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{{Short description|Umbrella term for gender-variant Indigenous North Americans}}
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[[File:Bay Area American Indian Two Spirits, San Francisco Pride 2013.jpg|thumb|The two-spirit contingent marches at [[San Francisco Pride]] in 2013]]
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'''''Two-spirit''''' (also known as '''''two spirit''''' or occasionally '''''twospirited'''''){{efn|French: ''{{lang|fr|Aux deux esprits}}'' or ''{{lang|fr|bispirituelles}}''}} is a {{as written|reason=This term is used by the Ojibwa journalist in Note 5; please justify any changes to it on the Talk page.|contemporary [[pan-Indian]]}} umbrella term used by some [[Native Americans in the United States|Indigenous North Americans]] to describe Native people who fulfill a traditional [[third-gender]] (or other [[gender-variant]]) social role in their communities.<ref name="Estrada">{{Cite journal |last=Estrada |first=Gabriel |date=2011 |title=''Two Spirits'', ''Nádleeh'', and LGBTQ2 Navajo Gaze |journal=American Indian Culture and Research Journal |volume=35 |issue=4 |pages=167–190 |doi=10.17953/aicr.35.4.x500172017344j30|url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/08c129mf }}</ref><ref name=NYT2 /><ref name="NCIA">{{Cite journal |last1=Pruden |first1=Harlan |last2=Edmo |first2=Se-ah-dom |date=2016 |title=Two-Spirit People: Sex, Gender & Sexuality in Historic and Contemporary Native America |url=http://www.ncai.org/policy-research-center/initiatives/Pruden-Edmo_TwoSpiritPeople.pdf |journal=National Congress of American Indians Policy Research Center |access-date=2017-10-01 |archive-date=2023-07-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230708104610/https://www.ncai.org/policy-research-center/initiatives/Pruden-Edmo_TwoSpiritPeople.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hauser |first1=Raymond E. |last2=Roscoe |first2=Will |date=1993 |title=The Zuni Man-Woman |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/482173 |journal=Ethnohistory |volume=40 |issue=1 |pages=126 |doi=10.2307/482173 |jstor=482173 |issn=0014-1801}}</ref>

Coined in 1990 as a primarily ceremonial term promoting community recognition, in recent years more individuals have taken to self-identifying as two-spirit. Two-spirit, as a term and concept, is neither used nor accepted universally in Native American cultures. [[Indigenous cultures]] that have traditional roles for gender-nonconforming people have names in their own Indigenous languages for these people and the roles they fill in their communities.

The initial intent in coining the term was to differentiate Indigenous concepts of [[gender]] and sexuality from those of non-Native [[lesbian]]s and [[gay]]s<ref name="Jacobs2-3,221" /> and to replace the pejorative anthropological terms that were still in wide use.<ref name="Pember1" /> Although the term "two-spirit" has been controversial since its adoption,<ref name="Kehoe"/> it has experienced more academic and social acceptance than the term ''[[#Berdache|berdache]]'', which it was coined to replace.<ref name="Pember1" /><ref name="NativeOut101">"[http://nativeout.com/twospirit-rc/two-spirit-101/ Two Spirit 101] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141210110520/http://nativeout.com/twospirit-rc/two-spirit-101/|date=2014-12-10}}" at ''NativeOut'': "The Two Spirit term was adopted in 1990 at an Indigenous lesbian and gay international gathering to encourage the replacement of the term berdache, which means, 'passive partner in sodomy, boy prostitute.'" Accessed 23 Sep 2015</ref><ref name="BMedicine">{{Cite journal |last=Medicine |first=Beatrice |date=August 2002 |title=Directions in Gender Research in American Indian Societies: Two Spirits and Other Categories |url=http://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1024&context=orpc |journal=Online Readings in Psychology and Culture |publisher=International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology |volume=3 |issue=1 |page=7 |doi=10.9707/2307-0919.1024 |issn=2307-0919 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121208071034/http://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1024&context=orpc |archive-date=2012-12-08 |access-date=2016-06-25 |quote=At the Wenner Gren conference on gender held in Chicago, May, 1994... the gay American Indian and Alaska Native males agreed to use the term "Two Spirit" to replace the controversial "berdache" term. The stated objective was to purge the older term from anthropological literature as it was seen as demeaning and not reflective of Native categories. Unfortunately, the term "berdache" has also been incorporated in the psychology and women studies domains, so the task for the affected group to purge the term looms large and may be formidable. |doi-access=free}}</ref> The government of Canada officially uses '''2SLGBTQI+'''{{efn|French: ''{{lang|fr|2ELGBTQI+}}''}} as an alternative to the established acronym of [[LGBTQI+]],<ref name=CanGov>[https://www.canada.ca/en/women-gender-equality/free-to-be-me/what-is-2slgbtqi-plus.html What is 2SLGBTQI+?] Government of Canada</ref> sometimes shortened to '''2SLGBT''' or a similar variant.

Early adopters stated that a two-spirit identity does not make sense outside of a [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] or [[First Nations in Canada|First Nations]] cultural framework<ref name="NCIA" /><ref name="NYT2" /><ref name="Vowel-1">{{Cite book |last=Vowel |first=Chelsea |title=Indigenous Writes: A Guide to First Nations, Métis & Inuit Issues in Canada |date=2016 |publisher=Highwater Press |isbn=978-1-553-79680-0 |location=Winnipeg |chapter=All My Queer Relations - Language, Culture, and Two-Spirit Identity}}</ref> and its use by non-Natives is seen as a form of [[cultural appropriation]].<ref name="huffwhatitmeans">Borresen, Kelsey. [https://www.huffpost.com/entry/what-two-spirit-means-native_l_62aa0b3ce4b06169ca93c14e Here's What It Means To Be 'Two-Spirit,' According To Native People], via [[Huffington Post]]. 8 September 2022.</ref>

The [[gender nonconforming]] or [[third-gender]], ceremonial roles traditionally embodied by some [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] and [[Indigenous peoples in Canada]] that may be encompassed by modern two-spirit people vary widely, even among the Native individuals or cultures that use the term. Not all of these cultures have historically had roles for gender-variant people, and among those that do, no one Indigenous culture's gender or sexuality categories apply to all Native people.<ref name="de Vries 2009">{{Cite book |last=de Vries |first=Kylan Mattias |title=Encyclopedia of gender and society |date=2009 |publisher=SAGE |isbn=9781412909167 |editor-last=O'Brien |editor-first=Jodi |location=Los Angeles |page=64 |chapter=Berdache (Two-Spirit) |access-date=6 March 2015 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_nyHS4WyUKEC}}</ref><ref name="Pember">{{Cite web |last=Pember |first=Mary Annette |date=October 13, 2016 |title='Two Spirit' Tradition Far From Ubiquitous Among Tribes |url=https://rewire.news/article/2016/10/13/two-spirit-tradition-far-ubiquitous-among-tribes/ |access-date=October 17, 2016 |publisher=[[Rewire (website)|Rewire]]}}</ref>

==''Two-spirit'' as a term==
===Etymology===
The [[neologism]] ''two-spirit'' was developed over a series of five conferences, concluding in 1990 at the Third Annual Inter-tribal Native American, First Nations, Gay and Lesbian American Conference, held in [[Winnipeg]].<ref name="Kehoe"/> Credit for developing the term is usually given to several participants in the gatherings. The term was first developed and proposed in English, and later the [[Ojibwe language|Ojibwe]] translation {{wikt-lang|oj|niizh manidoowag}} was constructed and proposed to honor the language of the Indigenous peoples in whose territory the conference was being held.<ref name="de Vries 2009" />

Both the English and Ojibwe terms were coined at the 1990 conference, and are not found in the historical record. ''Two-spirit'', in English or translated into any other language, is a general term for wider audiences, and is not intended to replace the traditional terms or concepts already in use in [[Indigenous peoples in North America|Indigenous]] cultures. 

For early adopters, the term ''two spirit'' was a deliberate act to differentiate and distance themselves from non-Native gays and lesbians,<ref name="Jacobs2-3,221">{{harvp|Jacobs|Thomas|Lang|1997|pp=2–3, 221}}</ref> as well as from non-Native terminology such as ''gay'', ''lesbian'', and ''transgender''. Particularly offensive was the term ''[[#Berdache|berdache]]'',<ref name="Pember1" /><ref name="Jacobs2-3,221" /> which had previously been the preferred term among non-Native [[anthropology|anthropologists]] to refer to Indigenous people who did not conform to standard European-American [[gender roles]]. ''Berdache'', which means "passive partner in sodomy, boy prostitute", has always been offensive to Indigenous peoples.<ref name="de Vries 2009" /> Journalist Mary Annette Pember ([[Red Cliff Ojibwe]]) and others have written that conference participants were motivated by the desire to coin a new term that could take the place of the outdated and offensive anthropological term.<ref name="de Vries 2009" /><ref name="Pember1" /><ref name="NativeOut101" /><ref name="BMedicine" />

Two-spirited woman Michelle Cameron ([[Cheslatta Carrier Nation|Carrier First Nations]]) writes, "The term two-spirit is thus an Aboriginal-specific term of resistance to colonization and non-transferable to other cultures. There are several underlying reasons for two-spirited Aboriginals' desire to distance themselves from the mainstream queer community."<ref name="Cameron" /> German anthropologist Sabine Lang writes that for Aboriginal people, sexual orientation or gender identity is secondary to their ethnic identity. "At the core of contemporary two-spirit identities is ethnicity, an awareness of being Native American as opposed to being white or being a member of any other ethnic group".<ref name="Jacobs2-3,221" />

