mostly white men.

According to German anthropologist Sabine Lang, cross-dressing of two-spirit people was not always an indicator of gender identity. Lang believes "the mere fact that a male wears women's clothing does not say something about his role behavior, his gender status, or even his choice of partner". Other anthropologists may have mistakenly labelled some Native individuals two-spirit or ''

'' because of a lack of cultural understanding, specifically around an Indigenous community's worldview, and their particular customs concerning clothing and gender. According to non-Natives including author Brian Gilley and anthropologist

, the historical presence of male-bodied two-spirits "was a fundamental institution among most tribal peoples", with both male- and female-bodied two-spirits having been documented "in over 130 North American tribes, in every region of the continent". However,

Ojibwe The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains. According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...

journalist Mary Annette Pember argues that this depiction threatens to homogenize diverse Indigenous cultures, painting over them with an overly broad brush, potentially causing the disappearance of "distinct cultural and language differences that Native peoples hold crucial to their identity". Don Pedro Fages was third in command of the 1769–70 Spanish

Portolá expedition thumbnail, 250px, Point of San Francisco Bay Discovery The Portolá expedition ( es, Expedición de Portolá) was a Spanish voyage of exploration in 1769–1770 that was the first recorded European land entry and exploration of the interior of ...

, the first European land exploration of what is now the U.S. state of California. At least three diaries were kept during the expedition, but Fages wrote his account later, in 1775. Fages gave more descriptive details about the native Californians than any of the others, and he alone reported the presence of homosexuality in the native culture. The English translation reads:

I have submitted substantial evidence that those Indian men who, both here and farther inland, are observed in the dress, clothing and character of women – there being two or three such in each village – pass as sodomites by profession. ... They are called ''joyas'', and are held in great esteem.

Although gender-variant people have been both respected and feared in a number of tribes, they are not beyond being reproached or, by traditional law, even killed for bad deeds. In the Mojave tribe, for instance, they frequently become medicine persons and, like all who deal with the supernatural, are at risk of suspicion of

witchcraft Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have ...

, notably in cases of failed harvest or of death. There have been instances of murder in these cases (such as in the case of the gender-nonconforming female named Sahaykwisā). Another instance in the late 1840s was of a

''badé'' who was caught, possibly raiding horses, by the

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 ...

and was killed. Lang and Jacobs write that historically among the Apache, the Lipan, Chiricahua,

Mescalero Mescalero or Mescalero Apache ( apm, Naa'dahéńdé) is an Apache tribe of Southern Athabaskan–speaking Native Americans. The tribe is federally recognized as the Mescalero Apache Tribe of the Mescalero Apache Reservation, located in south-cen ...

, and southern Dilzhe'e have alternative gender identities. One tribe in particular, the Eyak, has a single report from 1938 that they did not have an alternative gender and they held such individuals in low esteem, although whether this sentiment is the result of acculturation or not is unknown. Among the

Iroquois The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...

, there is a single report from

Bacqueville de la Potherie Bacqueville de la Potherie, also known as Claude-Charles Le Roy, was a French chronicler of New France. His most famous work is ''Histoire de I'Amérique septentrionale'', an account of French expeditions to the Great Lakes and Mississippi ...

in his book published in 1722, ''Histoire de l'Amérique septentrionale'', that indicates that an alternative gender identity exists among them. Many, if not all, Indigenous cultures have been affected by European homophobia and

misogyny Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women. It is a form of sexism that is used to keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the societal roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been widely practice ...

. Some sources have reported that the Aztecs and

Incas The Inca Empire (also known as the Incan Empire and the Inka Empire), called ''Tawantinsuyu'' by its subjects, ( Quechua for the "Realm of the Four Parts", "four parts together" ) was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The adm ...

had laws against such individuals, though there are some authors who feel that this was exaggerated or the result of acculturation, because all of the documents indicating this are post-conquest and any that existed before had been destroyed by the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

. The belief that these laws existed, at least for the Aztecs, comes from the

Florentine Codex The ''Florentine Codex'' is a 16th-century ethnographic research study in Mesoamerica by the Spanish Franciscan friar Bernardino de Sahagún. Sahagún originally titled it: ''La Historia General de las Cosas de Nueva España'' (in English: ''Th ...

