Two-spirit: Difference between revisions

*Ojibwe: ''ininiikaazo'', "Women who functioned as men" / "one who endeavors to be like a man".<ref name="Treur2011" />

<blockquote>[In Ojibwe cultures] Sex usually determined one's gender, and therefore one's work, but the Ojibwe accepted variation. Men who chose to function as women were called ''ikwekaazo'', meaning 'one who endeavors to be like a woman'. Women who functioned as men were called ''ininiikaazo'', meaning, 'one who endeavors to be like a man'. The French called these people ''berdaches''. ''Ikwekaazo'' and ''ininiikaazo'' could take spouses of their own sex. Their mates were not considered ''ikwekaazo'' or ''ininiikaazo'', however, because their function in society was still in keeping with their sex. If widowed, the spouse of an ''ikwekaazo'' or ''ininiikaazo'' could remarry someone of the opposite sex or another ''ikwekaazo'' or ''ininiikaazo''. The ''ikwekaazowag'' worked and dressed like women. The ''ininiikaazowag'' worked and dressed like men. Both were considered to be strong spiritually, and they were always honoured, especially during ceremonies.<ref name=Treur2011/></blockquote>

*[[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 ''lhamana'', while dressed in "female attire", were often hired for work that required "strength and endurance",<ref name=Stevenson380>Matilda Coxe Stevenson, The Zuni Indians: Their Mythology, Esoteric Fraternities, and Ceremonies, (BiblioBazaar, 2010) p.&nbsp;380</ref> while also excelling in traditional arts and crafts such as pottery and weaving.<ref name=James>James, George W. New Mexico: The Land of the Delight Makers. Boston: Page Co.,1920</ref> Notable ''lhamana'' [[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.<ref name=Bost139>Suzanne Bost, Mulattas and Mestizas: Representing Mixed Identities in the Americas, 1850-2000, (Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press, 2003, pg.139</ref><ref name=Stevenson37>Matilda Coxe Stevenson, The Zuni Indians: Their Mythology, Esoteric Fraternities, and Ceremonies, (BiblioBazaar, 2010) p.&nbsp;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."</ref>