While initially focused on ceremonial and social roles within the Indigenous community, as a [[pan-Indianism|pan-Indian]], English-language umbrella term, for some it has come to have similar use as the terms ''[[queer]]'' (modern, reclaimed usage) or ''[[LGBTQ]]'' in encompassing [[lesbian]], [[gay]], [[bisexual]], and [[transgender]] Native peoples in North America.<ref name="de Vries 2009" />

====Disputed origins====
Primary attribution of the term ''two spirit'', since 1990, has been ascribed to Albert McLeod ([[Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation|Nisichawayasihk Cree]]), who also acknowledges the input of those who participated in the series of five conferences that culminated in the discussions at the Third Annual Inter-tribal Native American, First Nations, Gay and Lesbian American Conference in 1990.<ref name=CanEncMcLeod>{{Cite web|author-last=Filice|author-first=Michelle|url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/two-spirit|title=Two-Spirit|website=Canadian Encyclopedia|date=October 29, 2015|access-date=26 August 2023}}</ref> In 2021, Myra Laramee ([[Fisher River Cree Nation|Fisher River Cree]]) reported that she proposed the term at the 1990 gathering after the phrase came to her in a dream.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Beaulne-Stuebing |first1=Laura |title=How two-spirit people are 'coming in' to their communities |url=https://www.cbc.ca/radio/unreserved/how-two-spirit-people-are-coming-in-to-their-communities-1.6272654 |access-date=20 August 2022 |work=Unreserved |agency=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation |date=3 December 2021}}</ref>

Journalist Mary Annette Pember ([[Red Cliff Ojibwe]]) notes the involvement of non-Native [[Will Roscoe]] who, like his also non-Native mentor [[Harry Hay]], was involved in the hippie/counterculture gay men's group, the [[Radical Faeries]],<ref name=RoscoePapers>{{Cite web|url=http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c85d8sd4/entire_text/|title=Will Roscoe papers and Gay American Indians records|website=www.oac.cdlib.org|access-date=2016-05-05}}</ref> a "non-Native community that emulates Native spirituality" and engages in other forms of [[cultural appropriation]]:<ref name=Morgensen>{{cite book|last1=Morgensen|first1=Scott Lauria|title=Spaces Between Us: Queer Settler Colonialism and Indigenous Decolonization|date=2009|publisher=University of Minnesota Press|isbn=9781452932729 |pages=129–151}}</ref> "Non-Native anthropologist Will Roscoe gets much of the public credit for coining the term two spirit. However, according to Kristopher Kohl Miner of the [[Ho-Chunk Nation]], Native people such as anthropologist Wesley Thomas of the [[Navajo|Dine or Navajo]] tribe also contributed to its creation." Thomas was a professor in the [[Navajo Technical University|School of Diné and Law Studies]].<ref name=Pember1>{{cite web|url=https://rewire.news/article/2016/10/13/two-spirit-tradition-far-ubiquitous-among-tribes/|title='Two Spirit' Tradition Far From Ubiquitous Among Tribes|publisher=[[Rewire (website)|Rewire]]|first=Mary Annette |last=Pember |date=Oct 13, 2016|access-date=Oct 17, 2016 |quote= Non-Native anthropologist Will Roscoe gets much of the public credit for coining the term two spirit. However, according to Kristopher Kohl Miner of the Ho-Chunk Nation, Native people such as anthropologist Dr. Wesley Thomas of the Dine or Navajo tribe also contributed to its creation. (Thomas is a professor in the School of Dine and Law Studies.)}}</ref>

===Criticism of the term===
Criticism of "two-spirit" centers on the term's Western origins, interpretations and influence, the lack of emphasis on Indigenous cultural traditions as maintained by tribal elders, and the potential to render tribal traditions indistinct or vanish them completely.<ref name="de Vries 2009" /><ref name="Kehoe"/>

The terms used by tribes who have roles for gender-variant persons, both currently and historically, do not translate into any form of 'two spirit', and the Ojibwe form {{lang|oj|niizh manidoowag}} is also modern – a new translation from the English that was chosen in 1990, ''after'' the term was coined in English.<ref name="de Vries 2009"/>

With [[List of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States|574 federally recognized tribes in the United States]] alone, some critics say use of the term two-spirit risks erasing traditional terms specific to different, unique communities, that already have their own terminology for these individuals in their Indigenous languages (if they have them — not all cultures do).<ref name="de Vries 2009" /><ref name="Kehoe"/> Since historically, those recorded as gender-variant individuals are often mentioned in the context of having held spiritual, ceremonial roles, the term ''two spirit''&nbsp;– which may have nothing to do with those beliefs and ceremonies&nbsp;– can create a disconnection from, and forgetting of, the actual cultural beliefs and ceremonies.<ref name=Pember/><ref name="de Vries 2009" />

At the series of conferences where the term was gradually adopted (1990 being the third of five), some Native attendees<ref name="Kehoe"/> expressed concern that reservation communities would scorn the idea of two-spirit and never adopt the term.<ref name="Kehoe"/>

Additional issues with ''two-spirit'' that others have voiced is that they see it as a capitulation to urbanization and loss of culture that, while initially intended to help people reconnect with the spiritual dimension of these roles, was not working out the way it had been intended. In 2009, writing for the ''Encyclopedia of Gender and Society'', Kylan Mattias de Vries wrote:

<blockquote>With the urbanization and assimilation of Native peoples, individuals began utilizing Western terms, concepts, and identities, such as gay, lesbian, transgender, and intersex. These terms separated Native cultural identity from sexuality and gender identity, furthering a disconnect felt by many Native American/First Nations peoples in negotiating the boundaries of life between two worlds (Native and non-Native/Western). The term ''two-spirited'' was created to reconnect one's gender or sexual identity with her or his Native identity and culture.&nbsp;...
Some Native Americans/First Nations people that hold to more traditional religious and cultural values view ''two-spirit'' as a cultural and social term, rather than one with any religious or spiritual meaning.&nbsp;... Since historically, many "berdache/two-spirit" individuals held religious or spiritual roles, the term ''two spirit'' creates a disconnection from the past. The terms used by other tribes currently and historically do not translate directly into the English form of ''two spirit'' or the Ojibwe form of {{lang|oj|niizh manidoowag}}.<ref name="de Vries 2009" /></blockquote>

====Perception of Western gender binary====
The binary nature of two-spirit, or the idea of having two spirits in one body, is not a theme found in the traditional gender roles for Native people, and concerns about this misrepresentation have been voiced since the 1990 conference where the term was adopted.<ref name="Kehoe"/><ref name="Relations"/><ref name="de Vries 2009" /> Traditional Native Americans asked about the concept rejected the "Western" [[gender binary]] implications of the term "Two Spirit", such as implying that Natives believe these individuals are "both male and female".<ref name="de Vries 2009" />

Writing on possible misinterpretations from English speakers who hold binary gender views, Kylan Mattias de Vries says in ''Encyclopedia of Gender and Society: Volume 2'' (2009), an academic textbook: 
{{blockquote|It implies that the individual is both male and female and that these aspects are intertwined within them. The term moves away from traditional Native American/First Nations cultural identities and meanings of sexuality and gender variance. It does not take into account the terms and meanings from individual nations and tribes. ... Although ''two-spirit'' implies to some a spiritual nature, that one holds the spirit of two, both male and female, traditional Native Americans/First Nations peoples view this as a Western concept.<ref name="de Vries 2009" />}}

== Traditional Indigenous terms ==


While some have found ''two-spirit'' a useful tool for intertribal organizing, "the concept and word ''two-spirit'' has no traditional cultural significance".<ref name="de Vries 2009" /> Not all tribes have ceremonial roles for these people, and the tribes that do usually use names in their own languages.<ref name="terms">"[http://nativeout.com/twospirit-rc/two-spirit-101/two-spirit-terms-in-tribal-languages/ Two Spirit Terms in Tribal Languages] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150102172337/http://nativeout.com/twospirit-rc/two-spirit-101/two-spirit-terms-in-tribal-languages/ |date=2015-01-02 }}" at ''NativeOut''. Accessed 23 Sep 2015</ref><ref name="NativeOut101" />

With over 500 surviving Native American cultures, attitudes about sex and gender can be diverse.<ref name="de Vries 2009" /> Even with the modern adoption of pan-Indian terms like two-spirit, and the creation of a modern pan-Indian community around this naming, not all cultures will perceive gender-nonconforming members of their communities the same way, or welcome a pan-Indian term to replace the terms already in use by their cultures.<ref name=Pember/><ref name="de Vries 2009" /> Additionally, not all contemporary Indigenous communities are supportive of their gender-variant and non-heterosexual people now. In these communities, those looking for two-spirit community have sometimes faced oppression and rejection.<ref name=Vowel-1/><ref name=Pember/> While existing terminology in many nations shows historical acknowledgement of differing sexual orientations and gender expressions, members of some of these nations have also said that while variance was accepted, they never had separate or defined roles for these members of the community.<ref name=Vowel-1/><ref name=Pember/> Among the Indigenous communities that traditionally have roles for two-spirit people, specific terms in their own languages are used for the social and spiritual roles these individuals fulfill.<ref name=Pember/><ref name="de Vries 2009" /><ref>Note: There is not always consensus, even among reporting elders and language workers, about all of these terms and how they are or were applied. See {{harvtxt|Vowel|2016|p=109}} and {{harvtxt|Druke|2014}}.</ref> The following list is not [[wikt:comprehensive|comprehensive]].