, and that evidence exists that indigenous peoples authored many codices, but the Spaniards destroyed most of them in their attempt to eradicate ancient beliefs. Some contemporary Zapotec peoples in Mexico embody the traditional

role known as ''

muxe In Zapotec cultures of Oaxaca (southern Mexico), a muxe (also spelled muxhe; ) is a person assigned male at birth who dresses and behaves in ways otherwise associated with women; they may be seen as a third gender. Etymology The Zapotec word ' ...

''. They consider themselves to be "''muxe'' in men's bodies", who do the work that their culture usually associates with women. When asked by

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through ...

researchers in 2004 if they ever considered surgical transition, "none of the respondents found the idea interesting, but rather strange" as their essence as ''muxe'' is not dependent on what type of body they are in.

''Berdache''

Before the late twentieth-century, non-Native (i.e. non- Native American/

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

) anthropologists used the term ''berdache'' (), in a very broad manner, to identify an indigenous individual fulfilling one of many mixed gender roles in their tribe. Most often these anthropologists applied the term to any male whom they perceived to be homosexual, bisexual, or

effeminate Effeminacy is the embodiment of traits and/or expressions in those who are not of the female sex (e.g. boys and men) that are often associated with what is generally perceived to be feminine behaviours, mannerisms, styles, or gender roles, rath ...

by Western social standards, though occasionally the term was applied to lesbian, bisexual and gender nonconforming females as well. This led to a wide variety of diverse individuals being categorized under this imprecise term. At times they incorrectly implied that these individuals were

intersex Intersex people are individuals born with any of several sex characteristics including chromosome patterns, gonads, or genitals that, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, "do not fit typical bin ...

(or, "hermaphrodites").How to become a Berdache: Toward a unified analysis of gender diversity
Will Roscoe The term ''berdache'' has always been repugnant to Indigenous people. De Vries writes, "Berdache is a derogatory term created by Europeans and perpetuated by anthropologists and others to define Native American/First Nations people who varied from Western norms that perceive gender, sex, and sexuality as binaries and inseparable." The term has now fallen out of favor with anthropologists as well. It derives from the French ' (English equivalent: " bardash") meaning "passive homosexual", "

catamite In ancient Greece and Rome, a catamite (Latin: ''catamitus'') was a pubescent boy who was the intimate companion of an older male, usually in a pederastic relationship. It was generally a term of affection and literally means " Ganymede" in ...

" or even " boy prostitute". ''Bardache'', in turn, derived from the

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

''barda'' meaning "captive", "

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of w ...

", " slave". Spanish explorers who encountered these individuals among the

Chumash people The Chumash are a Native American people of the central and southern coastal regions of California, in portions of what is now San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles counties, extending from Morro Bay in the north to Mali ...

called them ''""'', the

for "jewels". Use of ''berdache'' has now been replaced in most mainstream and anthropological literature by ''two spirit'', with mixed results. However, the term ''two spirit'' itself, in English or any other language, was not in use before 1990.

Media representation

In the 1970 film ''Little Big Man'', the

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. Their Cheyenne language belongs to the Algonquian language family. Today, the Cheyenne people are split into two federally recognized nations: the Southern Cheyenne, who are enr ...

character Little Horse, portrayed by Robert Little Star, is a gay man who wears clothing more commonly worn by women in the culture. He invites the protagonist, Jack Crabb (

Dustin Hoffman Dustin Lee Hoffman (born August 8, 1937) is an American actor and filmmaker. As one of the key actors in the formation of New Hollywood, Hoffman is known for his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and emotionally vulnerable characters. He is ...

) to come live with him. In a departure from most portrayals in

Westerns The Western is a genre set in the American frontier and commonly associated with folk tales of the Western United States, particularly the Southwestern United States, as well as Northern Mexico and Western Canada. It is commonly referred ...

of the era, Crabb is touched and flattered by the offer. SF Pride 2014 - Stierch 2

The 2009 documentary film ''Two Spirits'', directed by Lydia Nibley, tells the story of the hate-murder of 16-year-old Navajo Fred Martinez. In the film, Nibley "affirms Martinez' Navajo sense of being a two spirit 'effeminate male', or ''nádleeh''". Martinez' mother defined ''nádleeh'' as "half woman, half man". The film ''Two Spirits'', shown on ''

Independent Lens ''Independent Lens'' is a weekly television series airing on PBS featuring documentary films made by independent filmmakers. Past seasons of ''Independent Lens'' were hosted by Angela Bassett, Don Cheadle, Susan Sarandon, Edie Falco, Terrence H ...

