Becoming Two-Spirit: Difference and desire in Indian country.

Abstract

Within the last ten years, the term Two-Spirit has grown in popularity as a way for gay and lesbian Native Americans to identify with their Native ancestry and their sexual orientation. Also, Two-Spirit is a rallying point for social and political action among Native gays and lesbians. As an identity, Two-Spirit has come to emphasize social relations with the Native community versus that of the popular gay community. Two-Spirit people attempt to connect with the historical acceptance of sex and gender difference among tribal societies in an effort to reincorporate their uniqueness into contemporary Native communities. Two-Spirit people emphasize their cultural sameness with Native communities, while de-emphasizing sexual orientation as a personal defining characteristic. However, reincorporation is complicated by mainstream Native community heterosexism and homophobia. Two-Spirit people perceive that acceptance in Native communities hinges not only on their sexual orientation, but also their fulfillment of what ideally represents "Indianness" for communities. Accordingly, it is within the discursive dialectics on Indian, gay, and Two-Spirit, where the performance of identity is figured, translated and acted out, resulting in a set of exclusionary and inclusive features based on notions of cultural and racial authenticity. In seeking acceptance, Two-Spirit people attempt to "find a place" for themselves in their respective tribal communities through service to the people.