*[[Aleut]]: ''tayagigux''', "Woman transformed into a man."<ref name=NCIA/>
*Aleut: ''ayagigux''', "Man transformed into a woman."<ref name=NCIA/>
*[[Blackfoot language|Blackfoot]]: {{lang|bla|ninauh-oskitsi-pahpyaki}}, "Manly-hearted-woman." This term has a wide variety of meanings ranging from women who performed the roles of men, dressed as men, took female partners, or who participated in activities such as war.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Vengeful Wife|last=Dempsey|first=Hugh|publisher=University of Oklahoma press|year=2003|isbn=978-0806137711|pages=57–62}}</ref> 
*Blackfoot: {{lang|bla|ááwowáakii}}, "A male homosexual."<ref>{{Cite book|title=Blackfoot Dictionary of Stems, Roots, and Affixes|last1=Frantz|first1=Donald G.|last2=Russell|first2=Norma Jean|publisher=University of Toronto Press|year=1989|isbn=0-8020-7136-8|pages=5}}</ref>
*Blackfoot: {{lang|bla|a'yai-kik-ahsi}}, "Acts like a woman." There are historical accounts of individuals who engaged in homosexual relationships, or who were born as men but lived their lives as women, possibly for religious or social reasons. These individuals were viewed in a wide variety of ways, from being revered spiritual leaders, brave warriors and [[artisan]]s, to targets of ridicule.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Vengeful Wife|last=Dempsey|first=Hugh|author-link=Hugh Dempsey|publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|year=2003|isbn=978-0806137711|pages=48–62}}</ref>
*{{langx|chy|heemaneh}}, a cross-gender or third gender person, typically a male-bodied person who takes on the roles and duties of a woman.<ref>{{cite web |title=Lesson 9 - Indigenous Women |url=https://www.ualberta.ca/admissions-programs/online-courses/indigenous-canada/glossary/lesson-9-indigenous-women.html |publisher=University of Alberta |access-date=30 October 2023}}</ref> ''Heemaneh'' have had specialized roles within Cheyenne society, including officiating during the Scalp Dance, organizing marriages, acting as messengers between lovers, and accompanying men to war.<ref name="Berdaches">{{cite journal |last1=Désy |first1=Pierrette |title=L'Homme-Femme (Les Berdaches en Amérique du Nord) |journal=Libre |date=1978 |volume=78 |issue=3 |pages=57–102 |location=Paris |language=fr}}</ref>
*{{langx|cr|iskwêw ka-napêwayat, ᐃᐢᑵᐤ ᑲ ᓇᐯᐘᔭᐟ}}, "A woman who dresses as a man."<ref name="Vowel-1" />
*{{langx|cr|napêw iskwêwisêhot, ᓇᐯᐤ ᐃᐢᑵᐏᓭᐦᐅᐟ}}, "A man who dresses as a woman."<ref name="Vowel-1" />
*{{langx|cr|înahpîkasoht, ᐄᓇᐦᐲᑲᓱᐦᐟ}}, "A woman dressed/living/accepted as a man."; also given as "someone who fights everyone to prove they are the toughest".<ref name="Vowel-1" />
*{{langx|cr|ayahkwêw, ᐊᔭᐦᑵᐤ}}, "A man dressed/living/accepted as a woman."; possibly not a respectful term; others have suggested it is a [[third gender]] designation, applied to both women ''and'' men.<ref name="Vowel-1" />
*{{langx|cr|napêhkân, ᓈᐯᐦᑳᐣ}}, "One who acts/lives as a man."<ref name="Vowel-1" />
*{{langx|cr|iskwêhkân, ᐃᐢᑵᐦᑳᐣ}}, "One who acts/lives as a woman."<ref name="Vowel-1" />
*[[Crow language|Crow]]: {{lang|cro|batée}}. A word that describes both [[Trans woman|trans women]] and [[Homosexuality|homosexual]] males.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://dictionary.crowlanguage.org/#/L/bat%C3%A9e%20(%C3%A1a)|title=Crow Dictionary|publisher=Crow Language Consortium}}</ref> 
*{{langx|lkt|wíŋkte}} is the contraction of an older Lakota word, {{lang|lkt|Winyanktehca}}, meaning "wants to be like a woman".<ref name="Medicine">{{cite web | last = Medicine | first =Beatrice | 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 | archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20030330115133/http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~culture/medicine.htm | archive-date = 2003-03-30 | access-date = 2015-07-07 }}</ref> {{lang|lkt|[[Winkte]]}} are a social category in historical [[Lakota people|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 {{lang|lkt|winkte}} are [[homosexual]], though they may or may not consider themselves part of the more mainstream [[LGBTQ]] communities. Some {{lang|lkt|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 {{lang|lkt|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 {{lang|lkt|winkte}} as sacred, occupying a [[liminality|liminal]], [[third gender]] role in the culture and born to fulfill ceremonial roles that can not be filled by either men or women.<ref name="Medicine" /> In contemporary Lakota communities, attitudes towards the {{lang|lkt|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|title=Native American 'Two-Spirit People' Serve Unique Roles Within Their Communities – One 'Winkte' Talks About Role Of LGBT People In Lakota Culture|publisher=[[Wisconsin Public Radio]]|date=27 June 2014|access-date=1 October 2017|archive-date=15 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230415172507/http://www.wpr.org/native-american-two-spirit-people-serve-unique-roles-within-their-communities|url-status=dead}}</ref>
*{{langx|nv|nádleeh}} (also given as {{lang|nv|[[nádleehi]]}}), "One who is transformed" or "one who changes".<ref>Franc Johnson Newcomb (1980-06). Hosteen Klah: Navaho Medicine Man and Sand Painter. [[University of Oklahoma Press]]. {{ISBN|0-8061-1008-2}}.</ref><ref>Lapahie, Harrison, Jr. Hosteen Klah (Sir Left Handed). Lapahie.com. 2001 (retrieved 19 Oct 2009)</ref><ref>Berlo, Janet C. and Ruth B. 
Phillips. Native North American Art. Oxford: [[Oxford University Press]], {{ISBN|978-0-19-284218-3}} . pg. 34</ref> In traditional [[Navajo]] culture, {{lang|nv|nádleeh}} are male-bodied individuals described by those in their communities as "effeminate male", or as "half woman, half man".<ref name="Estrada" /> A 2009 documentary about the tragic murder of {{lang|nv|nádleeh}} Fred Martinez, entitled, ''Two Spirits'', contributed to awareness of these terms and cultures.<ref name="Estrada" /> A Navajo gender spectrum that has been described is that of four genders: feminine woman, masculine woman, feminine man, masculine man.<ref name="Estrada" />
*[[Ojibwe language|Ojibwe]]: {{lang|oj|ininiikaazo}}, "Women who functioned as men" / "one who endeavors to be like a man".<ref name="Treur2011" /> 
*Ojibwe: {{lang|oj|ikwekaazo}}, "Men who chose to function as women" / "one who endeavors to be like a woman".<ref name="Treur2011">{{cite book|last1=Treuer|first1=Anton|title= The Assassination of Hole in the Day|date=2011|publisher=Borealis Books|isbn=9780873518017|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1aIrg3wiUyoC&q=ininiikaazo+|access-date=17 October 2016|chapter=Women and Gender}}</ref> Academic [[Anton Treuer]] wrote that in Ojibwe culture "[s]ex usually determined one's gender, and therefore one's work, but the Ojibwe accepted variation. Men who chose to function as women were called {{lang|oj|ikwekaazo}}, meaning 'one who endeavors to be like a woman'. Women who functioned as men were called {{lang|oj|ininiikaazo}}, meaning, 'one who endeavors to be like a man'. The French called these people ''berdaches''. {{lang|oj|Ikwekaazo}} and {{lang|oj|ininiikaazo}} could take spouses of their own sex. Their mates were not considered {{lang|oj|ikwekaazo}} or {{lang|oj|ininiikaazo}}, however, because their function in society was still in keeping with their sex. If widowed, the spouse of an {{lang|oj|ikwekaazo}} or {{lang|oj|ininiikaazo}} could remarry someone of the opposite sex or another {{lang|oj|ikwekaazo}} or {{lang|oj|ininiikaazo}}. The {{lang|oj|ikwekaazowag}} worked and dressed like women. The {{lang|oj|ininiikaazowag}} worked and dressed like men. Both were considered to be strong spiritually, and they were always honoured, especially during ceremonies."<ref name=Treur2011/> The Ojibwe word ''agokwe'' was used by [[John Tanner (captive)|John Tanner]] to describe gender-nonconforming Ojibwe warrior [[Ozaawindib]] ([[Floruit|fl.]] 1797–1832). Pruden and Edmo spell it ''agokwa'': "male-assigned: ''Agokwa'' - 'man-woman'", along with "female-assigned: ''Okitcitakwe'' - 'warrior woman'".<ref name=NCIA/>
*[[Warao people|Warao]]: ''tida wena'', "twisted women".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Naughton |first=Jake |date=2014-09-05 |title=Two Spirits in the Venezuelan Jungle |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/09/05/two-spirits-in-the-venezuelan-jungle/ |access-date=2023-09-09 |website=Lens Blog |publisher=[[The New York Times]] |language=en}}</ref>
*{{langx|zun|[[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 {{lang|zun|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 {{lang|zun|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>

