Mastodawn

theseoldqueers Aug 20, 2025

In this episode, Thomas discusses the history and complexity of Two-Spirit identities.
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images:
1 A widely used Two-Spirit flag
2 7. Poster for Bay Area Two-Spirit powwow, 2017
3 Poster for Beaver Hills Two-Spirit powwow, 2023
4 The cover of Not Vanishing by Chrystos (Menominee)
5 Cover art for Orchestral Powwow by Cris Derksen (Cree)
6 The cover of Love Beyond Body, Space, and Time, a collection of Two-Spirit sci-fi
7 Miss Chief Eagle Testikle, Kent Monkman (Cree)
8 Osh-Tisch (Crow)
9 We'wha (Zuni)
10 The cover of Full-Metal Indigiqueer by Joshua Whitehead (Oji-Cree)

Sources:
Chrystos. Not Vanishing. Vancouver: Press Gang Publishing, 1988. Driskill, Qwo-Li. Asegi Stories. Cherokee

Queer and Two Spirit Memory. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2016. Driskill, Qwo-Li, Chris Finley, Brian JosephGilley, and Scott Lauria Morgensen, eds.

Queer Indigenous Studies. Critical Interventions in Theory, Politics, and Literature. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2011. Driskill, Qwo-Li, Daniel Heath Justice, Deborah Miranda, and Lisa Tatonetti, eds.

Sovereign Erotics. A collection of Two-Spirit Literature. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2011. Jacobs, Sue-Ellen, Wesley Thomas, and Sabine Lang, eds.

Two-Spirit People. Native American Gender Identity, Sexuality, and Spirituality. Champaign: University of IllinoisPress, 1997.

Roscoe, Will. Changing Ones: Third and Fourth Genders in Native North America. London: Macmillan, 1998. Sigal, Pete, ed.

Infamous Desire. Male Homosexuality in Colonial Latin America. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003.

Smith, Merril, ed. Sex and Sexuality in Early America. NewYork: New York University Press, 1998.

#twospirit #twospiritidentities #2S #2spirit #chrisderksen #MissChiefEagleTestikle #KentMonkman #oshtisch #fullmetalindigiqueer #joshuawhitehead #wewha

DoomsdaysCW Aug 3, 2024

5 #TwoSpirit Heroes Who Paved the Way for Today's #NativeAmerican #LGBTQ+ Community

by Samuel White Swan-Perkins
Nov 20, 2018

"In the 1990s, Indian Country (as we called it) was a very different place for #NativeAmericans. Our rural communities were isolated, with communication limited to landlines and the mail.

"Cigarette and beer companies frequently sponsored our powwows, recycling was unheard of, and the entire Native scene portrayed itself as very straight. Not straight-laced, per se, but really #hetero.

"The term 'Two Spirit' for LGBTQ+ Native Americans didn’t exist yet, at least not outside #Ojibwe Territory. As for the concept—let’s just say that there were plenty of MCs making #winkte (gay) jokes at the powwows I attended in the early ’90s. Still, in spite of prejudice, it was common knowledge that in 'the old days,' most of our Nations accepted and honored #GenderFluidity.

"I recall one of my elders sharing about a man from home who was that way. 'I don’t like it,' I remember her telling me as she braided me up for one of our dances, 'but we love N. and so—not my way, mind you.' I don’t recall the rest of the conversation, but I understood her comments to mean that winkte was not OK.

"Fast forward a couple of decades, and wow.

"Not only did the Native-American population skyrocket in North America, but we’ve gone through a major shift in how Two Spirits are recognized and treated. Today, dozens of Two Spirit organizations exist across the United States and Canada (North Valley Two Spirits, represent!). We have several of our own powwows, 501c3s and models that help sustain and preserve the Two Spirit way of life.

"To get a sense of where we are today, let’s take a look back at some of the original Two-Spirit heroes who helped light the way."

#NativeAmericanHistory #LGBTQHistory #OshTisch #Wewha #HastiinKlah #Lozen #Dahteste #Colonialism

5 Two-Spirit Heroes Who Paved the Way for Today's Native LGBTQ+ Community | KQED

The term 'Two Spirit' for LGBTQ+ Native Americans didn’t exist in the nineteenth century—but these 5 groundbreaking figures did.