Exploring the Meaning and History of “Two-Spirit”

The Wild Reed’s 2025 Queer Appreciation series continues with an excerpt from a very informative article from the website of the Canadian Museum of Human Rights. Written by Scott de Groot, this article focuses on the Indigeous term “Two-Spirit,” its history and meaning.

__________________

In the beginning, Turtle Island was queer. Put another way, gender and sexuality were not understood in binary, “either/or” terms before the arrival of Europeans.

Across Indigenous North America, some people lived their lives as neither men nor women. Some were seen as combining – even transcending – masculine and feminine characteristics. They performed important social roles, held knowledge, led ceremonies, reared children, married and lived in same‐sex relationships.

Of course, Turtle Island was not simply a queer nirvana. Various customs and taboos governed gender and sexuality. Social norms varied greatly between First Nations. But a common thread throughout these nations was the lack of strict division of people into two opposing camps of men and women based on biology. No single system of morality forbade and condemned same‐sex and same‐gender relationships. These things only appeared later with Christianity and colonialism.

Indigenous languages have many words and expressions for people we would now call Two‐Spirit. Cree contains at least six. In Anishinaabemowin, there are at least four.

. . . [In the mid‐20th century] the Red Power movement arose to demand sovereignty and self‐determination for Indigenous peoples throughout Turtle Island (what is now Canada and the United States). Simultaneously, the Gay Liberation movement challenged homophobia, asserted gay pride and encouraged queer people to come out of the closet. Queer Indigenous activists were influenced by these two movements, but also experienced marginalization within both of them. Gay liberationists tended to denounce colonialism abroad – such as in Vietnam – while ignoring settler colonialism at home. They sometimes expressed racist attitudes and colonial standards of beauty. Red Power circles tended to be homophobic and emphasized macho gender roles, while ignoring Indigenous forms of sexual and gender diversity.

Drawing on some aspects of these movements while abandoning others, queer Indigenous activists opted to create independent organizations that would better address their needs. The first of these groups, Gay American Indians was founded in San Francisco in 1975. Others included American Indian Gays and Lesbians in Minneapolis, Gays and Lesbians of the First Nations in Toronto, WeWah and BarCheeAmpe in New York City, and Nichiwakan in Winnipeg.

Queer Indigenous activists on both sides of the Canada/United States border saw the need for greater communication, relationship‐building and coordination. They established an annual international gathering. In 1988, the first was hosted by American Indian Gays and Lesbians in Minneapolis. A second was held at a wilderness site in Wisconsin in 1989.

These events brought queer Indigenous people together to socialize, share their experiences and ideas, engage in cultural and spiritual practices, and learn from one another. A third gathering was held in Manitoba in the summer of 1990. It took place at a wilderness site outside Winnipeg, near Beausejour, Manitoba, along the banks of the Brokenhead River.

. . . At this gathering, participants discussed and debated Two‐Spirit as a term. It seemed to link contemporary LGBTQ+ experiences with Indigenous traditions, histories and worldviews. And it arrived at the perfect time. Many community members were already searching for alternatives to offensive, colonial terms such as berdache, which had been used by missionaries and anthropologists. Ultimately, attendees at the 1990 gathering embraced Two‐Spirit as a new and positive expression of who they were. They did not seek to define Two‐Spirit in a narrow way.

Two‐Spirit was not intended to supplant other LGBTQ+ identities. It can easily coexist with terms such as gay or trans in an individual’s self‐understanding. Similarly, it was not meant to replace specific terms for non‐binary sexuality and gender in Indigenous languages. Rather, it acts as a contemporary umbrella term that fosters pan‐Indigenous interconnections.

Simply put, Two‐Spirit was (and is) about self‐determination, rejecting colonial labels, building community and reconnecting with long‐suppressed aspects of Indigenous histories and cultures, including spirituality.

– Scott de Groot
Excerpted from "What Is Two‐Spirit?
Canadian Museum of Human Rights
March 26, 2024

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Tony Enos on Understanding the Two-Spirit Community
• North America: Perhaps Once the “Queerest Continent on the Planet”
• Clyde Hall: “All Gay People, in One Form or Another, Have Something to Give to This World, Something Rich and Very Wonderful”
• Terence Weldon: Quote of the Day – November 12, 2011
• John Corvino on the “Always and Everywhere” Argument Against Gay Marriage
• Same-Sex Desires: “Immanent and Essential Traits Transcending Time and Culture”