'' in 2011, and winner of the annual Audience Award for that year, is about two-spirit people, particularly Fred Martinez, who was murdered at age 16 for identifying as a two-spirit. In 2017 two-spirited

Metis Metis or Métis may refer to: Ethnic groups * Métis, recognized Indigenous communities in Canada and America whose distinct culture and language emerged after early intermarriage between First Nations peoples and early European settlers, prima ...

filmmaker Marjorie Beaucage released a ''Coming In Stories: Two Spirit in Saskatchewan'' as way to raise awareness about the experiences of two-spirited individuals living in

Saskatchewan, Canada Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dak ...

. In the 2018 indie film, '' The Miseducation of Cameron Post'', a

character – Adam Red Eagle, played by Forrest Goodluck – is sent to a conversion camp for identifying as ''

winkte ' (also spelled ') is the contraction of an old Lakota 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 tha ...

'' and two-spirit. In the 2019, second season of '' American Gods'', Kawennáhere Devery Jacobs (

Mohawk Mohawk may refer to: Related to Native Americans * Mohawk people, an indigenous people of North America (Canada and New York) *Mohawk language, the language spoken by the Mohawk people * Mohawk hairstyle, from a hairstyle once thought to have been ...

) plays a young

Cherokee The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...

woman, Sam Black Crow, who self-identifies as "two-spirited" (although in the

book A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physi ...

, she is mentioned in passing as being bisexual). Her character, raised by a white mother and estranged from her Native father, speaks of looking to older ancestors to try to find her own beliefs, much like the other humans in the series. In an interview she says, "I identify as queer, and not two-spirited, because I'm Mohawk and we don't have that" and that Neil Gaiman (author of the novels on which the series is based) advocated strongly for her to be cast in the role. '' Lovecraft Country'', a 2020 HBO television series, features Yahima, an Arawak two-spirit character. Showrunner Misha Green addressed the fate of this character by tweeting "I wanted to show the uncomfortable truth that oppressed folks can also be oppressors. It's a story point worth making, but I failed in the way I chose to make it." The term "two-spirit" is used anachronistically in the series, being set in the 1950s whilst the term itself was coined in the 1990s.

Tributes

In 2012, a marker dedicated to two spirit people was included in the Legacy Walk, an outdoor public display in Chicago, Illinois, that celebrates

history and people.

Self-identified two spirits

"Self-identified" here is meant as a contrast to the way a traditional two spirit must be recognized as such by the Elders of their Indigenous community when the term is used as a synonym for a traditional ceremonial role (for which there will be an already-existing term in that culture's Indigenous language). Inclusion in this list is thus not an indication of whether the person is recognized or not. * Susan Allen (

), Minnesota State Representative *

Yolanda Bonnell Yolanda Bonnell is a Canadian actress and playwright. She is most noted for her play Bug (Canadian play), ''Bug'', which was a Governor General's Award nominee for Governor General's Award for English-language drama, English-language drama at the ...

(

), Canadian actress and playwright *

Alec Butler Alec Butler (born Audrey Butler; 1959) is a Canadian playwright and filmmaker. Life and career Butler was born in 1959, and is two-spirit, non-binary and intersex. Butler uses ''they''/''them'' and ''he''/''him'' pronouns. Assigned female ...

( Métis), Canadian playwright and filmmaker * Chrystos (

Menominee The Menominee (; mez, omǣqnomenēwak meaning ''"Menominee People"'', also spelled Menomini, derived from the Ojibwe language word for "Wild Rice People"; known as ''Mamaceqtaw'', "the people", in the Menominee language) are a federally recog ...

), writer and activist *

Raven Davis Raven Davis (born 1975) is a multimedia Indigenous artist, curator, activist, and community organizer of the Anishinaabe (Ojibway) Nation in Manitoba. Davis's work centers themes of culture, colonization, sexuality, and gender and racial justice. ...

(

), artist, activist, and traditional cultural worker * Blake Desjarlais ( Cree/

), Canada's first two-spirit

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

. Elected in the 2021 Canadian federal election in the Edmonton Griesbach riding as a member of the New Democratic Party. * Jeremy Dutcher (

Wolastoqiyik The Wəlastəkwewiyik, or Maliseet (, also spelled Malecite), are an Algonquian-speaking First Nation of the Wabanaki Confederacy. They are the indigenous people of the Wolastoq ( Saint John River) valley and its tributaries. Their territory ...

), tenor, composer, musicologist, performer and activist *

Bretten Hannam Bretten Hannam is a Canadian screenwriter and film director.Jordan Parker"Two-Spirit filmmaker puts queer representation first in films" ''Halifax Today'', June 12, 2018. A Two-Spirit, non-binary Mi'kmaq person, Hannam was born and raised in Nova ...

