These folks might use specific tribal identities instead of or in addition to Two Spirit so that they are putting their culture and language front and center. They are involved in organizing to end sexual violence against Native women and finding ways to strengthen Indigenous communities. about Coronavirus and Working from Home: Small Business Tips On How to Survive the COVID-19 Pandemic, about Home Business Ideas: How to Start a Business from Home, The Identity Code: The 8 Essential Questions for Finding Your Purpose and Place in the World, Gift Card Trends Which Are Changing The Industry, How to Become More Successful by Getting Rid of Everything Rotten in Your Life, 12-Step Template to Write an Effective Sales Letter, Luck By Design: Living and Working with Purpose, Coronavirus and Working from Home: Small Business Tips On How to Survive the COVID-19 Pandemic, Digital Marketing for Your Small Business on a Budget, 5 Key Digital Security Tips for Working from Home in 2020, Difference between Cryptocurrency and Initial Coin Offering, Top Digital Tools for Business Administration, How Auto-fulfillment Can Make Your Business More Efficient, Home Business Ideas: How to Start a Business from Home, Advantages and Disadvantages of Various Advertising Mediums, Why Be Self-Employed? Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, Buyer Readiness Stages: How to Get Your Customers to Buy, 10 Low-Investment Home Business Ideas You Can Start Online for 2020, Are you thinking of starting a business but don’t know where and how to start? Thank you! That’s why we have it, and I think it’s a pretty awesome thing to have an option to identify in a way that recognizes we are complicated people with more than one identity! It is lateral violence, meaning violence that we as marginalized people commit against each other, to invalidate or minimize a Native LGBTQIA+ individual’s identity just because they don’t identify as Two Spirit. I choose not to identify as Two Spirit for personal reasons and also because in my mind, the term Two Spirit is associated with Native peoples from the continent of North America – and as a kanaka maoli woman, that is not my history (more on this later!). Your identity code is found in the answers to eight questions: Who am I? Two Spirit was created to specifically address the experiences of Native LGBTQIA+ folks. When I was sitting in the room listening to the presenter talk about how Native LGBTQIA+ folks who didn’t identify as Two Spirit were self-colonizing, I had to ask myself some hard questions. First, I think it’s important to give you an idea of who I am and where I’m coming from. ← What That Trayvon Martin Costume Says About Your Idea of a ‘Post-Racial’ America, 4 Ways the US Keeps Single Moms in Poverty – And What We Can Do About It →, 20 Reminders Every Feminist Needs (But No One’s Telling Us), We’re Taking Lesbian Sexuality Back from the Male Gaze and the Result Is Awesome, 20 Facts About Living in Poverty That Rich People Never Have to Think About, This Comedian Turns the Tables on Sex Position Jokes, You’re Not ‘Oversensitive’ – Here’s How People Use Gaslighting to Dismiss Sexism, So Your Trans Friend Is Transitioning and You Want to Be Supportive – Here Are 6 Ways How, 3 Reasons Why Saying ‘Real Men Don’t Rape’ Reinforces Rape Culture, 5 Ways Taylor Swift Exemplifies White Feminism – And Why That’s a Problem, 5 Things Straight Women Should Stop Saying to Queer Women, How Tall Women in Heels Demolish Misogyny, Sociopaths, Borderlines, and Psychotics: 3 Mental Illnesses We Must Stop Hating On, Why Our Feminism Must Be Intersectional (And 3 Ways to Practice It), Do You Pull Your Hair or Pick Your Skin? Instead, for me, it’s a both/and. Once they learn more, they will identify as Two Spirit.”. I can identify as queer, recognize that it is a colonial label, and I can still be deeply committed to doing decolonial work in both my personal and professional life. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer – all of these words are English, and we only use them as a result of colonization. However, there are many Native LGBTQIA+ folks that don’t resonate with or claim Two Spirit identity – myself included – and I think it’s important to dive into why that is.

The answer to the second question has taken me multiple conversations with other Native folks to sift through.