==Indigiqueer==
Another contemporary term in use, as an alternative to ''two-spirit'', and which does not rely on binary conceptions of gender, is ''Indigiqueer''. Originally spelled ''Indigequeer'', the term was coined by [[TJ Cuthand]], and popularized by author [[Joshua Whitehead]].<ref name="Relations"/> Cuthand first used ''Indigiqueer'' for the title of the 2004 Vancouver Queer Film Festival's Indigenous/two-spirit Program, and has written that he came up with this alternative term, "because some LGBTQ Indigenous people don't feel as comfortable with the two-spirit title because it implies some dual gender stuff, which some people just don't feel describes their identity."<ref name="Indigiqueer">"[https://libguides.okanagan.bc.ca/IndigenousStudies/two-spirit-and-indigiqueer Okanagan College Library Indigenous Studies - Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer]". Accessed 23 May 2022</ref><ref name="Relations">"[https://www.allmyrelationspodcast.com/podcast/episode/47547617/indigiqueer/ All My Relations Podcast - Indigiqueer]". Accessed 23 May 2022</ref><ref name="Cuthand">{{cite web|last=Cuthand|first=TJ|author-link=TJ Cuthand|title=Indigequeer/Indigiqueer|work=TJ Cuthand - Filmmaker, Performance Artist, Writer|publisher=[[TJ Cuthand]]|date=12 May 2017|url=http://www.thirzacuthand.com/2017/05/12/indigequeerindigiqueer/|access-date=27 May 2022|quote=I think I used it because some LGBTQ Indigenous people don't feel as comfortable with the two-spirit title because it implies some dual gender stuff, which some people just don't feel describes their identity.|archive-date=11 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220511003034/https://www.thirzacuthand.com/2017/05/12/indigequeerindigiqueer/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

== Cultural issues and protocols==
=== Definition and societal role in Indigenous communities ===
Though "two-spirit" has gained far more mainstream recognition and popularity than the traditional terms in Indigenous languages, acceptance of the term is not universal. While use of "two-spirit" to replace the offensive ''[[#berdache|berdache]]'' proceeded, particularly in academic practice, the word has sometimes replaced culturally-specific terms and their attendant [[Indigenous knowledge]], leading to criticism about its potential to dilute or erase culture.<ref name="Kehoe"/> Writing for ''Encyclopedia of Gender and Society: Volume 2'' (2009), an academic textbook, Kylan Mattias de Vries says: "Nations and tribes used various words to describe various genders, sexes and sexualities. Many had separate words for the Western constructs of gays, lesbians, bisexuals, [[Intersex|intersex individuals]], [[cross-dressers]], transgenders, gender-variant individuals, or 'changing ones', third genders (men who live as women), and fourth genders (women who live as men). Even these categories are limiting, because they are based on Western language and ideas rooted in a [[dichotomy|dichotomous]] relationship between gender, sex, and sexuality. This language barrier limits our understanding of the traditional roles within Native American/First Nations cultures."<ref name="de Vries 2009" /> 

Male-bodied two-spirit people, regardless of gender identification, can go to war and have access to male activities such as male-only sweat lodge ceremonies.<ref name="vancouver">{{cite web |title=Inventory of Aboriginal Services, Issues and Initiatives in Vancouver: Two Spirit – LGTB |url=http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/socialplanning/initiatives/aboriginal/tools/directory/twospirit.htm |access-date=2007-07-01 |website=vancouver.ca}}</ref> However, they may also take on "feminine" activities such as cooking and other domestic responsibilities.<ref>{{cite web |at=Page 72 |url=http://vancouver.ca/files/cov/aboriginal-services-inventory.pdf |title=Inventory of Aboriginal Services, Issues, and Initiatives in Vancouver |website=vancouver.ca |access-date=2013-10-02 |archive-date=2023-04-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230417032728/https://vancouver.ca/files/cov/aboriginal-services-inventory.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> According to Lang, female-bodied two-spirit people usually have sexual relations or marriages with only females.<ref>{{harvp|Lang|1998|pp=289–298}}</ref>

For [[First Nations in Canada|First Nations]] people whose lives have been impacted by the [[Canadian Indian residential school system|residential schools]], and other Indigenous communities who have experienced severe cultural damage from colonization, the specific traditions in their communities that might now be seen as two-spirit may have been severely damaged, fragmented, or even lost.<ref name=Cameron/> While not all communities had these ways, in those that did, for some there may be challenges in reviving older traditions, and to overcoming learned homophobia or other prejudices that may have been introduced with colonization.<ref name=Cameron/>

===Given title and role===
Traditional Native American cultures that have ceremonial roles for gender-variant members of their communities may require that these people be recognized and assigned this role by tribal elders.<ref name=NYT2/>  In these cultures, a traditional third-gender ceremonial or social role is a given title that cannot be self-selected. For these communities, two-spirit differs from the mainstream Western use of [[Sexual identity|sexual]] and [[gender identity]] labels because it is a sacred, spiritual and ceremonial role that is recognized and confirmed only by tribal elders of that two-spirit person's Indigenous ceremonial community.<ref name=NYT2/> In these tribes, two-spirit people have specific duties, and the two-spirit title is not granted unless the person is fulfilling these ceremonial roles.<ref name=Estrada/>

Talking to ''[[The New York Times]]'' in 2006, Joey Criddle, who [[Self-identified Native American|self-identifies]] as [[Jicarilla Apache]], says that two-spirit titles are not interchangeable with "LGBT Native American" or "gay Indian": "The elders will tell you the difference between a gay Indian and a Two-Spirit." He underscores that simply being gay and Native does not make someone a two-spirit, which requires participation in tribal ceremony.<ref name=NYT2>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/08/fashion/08SPIRIT.html?_r=0|title=A Spirit of Belonging, Inside and Out|work=The New York Times|date=8 Oct 2006|access-date=28 July 2016 |quote='The elders will tell you the difference between a gay Indian and a Two-Spirit,' [Criddle] said, underscoring the idea that simply being gay and Indian does not make someone a Two-Spirit.}}</ref>

===Appropriation===
The increasing visibility of the two-spirit concept in mainstream culture has been seen as both empowering and as having some undesirable consequences, such as the spread of [[ Stereotypes of Indigenous peoples of North America|misinformation]] about the cultures of Indigenous peoples, [[pan-Indianism]] replacing culturally-specific teachings and traditions, and [[cultural appropriation]] of Indigenous identities and ceremonial ways by non-Natives who do not understand that Indigenous communities see two-spirit as a specifically Native American and First Nations cultural identity, not one to be taken up by non-Natives.<ref name=Pember/><ref name=Cameron>Cameron, Michelle. (2005). Two-spirited Aboriginal people: Continuing cultural appropriation by non-Aboriginal society. ''Canadian Women Studies'', ''24'' (2/3), 123–127.</ref>

{{blockquote|These sort of simplified black-and-white depictions of Native culture and history perpetuate indiscriminate appropriation of Native peoples. Although the current new meme or legend surrounding the term two spirit is certainly laudable for helping LGBTQ people create their own more empowering terminology to describe themselves, it carries some questionable baggage.
My concern is not so much over the use of the words but over the social meme they have generated that has morphed into a cocktail of historical revisionism, wishful thinking, good intentions, and a soupçon of white, entitled appropriation.<ref name=Pember/>}}
{{blockquote|''Two-spirit'' does not acknowledge either the traditional acceptance or the nonacceptance of individuals in various nations and tribes. The idea of gender and sexuality variance being universally accepted among Native American/First Nations peoples has become romanticized. <br/>
Accordingly, the change from ''berdache'' to ''two-spirit'' is most accurately understood as a non-Native idealization of the social acceptance of gender variance, idealizing a romanticized acceptance of gender variance.<ref name="de Vries 2009" />}}

When Indigenous people from communities that are less-accepting of two-spirits have sought community among non-Native [[LGBTQ]] communities, however, the tendency for non-Natives to tokenize and [[Cultural appropriation|appropriate]] has at times led to rifts rather than unity, with two-spirits feeling like they are just another tacked on initial rather than fully included. Cameron writes:<ref name=Cameron/>

{{blockquote|The term two-spirited was chosen to emphasize our difference in our experiences of multiple, interlocking oppressions as queer Aboriginal people. When non-Aboriginal people decide to "take up" the term two-spirit, it detracts from its original meaning and diffuses its power as a label of resistance for Aboriginal people. Already there is so much of First Nations culture that has been exploited and appropriated in this country; must our terms of resistance also be targeted for mainstream appropriation and consumption?

