Friday, December 03, 2004
TWO-SPIRIT TRADITIONAL PRACTICE, OR THIRD GENDER,
or subject-subject consciousness is discussed in this PortlandMercury.com article. The term Two-Spirit was coined to describe practices in the Native American tribes. The article explains it thus:
While Two-Spirited people did and do have sexual relations with members of their own sex, Young is quick to offer a broader perspective. "It would be a mistake to characterize these individuals solely by virtue of their sexuality, though it was often a facet of their social existence. These individuals were seen as mediators, healers, shamans, teachers, culture-carriers, and counselors. Sexual relations would happen in the shamanist tradition of 'gifting' such a person. But the important idea is that the social distinction was a part of a larger social role, and the sexuality was a small, albeit important, part of the picture."
He compares Two-Spirit traditions with those of ancient Greece, where "men had women for the purpose of procreation and had berdache lovers for love or spiritual reasons. In many cultures which considered sexual intercourse a method of communication with their god or gods, same-sex-identified men served as sacred whores, as did heterosexual women. Many of the Great Plains chiefs were known to have berdache 'wives,' for example, and berdache were often brought along on hunting and warring parties because they were considered to lend a certain dignity and good blessing on the proceedings.
"There were both male and female Two-Spirits, the men usually taking on the social roles of women and the women generally taking on the social roles of men, including having wives and serving as warriors." Young adds that berdache warriors were often known to be "among the strongest fighters in some tribes."
It seems that even among Native Americans there is a difference of opinion about Two-Spirits:
"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."
Of course they hate the Catholics:
"The berdache, as the culture keepers, were among the first people murdered and worked to death when the white man arrived. Men dressing in women's clothing were a horror to the maniacal missionaries, hell-bent on saving souls for Jesus. These natives were killed when they refused to change their ways or dresses.
The author of the article considers this Two-Spirit concept a traditional Ntive American concept. There is no telling what might pop up under the word "Traditionalism."
