''Lhamana'', in traditional Zuni culture, are biologically male people who take on the social and ceremonial roles usually performed by women in their culture, at least some of the time. Page 269 They wear a mixture of women's and men's clothing and much of their work is in the areas usually occupied by Zuni women. Some contemporary ''lhamana'' participate in the pan-Indian

two-spirit ''Two-spirit'' (also known as ''two spirit'' or occasionally ''twospirited'', or abbreviated as ''2S'' or ''2E'', especially in Canada) is a umbrella term used by some Indigenous North Americans to describe Native people who fulfill a trad ...

community. The most famous lhamana was

We'wha We'wha ( 1849–1896, various spellings) was a Zuni people, Zuni Native Americans in the United States, Native American ''lhamana'' from New Mexico, and a notable weaver and potter. As the most famous ''lhamana'' on record, We'wha served as a cu ...

(1849–1896), who in 1886 was part of the Zuni delegation to Washington D.C., where they met with President

Grover Cleveland Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States, serving from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. He was the first U.S. president to serve nonconsecutive terms and the first Hist ...

Social role

Accounts from the 1800s note that the ''lhamana'', 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 such as hunting big game and chopping firewood.Gilley, Brian Joseph (2006). ''Becoming Two-Spirit: Gay Identity and Social Acceptance in Indian Country''. . p.8 In addition to doing heavy work, some ''lhamana'' people have excelled at traditional arts and crafts such as pottery and weaving.

, in particular, was a noted weaver.James, George W. New Mexico: The Land of the Delight Makers. Boston: Page Co.,1920 Both

masculine Masculinity (also called manhood or manliness) is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles generally associated with men and boys. Masculinity can be theoretically understood as socially constructed, and there is also evidence that some beh ...

and

feminine Femininity (also called womanliness) is a set of attributes, behaviors, and Gender roles, roles generally associated with women and girls. Femininity can be understood as Social construction of gender, socially constructed, and there is also s ...

pronouns In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun ( glossed ) is a word or a group of words that one may substitute for a noun or noun phrase. Pronouns have traditionally been regarded as one of the parts of speech, but some modern theorists would not con ...

have been used for ''lhamana'' people. Writing about her friend We'wha,

anthropologist An anthropologist is a scientist engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropologists study aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms, values ...

Matilda Coxe Stevenson Matilda Coxe Stevenson (''née'' Evans) (May 12, 1849 – June 24, 1915), who also wrote under the name Tilly E. Stevenson, was an American anthropologist. She was the first woman ever employed as an anthropologist in the U.S. She was also the ...

described We'wha as: Though generally seen by European colonialists and modern adherents of queer studies as gay,

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

, the Zuni ''lhamana'', like other Indigenous social, cultural and ceremonial roles, exist in an Indigenous matrix. Indigenous writers on these roles feel that these identities cannot be reduced solely to same-sex desire or adherence to a conventional set of

gender roles A gender role, or sex role, is a social norm deemed appropriate or desirable for individuals based on their gender or sex. Gender roles are usually centered on conceptions of masculinity and femininity. The specifics regarding these gende ...

, even modern

genderqueer Non-binary or genderqueer gender identities are those that are outside the male/female gender binary. Non-binary identities often fall under the transgender umbrella since non-binary people typically identify with a gender that is differ ...

ones.Cameron, Michelle. (2005). Two-spirited Aboriginal people: Continuing cultural appropriation by non-Aboriginal society. ''Canadian Women Studies'', ''24'' (2/3), 123–127.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.

Footnotes

Two-spirit Zuni culture {{Gender and sexual identities