I identify as queer, and I have fought for years to be able to hold that identity. But we now depend 100% on reader support to keep going. I’ve heard from other Native LGBTQIA+ folks that in their tribe saying you’re Two Spirit is viewed culturally as meaning that you are not healthy mentally or spiritually. I’m Indigenous, I’m queer, and I do not claim Two Spirit identity. That said, taking all of the above into consideration, some Native folks use Two Spirit solely to refer to their gender identity. For the price of a single lunch out, you can help save us. Trying to decolonize something means critically examining it, seeing how colonization (aka everything since Christopher Columbus arrived) has influenced it, and then trying to realign things with our traditional community values and practices. Found this article helpful? Every year, we reach over 6.5 million people around the world with our intersectional feminist articles and webinars. Each has unique traits and belief systems, so making sweeping generalizations about all Native people is risky business. It’s just a matter of what works for different people. * What are common resources in your community? the time that elapses after birth talks about their expectation of the infant surviving. Figure out what fits best for you and your tribal culture, and don’t worry too much about what other folks are saying! Two Spirit as a label for LGBTQIA+ Native folks started gaining popularity in 1990. But Wait—Does Two Spirit Refer to Gender or Sexual Orientation? and avoid shutting down. I’m a queer kanaka maoli woman. Lost your password? Two Spirit is an identity that resonates with a lot of Native LGBTQIA+ folks and holds some serious political weight. Does identifying as Two Spirit mesh with your lived experiences and politics? Is teaching Indigenous history any different than teaching other histories? And as for us Native folks, if Two Spirit feels like a good fit for you, sweet! 10 Benefits of Entrepreneurship, State-By-State Guide to Starting a Business, Wholesale Directory, Merchandise Suppliers and Drop shippers, How to Start a Daycare or Child Care Center: State-by-State Licensing Requirements, How to Sell More Online: 40 Tips for the Small Online Entrepreneur. So, when it comes to queerness, many folks view Two Spirit as a means of decolonizing the language we use to describe ourselves. Some folks have also made the case that tribes had language describing multiple genders, but not necessarily language describing different sexual orientations. In other tribes and communities, though, Two Spirit has different connotations. As a result, they would never identify as Two Spirit; instead, many of them say they are Native LGBTQIA+ as a way of still acknowledging both their queerness and their Native identity. Who can I trust? Do you want to use it in regards to your sexual orientation, your gender identity, or both? But the longer I thought about it, the more I was able to articulate that my main issue with the statement was that it generalizes all Native people and prescribes an identity for all of us. Click to learn more, 5 Things Queer and Questioning Indigenous Folks Should Consider About Claiming Two Spirit Identity, There are people who have my same identities who, Up until that time, (mostly White) anthropologists typically used the word, The term was derogatory and excluded Native women and those that didn’t identify as men, so in 1990, an Indigenous lesbian and gay gathering chose the phrase Two Spirit as a uniting identity to replace. How to Cope With Trichotillomania and Dermatillomania. If Everyday Feminism has been useful to you, please take one minute to keep us alive.

Our energy is far better served continuing to hold space in all of our communities and provide love and support regardless of what label is used. You will receive a link to create a new password via email. I was at a presentation the other day, and the speaker made a comment that got my blood boiling. Because I certainly do. Some folks make the argument that Two Spirit is technically also an English phrase, and therefore is not necessarily an identity that many of our tribal communities would have had pre-colonization. The important thing for all of us is to put the time and effort into thinking about what resonates and why. Representing our Native identity through claiming Two Spirit sends a loud message that we’re here, we’re queer, and we’re Native. If you’re looking for more info, here’s a few links to get you started: ShareTweet3K Shares The queer community often still harbors a substantial amount of racism and lack of awareness when it comes to Indigenous identity, and identities like lesbian and gay can sometimes be seen as originating in White spaces and being for White people. If the concept of two spirits residing in one body resonates with you, but you’re not Native, I would encourage you to either do some research or come up with language of your own to describe what that identity means to you instead of appropriating Two Spirit identity. The conclusion I have come to is that this is not an either/or situation.

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