Two-spirited is a reclaimed term designed by Aboriginals to define our unique cultural context, histories, and legacy. When people do not see the harm in "sharing" the term, they are missing the point and refusing to recognize that by appropriating the term they will inevitably alter its cultural context.<ref name=Cameron/>}}

In academia, there has since 2010 or earlier been a move to "queer the analytics of settler colonialism" and create a "twospirit" critique as part of the general field of [[queer studies]].<ref name=Pember/> However, much of this academic analysis and publishing is not based in [[Traditional knowledge|traditional Indigenous knowledge]], but in the more mainstream, non-Native perspectives of the broader [[LGBTQ]] communities, so most of the same cultural misunderstandings tend to be found as in the outdated writing of the non-Native anthropologists and "explorers".<ref name=Pember/><ref name=Russell>Russell, Steve (2002). "Apples are the Color of Blood", ''Critical Sociology'', Vol. 28, 1, 2002, p. 68 (quoting López (1994) p. 55)</ref>

== Two-spirit societies ==
[[File:SF Pride 2014 - Stierch 3.jpg|thumb|The two-spirit contingent marches at [[San Francisco Pride]] 2014]]
Among the goals of two-spirit societies are [[Support group|group support]]; [[outreach]], education, and [[activism]]; revival of their Indigenous cultural traditions, including preserving the old languages, skills and dances;<ref name=NYT1>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/08/fashion/08SPIRIT.html?_r=0|title=A Spirit of Belonging, Inside and Out|work=The New York Times|date=8 Oct 2006|access-date=28 July 2016}}</ref> and otherwise working toward [[social change]].<ref name="Lipshultz">{{cite journal |title=Berdach to Two-Spirit: The Revival of Native American Traditions |last=Lipshultz |first=Hanna |journal=Discoveries |year=2007 |issue=8 |publisher=John S. Knight Institute for Writing in the Disciplines |location=Ithaca |url=https://www.arts.cornell.edu/knight_institute/publicationsprizes/discoveries/discoveriesspring2007/Lipshultz.pdf |pages=31–32 |access-date=2016-07-18}}</ref>

Some two-spirit societies (past and present) include: 2Spirits of Toronto in [[Toronto, Ontario]]; the Wabanaki Two Spirit Alliance in Nova Scotia; the Bay Area American Indian Two-Spirits (est. 1998) in [[San Francisco, California]];<ref>{{cite web|url=http://inthefray.org/2004/12/rainbow-and-red-2/|title=Rainbow and red: Queer American Indians from New York to San Francisco are showing both their spirits. |last=Alpert |first=Emily |date=December 5, 2004 |website=In the Fray |publisher=In the Fray, Inc. |location=New Hyde Park |access-date=2016-04-10}}</ref> Central Oklahoma Two Spirit Natives in [[Oklahoma City]]; the East Coast Two Spirit Society and the NorthEast Two-Spirit Society in [[New York City]]; Idaho Two-Spirit Society; the Indiana Two-Spirit Society in [[Bloomington, Indiana|Bloomington]]; Minnesota Two Spirits; the Montana Two-Spirit Society in [[Browning, Montana|Browning]]; the Northwest Two-Spirit Society in [[Seattle, Washington]]; the Ohio Valley Two Spirit Society of [[Ohio]], [[Indiana]], [[Kentucky]], and [[Southern Illinois]];<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ohiovalleytwospiritsociety.blogspot.com/ |title=Welcome! |last=Thomas |first=Wesley K. |website=Ohio Valley Two-Spirit Society (OVTSS) |date=June 26, 2006 |access-date=2016-07-18}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bloomingtonalternative.com/articles/2009/08/09/10075 |title=Out in Bloomington: Boy Scouts raise debate |date=August 9, 2009 |last1=Harrell |first1=Helen |last2=Fischer |first2=Carol |website=The Bloomington Alternative |access-date=2016-07-18}}</ref> the Portland Two Spirit Society (est. May 2012) in [[Portland, Oregon]];<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pqmonthly.com/portland-two-spirit-society-finding-family-and-a-connection-to-history-in-shared-identities/7648 |title=Portland Two Spirit Society: Finding family and a connection to history in shared identities |date=September 19, 2012 |last=Rook |first=Erin |website=PQ |publisher=Brilliant Media |access-date=2016-07-17 |archive-date=2023-04-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230417032721/https://www.pqmonthly.com/portland-two-spirit-society-finding-family-and-a-connection-to-history-in-shared-identities/7648 |url-status=usurped }}</ref> the Regina Two-Spirited Society in [[Regina, Saskatchewan]]; the Texas Two Spirit Society in [[Dallas]]; the Tulsa Two-Spirit Society in [[Tulsa, Oklahoma]]; the Two-Spirit Society of Denver in [[Denver, Colorado]]; and the Wichita Two-Spirit Society in [[Wichita, Kansas]].<ref name="Lipshultz"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2012/12/18/two-spirit-leaders-call-washington-include-native-women-re-authorization-vawa-146397 |title= Two-Spirit Leaders Call on Washington to Include Native Women in Re-Authorization of VAWA |author=<!-- staff writer --> |date=December 18, 2012 |website=[[Indian Country Today Media Network]] |access-date=2016-07-18}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.glapn.org/6200twospirit.html |title=Two-Spirit gathering at Portland State University, Wednesday, May 26, 2010 |author=<!-- no byline --> |year=2010 |website=Gay & Lesbian Archives of the Pacific Northwest |access-date=2016-07-18}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.santafemc.org/programs/new-mexico-gay-straight-alliance-network/new-mexico-gsa-resources/#native |title=New Mexico GSA: Resources § Native / First Nations |author=<!-- no byline --> |website=Santa Fe Mountain Center |publisher=New Mexico Gay–Straight Alliance Network |access-date=2016-07-18 |archive-date=2023-04-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230411220109/http://www.santafemc.org/programs/new-mexico-gay-straight-alliance-network/new-mexico-gsa-resources/#native |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Academic use of umbrella terms==
Writing in March 1998 to advise colleagues and peers in the [[anthropology]] profession on the accurate and respectful use of language for Native American subjects in anthropological research and archeological projects, [[Alice Beck Kehoe]], a non-Native Professor Emeritus at [[Marquette University]] who attended the Annual Inter-tribal Native American, First Nations, Gay and Lesbian American Conferences, recounts her observations of the discussions that resulted in the term two-spirit at the 1990 conference: "At the conferences that produced the book, ''Two-Spirited People'', I heard several First Nations people describe themselves as very much unitary, neither 'male' nor 'female', much less a pair in one body. Nor did they report an assumption of duality within one body as a common concept within reservation communities; rather, people confided dismay at the Western proclivity for dichotomies. Outside Indo-European-speaking societies, 'gender' would not be relevant to the social personae glosses 'men' and 'women', and 'third gender' likely would be meaningless. The unsavory word 'berdache' certainly ought to be ditched (Jacobs et al. 1997:3-5), but the urban American neologism 'two-spirit' can be misleading." She cautions that modern identity umbrella terms such as two-spirit can't be relied upon for accurate and respectful historical scholarship because they are too general and are produced out of modern contexts that their subjects do not come from. Additionally, she recommends against folding Native and two-spirit gender and sexual identities under the "Indo-European tag 'third gender.'" In academia "one catchword obfuscates the diversity created in human societies and the fluidity conceptualized in many American Indian cultures." She concludes that the best course of action for anthropological professionals when generating language around historical Native artifacts, remains, or societies is to consult with Native professionals "or look into dictionaries, for the people's own words for the social personae 'man,' 'woman,' and whatever additional personae may be recognized."<ref name="Kehoe">{{cite web|last=Kehoe |first=Alice B.| author-link=Alice Beck Kehoe |title=Appropriate Terms|work=SAA Bulletin|publisher=Society for American Archaeology 16(2), [[UC-Santa Barbara]]|date=2002 |issn= 0741-5672|url=https://www.saa.org/publications/saabulletin/16-2/saa14.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041105120021/https://www.saa.org/publications/saabulletin/16-2/saa14.html |archive-date= 2004-11-05 |access-date= 2019-05-01}}</ref>

== Historical and anthropological accounts ==
[[File:Catlin - Dance to the berdache.jpg|thumb|Drawing by [[George Catlin]] (1796–1872) while on the [[Great Plains]] among the [[Sac and Fox Nation]]. Depicting a group of male warriors dancing around a male-bodied person in a woman's dress, non-Native artist George Catlin titled the painting ''Dance to the [[#Berdache|Berdach]]''.]]

<blockquote>Unfortunately, depending on an oral tradition to impart our ways to future generations opened the floodgates for early non-Native explorers, missionaries, and anthropologists to write books describing Native peoples and therefore bolstering their own role as experts. These writings were and still are entrenched in the perspective of the authors who were and are mostly white men. ~ Mary Annette Pember ([[Red Cliff Ojibwe]])<ref name=Pember2>{{cite web|url=https://rewire.news/article/2016/10/13/two-spirit-tradition-far-ubiquitous-among-tribes/|title='Two Spirit' Tradition Far From Ubiquitous Among Tribes|publisher=[[Rewire (website)|Rewire]]|first=Mary Annette |last=Pember |date=Oct 13, 2016|access-date=October 17, 2016 |quote= Unfortunately, depending on an oral tradition to impart our ways to future generations opened the floodgates for early non-Native explorers, missionaries, and anthropologists to write books describing Native peoples and therefore bolstering their own role as experts. These writings were and still are entrenched in the perspective of the authors who were and are mostly white men.}}</ref></blockquote>

According to German anthropologist Sabine Lang, cross-dressing of two-spirit people was not always an indicator of gender identity. Lang believes "the mere fact that a male wears women's clothing does not say something about his role behavior, his gender status, or even his choice of partner".<ref>{{cite book |last=Lang |first=Sabine |title=Men as women, women as men: changing gender in Native American cultures  |location=Austin |publisher=University of Texas Press |year=1998 |isbn=9780292747012 }} Page 62</ref> Other anthropologists may have mistakenly labelled some Native individuals two-spirit or ''[[#Berdache|berdache]]'' because of a lack of cultural understanding, specifically around an Indigenous community's worldview, and their particular customs concerning clothing and gender.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Goulet|first=Jean-Guy A.|date=December 1996|title=The 'Berdache'/'Two-Spirit': A Comparison of Anthropological and Native Constructions of Gendered Identities Among the Northern Athapaskans|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3034303|journal=The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute|volume=2|issue=4|pages=683–701|doi=10.2307/3034303|jstor=3034303|issn=1359-0987}}</ref>