(

Mi'kmaq The Mi'kmaq (also ''Mi'gmaq'', ''Lnu'', ''Miꞌkmaw'' or ''Miꞌgmaw''; ; ) are a First Nations people of the Northeastern Woodlands, indigenous to the areas of Canada's Atlantic Provinces and the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec as well as the nort ...

/Ojibwe), filmmaker * Shawnee Kish (

), musician * Richard LaFortune (

Yupik Yupik may refer to: * Yupik peoples, a group of indigenous peoples of Alaska and the Russian Far East * Yupik languages, a group of Eskimo-Aleut languages Yupꞌik (with the apostrophe) may refer to: * Yup'ik people The Yup'ik or Yupiaq (sg ...

), activist, author and artist * James Makokis ( Cree), physicianRaffy Boudjikanian,
A Cree doctor's caring approach for transgender patients
',

CBC News CBC News is a division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC.ca ...

Kent Monkman Kent Monkman (born 13 November 1965) is a Canadian First Nations artist of Cree ancestry. He is a member of the Fisher River band situated in Manitoba's Interlake Region. He is both a visual as well as performance artist, working in a variety ...

( Cree), visual and performing artist * Rebecca Nagle (

), activist and writer * Harlan Pruden ( Cree), scholar and activist * Smokii Sumac (

Ktunaxa The Kutenai ( ), also known as the Ktunaxa ( ; ), Ksanka ( ), Kootenay (in Canada) and Kootenai (in the United States), are an indigenous people of Canada and the United States. Kutenai bands live in southeastern British Columbia, northern ...

), poet and activist * Arielle Twist ( Cree), poet *

Ilona Verley Ilona Verley is a Canadian-American drag queen, most known for competing on the first season of ''Canada's Drag Race''. Early life Verley was raised in Surrey, British Columbia. They attended the Blanche MacDonald Centre in Vancouver for make-u ...

(

Nlaka'pamux The Nlaka'pamux or Nlakapamuk ( ; ), also previously known as the ''Thompson'', ''Thompson River Salish'', ''Thompson Salish'', ''Thompson River Indians'' or ''Thompson River people'', and historically as the ''Klackarpun'', ''Haukamaugh'', ''Kni ...

), drag queen, contestant on ''Canada's Drag Race'' * Storme Webber (

Alutiiq The Alutiiq people (pronounced in English; from Promyshlenniki Russian Алеутъ, "Aleut"; plural often "Alutiit"), also called by their ancestral name ( or ; plural often "Sugpiat"), as well as Pacific Eskimo or Pacific Yupik, are a so ...

and Choctaw), interdisciplinary artist * Delina White (

), activist, artist, clothing designer *

Joshua Whitehead Joshua Whitehead is a Canadian First Nations, two spirit poet and novelist. An Oji-Cree member of the Peguis First Nation in Manitoba,Oji-Cree The Oji-Cree are a First Nation in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Manitoba, residing in a narrow band extending from the Missinaibi River region in Northeastern Ontario at the east to Lake Winnipeg at the west. The Oji-Cree people are d ...

), poet and novelist"Indigiqueer storyteller Joshua Whitehead turns hope and frustration into literature"
'' This Magazine'', April 3, 2018. * Massey Whiteknife ( Cree), businessman, producer and entertainer * Lori Campbell ( Cree- Métis), educator and politician.
Jan 13, 2020.

References

Archival resources

Two-Spirit Archives
at th
University of Winnipeg Archives

External links

*
Language, culture, and Two-Spirit identity
' – âpihtawikosisân – Cree and other Indigenous perspectives
Native American 'Two-Spirit People' Serve Unique Roles Within Their Communities
- One 'Winkte' Talks About Role Of LGBT People In Lakota Culture *
Two Spirit Journal
' *
San Francisco Two-Spirit Powwow
' – 2017 video by award-winning photographer

Matika Wilbur Matika Lorraine Wilbur is a member of the Swinomish and Tulalip tribes of the State of Washington where she was raised in a family of commercial fishermen. Matika received her teaching certification and worked in primary education at The Tulalip He ...

*
Two Spirits
' – 2009 documentary about ''nádleehí'' Fred Martinez, murdered at age 16 {{Authority control Indigenous rights in the United States Third gender Gender in North America Gender systems Transgender topics and religion