Two-spirit: Difference between revisions

*Cree: iskwêhkân, "One who acts/lives as a woman".<ref name="Vowel-1" />

*Cree: napêhkân, "One who acts/lives as a man".<ref name="Vowel-1" />

*Crow people: ''batée''. A word that describes both [[transgender women]] and [[gay men]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://dictionary.crowlanguage.org/#/L/bat%C3%A9e%20(%C3%A1a)|title=Crow Dictionary|last=|first=|date=|website=|publisher=Crow Language Consortium|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=}}</ref>  

*Wíŋkte is the contraction of an older Lakota word, ''Winyanktehca'', meaning "wants to be like a woman".<ref name="Medicine">{{cite web | last = Medicine | first =Beatrice | authorlink = | title = Directions in Gender Research in American Indian Societies: Two Spirits and Other Categories by Beatrice Medicine | work = Online Readings in Psychology and Culture (Unit 3, Chapter 2). W. J. Lonner, D. L. Dinnel, S. A. Hayes, & D. N. Sattler (Eds.)| publisher = Center for Cross-Cultural Research, Western Washington University |date=2002 | url = http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~culture/medicine.htm | archiveurl  = https://web.archive.org/web/20030330115133/http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~culture/medicine.htm | archivedate = 2003-03-30 | doi = | accessdate = 2015-07-07 }}</ref> ''[[Winkte]]'' are a social category in historical Lakota culture, 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 ''winkte'' are [[homosexual]], though they may or may not consider themselves part of the more mainstream [[LGBT]] communities. Some ''winkte'' participate in the pan-Indian Two Spirit community.<ref name="Medicine" /> While historical accounts of their status vary widely, most accounts, notably those by other Lakota, see the ''winkte'' 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 ''winkte'' as sacred, occupying a liminal, third gender role in the culture and born to fulfill ceremonial roles that cannot be filled by either men or women.<ref name="Medicine" /> In contemporary Lakota communities, attitudes towards the ''winkte'' vary from accepting to homophobic.<ref name="Medicine" /><ref name="WinkteInterview">{{cite web|last1=Druke|first1=Galen |url=https://www.wpr.org/native-american-two-spirit-people-serve-unique-roles-within-their-communities

In 2017 two-spirited Métis 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.<ref name="Petrow">{{cite news |last1=Petrow |first1=Erin |title=A Q and A session with OUTSaskatoon two spirit elder Marjorie Beaucage |url=https://thestarphoenix.com/news/local-news/a-q-and-a-session-with-outsaskatoon-two-spirit-elder-marjorie-beaucage |accessdate=12 August 2018 |work=Saskatoon StarPhoenix |date=14 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230629134730/https://thestarphoenix.com/news/local-news/a-q-and-a-session-with-outsaskatoon-two-spirit-elder-marjorie-beaucage |archive-date=17 July 2023 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Storytelling as medicine: Coming In documentary follows two-spirited people living in Sask. |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/storytelling-as-medicine-coming-in-documentary-follows-two-spirited-people-living-in-sask-1.3982532 |accessdate=12 August 2018 |work=CBC News |date=14 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230415222033/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/storytelling-as-medicine-coming-in-documentary-follows-two-spirited-people-living-in-sask-1.3982532 |archive-date=17 July 2023 }}</ref>

In the 2019, second season of ''American Gods'', Kawennáhere Devery Jacobs (Mohawk) plays a young Cherokee woman, Sam Black Crow, who self-identifies as "two-spirited". 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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://collider.com/american-gods-season-2-devery-jacbos-interview/|title='American Gods' Season 2: Devery Jacobs on Bringing Sam Black Crow to Life|last=Radish|first=Christina|date=2019-03-24|website=Collider|language=en-US|access-date=2019-03-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230213095737/http://collider.com/american-gods-season-2-devery-jacbos-interview/|archive-date=17 July 2023}}</ref>

== External links ==

* ''[http://apihtawikosisan.com/2012/03/language-culture-and-two-spirit-identity/ Language, culture, and Two-Spirit identity]'' – âpihtawikosisân – Cree and other Indigenous perspectives  

* ''[https://twospiritjournal.com/ Two Spirit Journal]''

*''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4BQbRnKdIY San Francisco Two-Spirit Powwow]'' – 2017 video by award-winning photographer Matika Wilbur