According to non-Natives including author Brian Gilley and anthropologist [[Will Roscoe]], the historical presence of male-bodied two-spirits "was a fundamental institution among most tribal peoples",<ref>{{cite book |last=Gilley |first=Brian Joseph |year=2006 |title=Becoming Two-Spirit: Gay Identity and Social Acceptance in Indian Country |publisher=U of Nebraska Press |isbn=0-8032-7126-3}} Page 8</ref> with both male- and female-bodied two-spirits having been documented "in over 130 North American tribes, in every region of the continent".<ref>{{cite book |last=Roscoe |first=Will |year=1991 |title=The Zuni Man-Woman |url=https://archive.org/details/zunimanwoman00rosc_0 |url-access=registration |page=[https://archive.org/details/zunimanwoman00rosc_0/page/5 5] |publisher=University of New Mexico Press |isbn=0-8263-1253-5}}.</ref> However, [[Ojibwe]] journalist Mary Annette Pember argues that this depiction threatens to homogenize diverse Indigenous cultures, painting over them with an overly broad brush, potentially causing the disappearance of "distinct cultural and language differences that Native peoples hold crucial to their identity".<ref name=Pember/>

Don [[Pedro Fages]] was third in command of the 1769–70 Spanish [[Portolá expedition]], the first European land exploration of what is now the U.S. state of California. At least three diaries were kept during the expedition, but Fages wrote his account later, in 1775. Fages gave more descriptive details about the native Californians than any of the others, and he alone reported the presence of homosexuality in the native culture. The English translation reads:

<blockquote>I have submitted substantial evidence that those Indian men who, both here and farther inland, are observed in the dress, clothing and character of women&nbsp;– there being two or three such in each village&nbsp;– pass as sodomites by profession.&nbsp;... They are called ''joyas'', and are held in great esteem.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Fages |first1=P. |last2=Priestley |first2=H. I. |author3=Museo Nacional de Arqueología, Historia y Etnografía (Mexico) |year=1937 |page=33 |title=A historical, political, and natural description of California  |url=http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015027939639 |location=Berkeley, Calif |publisher=[[University of California Press]] }}</ref></blockquote>

Although gender-variant people have been both respected and feared in a number of tribes, they are not beyond being reproached or, by traditional law, even killed for bad deeds. In the [[Mojave people|Mojave]] tribe, for instance, they frequently become medicine persons and, like all who deal with the supernatural, are at risk of suspicion of [[witchcraft]], notably in cases of failed harvest or of death.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=(Lumbee) |first1=Janis C. Weber |last2=Jacobs |first2=Sue-Ellen |last3=Thomas |first3=Wesley |last4=Lang |first4=Sabine |date=September 1998 |title=Two-Spirit People: Native American Gender Identity, Sexuality, and Spirituality |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2654503 |journal=Contemporary Sociology |volume=27 |issue=5 |pages=494 |doi=10.2307/2654503 |jstor=2654503 |issn=0094-3061}}</ref> There have been instances of murder in these cases (such as in the case of the gender-nonconforming female named Sahaykwisā).<ref>{{harvp|Lang|1998|pp=164, 288}}</ref> Another instance in the late 1840s was of a [[Crow (people)|Crow]] ''badé'' who was caught, possibly raiding horses, by the [[Lakota people|Lakota]] and was killed.<ref>Walker, James: ''Lakota Society'', edited by Raymond J. DeMallie, p. 147. Lincoln, NE: [[University of Nebraska Press]], 1982.</ref>

Lang and Jacobs write that historically among the [[Apache]], the [[Lipan Apache people|Lipan]], [[Chiricahua]], [[Mescalero]], and southern [[Tonto Apache|Dilzhe'e]] have alternative gender identities.<ref>{{harvp|Lang|1998|pp=291–293}}</ref><ref>{{harvp|Jacobs|Thomas|Lang|1997|pp=236–251}}</ref> One tribe in particular, the [[Eyak]], has a single report from 1938 that they did not have an alternative gender and they held such individuals in low esteem, although whether this sentiment is the result of acculturation or not is unknown.<ref>{{harvp|Lang|1998|pp=202–203}}</ref>

Among the [[Iroquois]], there is a single report from [[Bacqueville de la Potherie]] in his book published in 1722, ''Histoire de l'Amérique septentrionale'', that indicates that an alternative gender identity exists among them.<ref>{{harvp|Roscoe|1998|pp=250–251}}, citing {{cite book |title=Histoire de l'Amérique septentrionale |issue=n.43 |volume=3 |page=41}}</ref>

Many, if not all, Indigenous cultures have been affected by European [[homophobia]] and [[misogyny]].<ref>{{harvp|Jacobs|Thomas|Lang|1997|pp=206}}; {{harvp|Roscoe|1998|p=114}}; {{harvp|Lang|1998|pp=119, 311–313, 322}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Trexler |first=R. |title=Sex and conquest: Gendered violence, political order, and the European conquest of the Americas |pages=155–167 |location=Ithaca, NY |publisher=[[Cornell University Press]] |year=1995 }}<br>{{cite book |last=Swidler |first=Arlene |title=Homosexuality and World Religions |url=https://archive.org/details/homosexualitywor00swid |url-access=registration |pages=17–19 |location=Valley Forge, PA |publisher=Trinity Press International|year=1993|isbn=9781563380518 }}</ref> Some sources have reported that the [[Aztecs]] and [[Incas]] had laws against such individuals,<ref>{{harvp|Lang|1998|p=324}}<br>{{cite book |last=Spencer |first=Colin |title=Homosexuality in History |page=142 |location=London |publisher=Harcourt Brace & Company |year=1995}}</ref> though there are some authors who feel that this was exaggerated or the result of acculturation, because all of the documents indicating this are post-conquest and any that existed before had been destroyed by the [[Spanish Empire|Spanish]].<ref>{{harvp|Trexler|1995|pp=155-167}}<br>{{cite book |last=Greenberg |first=David |title=The Construction of Homosexuality |url=https://archive.org/details/constructionofho00greerich |url-access=registration |pages=165–168 |location=Chicago |publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]]|year=1988|isbn=9780226306278 }}</ref> The belief that these laws existed, at least for the Aztecs, comes from the [[Florentine Codex]], and that evidence exists that Indigenous peoples authored many codices, but the Spaniards destroyed most of them in their attempt to eradicate ancient beliefs.<ref>Fitch, Nancy. [http://www.historians.org/tl/LessonPlans/ca/Fitch/conquestbib.htm 0General Discussion of the Primary Sources Used in This Project"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070104031101/http://www.historians.org/tl/LessonPlans/ca/Fitch/conquestbib.htm |date=2007-01-04 }}. ''The Conquest of Mexico Annotated Bibliography''. Accessed: June 14, 2008.</ref>

Some contemporary [[Zapotec peoples|Zapotec]] peoples in Mexico embody the traditional [[third gender]] role known as ''[[muxe]]''. They consider themselves to be "''muxe'' in men's bodies", who do the work that their culture usually associates with women. When asked by [[transgender]] researchers in 2004 if they ever considered surgical transition, "none of the respondents found the idea interesting, but rather strange" as their essence as ''muxe'' is not dependent on what type of body they are in.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://origin-www.goethe.de/mmo/priv/4038800-STANDARD.pdf|title=Muxe: el tercer sexo|last=Bennholdt-Thomsen |first=Veronika|year=2008|agency=Goethe Institut|language=es|access-date=March 13, 2016}}</ref>

===''Berdache''===
Before the late twentieth century, non-Native (i.e. non-[[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]]/[[Aboriginal peoples in Canada|Canadian]]) [[anthropologist]]s used the term ''berdache'' ({{nowrap|{{IPAc-en|b|ər|ˈ|d|æ|ʃ|}} {{respell|bər|DASH}}}}), in a very broad manner, to identify an Indigenous individual fulfilling one of many mixed gender roles in their tribe. Most often these anthropologists applied the term to any male whom they perceived to be [[homosexual]], [[bisexual]], or [[effeminate]] by Western social standards, though occasionally the term was applied to [[lesbian]], bisexual and [[gender nonconforming]] females as well.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Schaeffer|first=Claude E.|date=1965|title=The Kutenai Female Berdache: Courier, Guide, Prophetess, and Warrior|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/480512|journal=Ethnohistory|volume=12|issue=3|pages=193–236|doi=10.2307/480512|jstor=480512|issn=0014-1801}}</ref> This led to a wide variety of diverse individuals being categorized under this imprecise term. At times they incorrectly implied that these individuals were [[intersex]] (or, "hermaphrodites").<ref name=AnthroGeneralizations>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20000819012631/http://www.phenomenologycenter.org/course/berdache.htm How to become a Berdache: Toward a unified analysis of gender diversity]}} Will Roscoe </ref>

