Two-Spirit

Two-Spirit. A third gender, known in the present day as a Two-Spirit, both male and female. The Native American peoples of North, Central, and South America also respected those whom the gods had touched and transformed.

A Two-Spirit (referenced in 17th- and 18th-century European works as a Berdache) was a man or woman who identified as the opposite sex; men dressed and took on the tasks of women, and women, less often noted, wore men’s clothes and performed the jobs associated with masculinity and male power.

The Two-Spirit was not only completely accepted by the community but valued. A boy who was on the threshold of manhood would receive a message from the Divine regarding who he truly was and what path he must follow and, afterwards, would begin to dress as a woman and focus on sewing, gathering wood, building shelters, and cooking instead of hunting and warfare.

The Native American acceptance of differently gendered people and same-sex relationships is noted by a number of European missionaries and explorers who repeatedly condemn the natives as immoral, shameful, and perverse, but these practices and beliefs had existed for thousands of years, presumably, long before the missionaries and their judgment arrived.