The term ''berdache'' has always been repugnant to Indigenous people. De Vries writes, "Berdache is a derogatory term created by Europeans and perpetuated by anthropologists and others to define Native American/First Nations people who varied from Western norms that perceive gender, sex, and sexuality as binaries and inseparable."<ref name="de Vries 2009" /> The term has now fallen out of favor with anthropologists as well. It [[etymology|derives]] from the [[French language|French]] ''{{lang|fr|bardache}}'' (English equivalent: "[[wikt:bardash|bardash]]") meaning "passive homosexual", "[[catamite]]"<ref name=bardash>{{cite web|url=http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/bardash|title=Definition of "bardash" – Collins English Dictionary|access-date=7 June 2015}}</ref> or even "[[Child prostitution|boy prostitute]]".<ref name=NativeOut101/>  ''Bardache'', in turn, derived from the [[Persian language|Persian]] {{big|{{lang|fa|برده}}}} ''barda'' meaning "captive", "[[prisoner of war]]", "[[slave]]".<ref>{{cite book |last=Steingass |first=Francis Joseph |url=http://dsalsrv02.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.0:1:8571.steingass |title=A Comprehensive Persian-English dictionary, including the Arabic words and phrases to be met with in Persian literature |location=London |publisher=Routledge & K. Paul |date=1892 |page=173 |access-date=2013-12-11 |archive-date=2022-04-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220401065352/http://dsalsrv02.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.0:1:8571.steingass |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="Two Spirit People" /><ref>{{cite book |last=Roscoe |first=Will |title=Changing ones: Third and fourth genders in native North America |location=New York |publisher=St. Martin's Press |date=1998}} Page 7.</ref><ref>{{cite book |chapter-url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/vulnerable |chapter="vulnerable" |title=The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language |edition=Fourth  |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Company |date=2004}}</ref> Spanish explorers who encountered these individuals among the [[Chumash people]] called them ''"{{lang|es|joyas}}"'', the [[Spanish language|Spanish]] for "jewels".<ref>{{cite book |author1=Kent Flannery |author-link1=Kent V. Flannery |author2=Joyce Marcus |author-link2=Joyce Marcus |title=The Creation of Inequality |date=15 May 2012 |publisher=[[Harvard University Press]] |isbn=978-0-674-06469-0 |pages=70–71}}</ref>

Use of ''berdache'' has now been replaced in most mainstream and anthropological literature by ''two spirit'', with mixed results. However, the term ''two spirit'' itself, in English or any other language, was not in use before 1990.<ref name="de Vries 2009" />

== Media representation ==
In the 1970 film [[Little Big Man (film)|''Little Big Man'']], the [[Cheyenne]] character Little Horse, portrayed by Robert Little Star, is a gay man who wears clothing more commonly worn by women in the culture. He invites the protagonist, Jack Crabb ([[Dustin Hoffman]]) to come live with him. In a departure from most portrayals in [[Westerns]] of the era, Crabb is touched and flattered by the offer.

[[File:SF Pride 2014 - Stierch 2.jpg|thumbnail|The two spirit pride trolley at San Francisco Pride 2014]]

The 2009 documentary film<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1296906/|title=Two Spirits (2009)|date=21 June 2009|work=IMDb|access-date=7 June 2015}}</ref> ''Two Spirits'', directed by Lydia Nibley, tells the story of the hate-murder of 16-year-old [[Navajo people|Navajo]] [[Nádleehi#Fred Martinez|Fred Martinez]]. In the film, Nibley "affirms Martinez' Navajo sense of being a two spirit 'effeminate male', or ''nádleeh''".<ref name=Estrada/>{{rp|168}} Martinez' mother defined ''nádleeh'' as "half woman, half man".<ref name=Estrada/>{{rp|169}}

The film ''Two Spirits'', shown on ''[[Independent Lens]]'' in 2011, and winner of the annual Audience Award for that year, is about two-spirit people, particularly Fred Martinez, who was murdered at age 16 for identifying as a two-spirit.<ref>{{cite web|last=Nibley |first=Lydia |url=https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/films/two-spirits/ |title=Two Spirits &#124; Native American Gender Diversity &#124; Independent Lens |publisher=PBS |date=2011-06-14 |access-date=2017-01-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Preview (0:02:01) |url=https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/videos/the-bravest-choice-is-to-be-yourself/ |title=The Bravest Choice Is To Be Yourself &#124; Video &#124; Independent Lens |publisher=PBS |date=2011-06-14 |access-date=2017-01-26}}</ref>

In 2017 two-spirited [[Métis in Canada|Metis]] filmmaker [[Marjorie Beaucage]] released ''Coming In Stories: Two Spirit in Saskatchewan'' as a 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 |access-date=12 August 2018 |work=Saskatoon StarPhoenix |date=14 February 2017}}</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 |access-date=12 August 2018 |work=CBC News |date=14 February 2017}}</ref>

In the 2018 indie film, ''[[The Miseducation of Cameron Post (film)|The Miseducation of Cameron Post]]'', a [[Lakota people|Lakota]] character&nbsp;– Adam Red Eagle, played by [[Forrest Goodluck]]&nbsp;– is sent to a [[Conversion therapy|conversion camp]] for identifying as ''[[winkte]]'' and two-spirit.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Nicholson|first=Amy|title=Forrest Goodluck: the Native American actor ripping up the rulebook|date=2018-11-13|url=https://www.nativeknot.com/news/Native-American-News/Forrest-Goodluck-the-Native-American-actor-ripping-up-the-rulebo.html|work=nativeknot.com|language=en|access-date=2018-11-18|archive-date=2023-04-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230411220110/https://www.nativeknot.com/news/Native-American-News/Forrest-Goodluck-the-Native-American-actor-ripping-up-the-rulebo.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In the 2019, [[American Gods (season 2)|second season]] of ''[[American Gods (TV series)|American Gods]]'', [[Devery Jacobs]] ([[Mohawk people|Mohawk]]) plays a young [[Cherokee]] woman, Sam Black Crow, who self-identifies as "two-spirited" (although in the [[American Gods|book]], she is mentioned in passing as being bisexual). 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 Jacobs 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}}</ref>

''[[Lovecraft Country (TV series)|Lovecraft Country]]'', a 2020 HBO television series, features Yahima, an Arawak two-spirit character.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.abqjournal.com/1497123/blissful-whirlwind.html|title = 'Blissful whirlwind': New Mexico's Monique Candelaria lands a role in HBO's 'Lovecraft Country'| date=18 September 2020 }}</ref> Showrunner [[Misha Green]] addressed the fate of this character by tweeting "I wanted to show the uncomfortable truth that oppressed folks can also be oppressors. It's a story point worth making, but I failed in the way I chose to make it."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/lovecraft-country-misha-green-failed-indigenous-two-spirit-representation|title = Lovecraft Country showrunner apologizes for having 'failed' queer Indigenous character|date = 15 October 2020}}</ref> The term ''two-spirit'' is used anachronistically in the series, being set in the 1950s whilst the term itself was coined in the 1990s.

== Tributes ==
In 2012, a marker dedicated to two spirit people was included in the [[Legacy Walk]], an outdoor public display in Chicago, Illinois, that celebrates [[LGBTQ]] history and people.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legacyprojectchicago.org/2012_INDUCTEES.html|title=2012 INDUCTEES|author=Victor Salvo // The Legacy Project|access-date=7 June 2015}}</ref>

== Self-identified two spirits ==
"Self-identified" here is meant as a contrast to the way a traditional two spirit must be recognized as such by the elders of their Indigenous community when the term is used as a synonym for a traditional ceremonial role (for which there will be an already-existing term in that culture's Indigenous language).<ref name=Estrada/><ref name=NYT2/> Inclusion in this list is thus not an indication of whether the person is recognized or not.

{{Dynamic list}} 
* [[Susan Allen]] ([[Lakota people|Lakota]]), Minnesota State Representative<ref name=Allen>{{cite web |last=Weber |first=Stephanie |url=http://www.slate.com/blogs/outward/2016/12/21/susan_allen_minnesota_state_representative_is_lesbian_and_two_spirit_and.html |title=Minnesota Rep. Susan Allen Is Two-Spirit, a Lesbian, and She Won't Be Assimilated |website=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]] |date=December 21, 2016 |access-date=November 29, 2017}}</ref>
* [[Shawna Baker]] ([[Cherokee]]) Justice of the Cherokee Nation Supreme Court<ref>{{Cite web |title=Shawna S Baker Esq {{!}} Cherokee Nation Supreme Court Justice {{!}} Tulsa OK |url=https://www.shawnasbaker.com/ |access-date=2024-08-26 |website=Family Legacy and Wealth Counsel |language=en-US}}</ref> 
* [[Yolanda Bonnell]] ([[Ojibwe people|Ojibwe]]), Canadian actress and playwright<ref>David Caviglioli, [https://www.nouvelobs.com/idees/20200219.OBS25042/une-dramaturge-canadienne-demande-aux-critiques-blancs-de-ne-pas-ecrire-sur-sa-piece.html "Une dramaturge canadienne demande aux critiques blancs de ne pas écrire sur sa pièce"]. ''[[L'Obs]]'', February 19, 2020.</ref>
* [[Lori Campbell]] ([[Cree]]-[[Métis]]), educator and politician.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Rubinoff |first1=Joel |title=Lori Campbell: Indigenous "Wonder Woman" speaks truth to power |url=https://www.therecord.com/news/waterloo-region/lori-campbell-indigenous-wonder-woman-speaks-truth-to-power/article_2827ab7d-93e3-5a23-9335-14a98ba96bee.html |website=[[Waterloo Region Record]] |access-date=29 October 2023 |date=13 January 2020}}</ref>
* [[Raven Davis]] ([[Ojibwe]]), artist, activist, and traditional cultural worker<ref name=RavenDavis>{{cite web |last1=Lewis-Peart |first1=David |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2016/03/20/raven-davis-racism-self-care_n_9481120.html |title=Raven Davis On Racism And Self-Care |publisher=[[The Huffington Post Canada]] |date=20 March 2016 |access-date=1 October 2017}}</ref> 
* [[Blake Desjarlais]] ([[Cree]]/[[Métis in Canada|Metis]]), Canada's first two-spirit [[Member of Parliament (Canada)|Member of Parliament]]. Elected in the [[2021 Canadian federal election]] in the [[Edmonton Griesbach]] riding as a member of the [[New Democratic Party]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://globalnews.ca/news/8206993/blake-desjarlais-kerry-diotte-edmonton-greisbach-flip/ |title=NDP Candidate Black Desjarlais Ousts Conservative Incumbent Kerry Diotte in Edmonton-Griesbach |last=Bourne |first=Kirby |date=September 21, 2021 |website=Global News |access-date=October 7, 2021}}</ref>
* [[Jeremy Dutcher]] ([[Wolastoqiyik]]), tenor, composer, musicologist, performer and activist<ref>{{cite web |first=Peter |last=Knegt |url=https://www.cbc.ca/arts/the-extraordinary-rise-of-jeremy-dutcher-2018-gave-canada-the-two-spirit-polaris-prince-we-need-1.4931935 |title=The extraordinary rise of Jeremy Dutcher: 2018 gave Canada the two-spirit Polaris prince we need |website=[[CBC News]] |date=December 5, 2018 |access-date=October 7, 2021}}</ref>
* [[Bretten Hannam]] ([[Mi'kmaq]]/Ojibwe), filmmaker<ref>Jordan Parker, [https://www.halifaxtoday.ca/local-news/two-spirit-filmmaker-puts-queer-representation-first-in-films-2-photos-946347 "Two-Spirit filmmaker puts queer representation first in films"]. ''Halifax Today'', June 12, 2018.</ref>
* [[Shawnee Kish]] ([[Mohawk people|Mohawk]]), musician<ref>Jane Stevenson, [https://torontosun.com/news/provincial/two-spirit-indigenous-artist-shawnee-kish-sees-music-as-medicine "Two-spirit Indigenous artist Shawnee Kish sees music as 'medicine'"]. ''[[Toronto Sun]]'', June 20, 2021.</ref>
* [[Richard LaFortune]] ([[Yup'ik people|Yupik]]), activist, author and artist<ref name="Two Spirit People">{{Cite book |title=Two Spirit People: Native American Gender Identity, Sexuality, and Spirituality |last1=Jacobs |first1=Sue-Ellen |last2=Thomas |first2=Wesley |last3=Lang |first3=Sabine |date=1997 |publisher=[[University of Illinois Press]] |isbn=9780252066450 |oclc=421792266 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/uneasycareersint0000unse }}</ref>
* [[James Makokis]] ([[Cree]]), physician<ref name="Boudjikanian">Raffy Boudjikanian, ''[https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/longform/a-cree-doctors-caring-approach-for-transgender-patients A Cree doctor's caring approach for transgender patients]'', [[CBC News]]</ref>
* [[Kent Monkman]] ([[Cree]]), visual and performing artist<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mason-studio.com/journal/2012/03/kent-monkman-sexuality-of-miss-chief/|title=Kent Monkman: Sexuality of Miss Chief|access-date=7 June 2015|archive-date=18 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518005142/http://www.mason-studio.com/journal/2012/03/kent-monkman-sexuality-of-miss-chief/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Madill |first=Shirley |url=https://www.aci-iac.ca/art-books/kent-monkman/significance-and-critical-issues/#reclaiming-two-spirit-identity |title=Kent Monkman: Life & Work |publisher=Art Canada Institute |year=2022 |isbn=978-1-4871-0280-7 |location=Toronto |language=English}}</ref>
* [[Rebecca Nagle]] ([[Cherokee]]), activist and writer<ref>{{cite web |title=Extraordinary Women Making History: Five Fast Facts About Rebecca Nagle, The Indigenous Activist Upsetting Rape Culture |url=http://www.theextraordinarynegroes.com/theblog/extraordinary-women-making-history-five-fast-facts-about-rebecca-nagle-the-indigenous-activist-upsetting-rape-culture |website=The Extraordinary Negroes |date=19 March 2018 |access-date=8 February 2019}}</ref>
* [[Harlan Pruden]] ([[Cree]]), scholar and activist<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/17/nyregion/17spirit.html?_r=1&oref=slogin "Going Far From Home to Feel at Home"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', July 17, 2007.</ref>
* [[Smokii Sumac]] ([[Ktunaxa]]), poet and activist<ref>{{cite web |title=Smokii Sumac on Being Seen in Poetry, Why Endings Matter, and a New Spin on Love Letters |url=http://open-book.ca/News/Smokii-Sumac-on-Being-Seen-in-Poetry-Why-Endings-Matter-and-a-New-Spin-on-Love-Letters |website=Open Book |access-date=1 October 2019}}</ref>
* [[Arielle Twist]] ([[Cree]]), poet<ref>Kyle Muzyka, [https://www.cbc.ca/radio/unreserved/snagging-romance-novels-and-bear-grease-unreserved-shares-indigenous-love-stories-1.5005570/why-two-spirit-trans-writer-arielle-twist-is-afraid-of-love-1.5005580 "Why two-spirit, trans writer Arielle Twist is afraid of love"]. ''[[Unreserved]]'', February 8, 2019.</ref>
* [[Ilona Verley]] ([[Nlakaʼpamux]]), drag queen, contestant on ''Canada's Drag Race''<ref>[http://www.newnownext.com/ilona-verley-canadas-drag-race/08/2020/ "Why Ilona Verley Almost Quit Canada's Drag Race"]. ''[[New Now Next]]'', August 17, 2020.</ref>
* [[Storme Webber]] ([[Alutiiq]] and [[Choctaw]]), interdisciplinary artist<ref name=StormeWebber>{{Cite web|url=https://fryemuseum.org/exhibition/6645/|title=Storme Webber: Casino: A Palimpsest|date=2019|website=Frye Art Museum|access-date=2019-11-09|archive-date=2019-11-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191109220102/https://fryemuseum.org/exhibition/6645|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* [[Delina White]] ([[Ojibwe]]), activist, artist, clothing designer<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-12-14 |title=I Am Anishinaabe: Ojibwe Women Seek New Horizons While Honoring Tradition |url=https://nativemaxmagazine.com/i-am-anishinaabe-ojibwe-women-seek-new-horizons-while-honoring-tradition/ |access-date=2022-03-29 |website=Native Max |language=en-US}}</ref>
* [[Joshua Whitehead]] ([[Oji-Cree]]), poet and novelist<ref name=this>[https://this.org/2018/04/03/indigiqueer-storyteller-joshua-whitehead-turns-hope-and-frustration-into-literature/ "Indigiqueer storyteller Joshua Whitehead turns hope and frustration into literature"]. ''[[This Magazine]]'', April 3, 2018.</ref>
* [[Massey Whiteknife]] ([[Cree]]), businessman, producer and entertainer<ref>[http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/aboriginal-music-awards-host-two-spirited-performer-1.2763666 "Aboriginal music awards host two-spirited performer"]. CBC News, September 11, 2014.</ref>
* [[We'wha]] ([[Zuni people|Zuni]]), weaver <ref>{{Cite web |last=Swan-Perkins |first=Samuel White |date=2018-11-21 |title=5 Two-Spirit Heroes Who Paved the Way for Today's Native LGBTQ+ Community {{!}} KQED |url=https://www.kqed.org/arts/13845330/5-two-spirit-heroes-who-paved-the-way-for-todays-native-lgbtq-community |access-date=2024-05-09 |website=www.kqed.org |language=en}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Portal|LGBTQ|Transgender}}
*[[Gay American Indians]]
*[[Gender roles among the Indigenous peoples of North America]]
*[[Koekchuch]]
*[[Māhū]], those "in the middle", between the polar genders, in some Pacific Islander Indigenous communities
*[[Native American identity in the United States]]
*[[Osh-Tisch]]
*''[[Sipiniq]]'', a third gender identity among the Inuit
{{clear}}

== References ==
{{Notelist}}
{{Reflist}}

===Archival resources===
* [https://archives.uwinnipeg.ca/our-collections/two-spirit-archives.html Two-Spirit Archives] at the [http://archives.uwinnipeg.ca/ University of Winnipeg Archives]

== External links ==
{{Wiktionary}}
* ''[https://apihtawikosisan.com/2012/03/language-culture-and-two-spirit-identity/ Language, culture, and Two-Spirit identity]'' – âpihtawikosisân – Cree and other Indigenous perspectives 
* [https://www.wpr.org/native-american-two-spirit-people-serve-unique-roles-within-their-communities Native American 'Two-Spirit People' Serve Unique Roles Within Their Communities] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230415172507/http://www.wpr.org/native-american-two-spirit-people-serve-unique-roles-within-their-communities |date=2023-04-15 }} - One 'Winkte' Talks About Role Of LGBT People In Lakota Culture
* ''[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]]
* ''[https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/documentaries/two-spirits/ Two Spirits]'' – 2009 documentary about ''nádleehí'' Fred Martinez, murdered at age 16
* [https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/indigenous-lgbtq-words-1.6953445 "Beyond two-spirit: Indigenous people look to revive traditional LGBTQ terms"], CBC News

{{Indigenous rights footer}}
{{Sexual identities}}
{{Transgender footer}}
{{LGBTQ|state=collapsed|main=expanded}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Two-spirit| ]]
[[Category:Native American culture]]
[[Category:LGBTQ Native American culture]]
[[Category:Third gender]]
[[Category:Gender in North America]]
[[Category:Gender systems]]
[[Category:Transgender topics and religion]]
[[Category:Gender nonconformity]]
[[Category:1990 neologisms]]