Indigenous Topics
What is Two-Spirit?
The term “two-spirit” (two spirit, two spirited, 2 spirit, or 2spirit) refers to an individual who identifies as having both a masculine and feminine spirit within Indigenous culture. Two-Spirit can describe same-sex attraction, gender fluidity, or spiritual identity and how Western culture may understand LGBTQ identities.
The official term “two-spirit” was created in 1990 by Albert McLeod during the Third Annual Inter-Tribal Native American, First Nations, Gay and Lesbian American Conference in Winnipeg.
Two-Spirit is a translation of the Anishinaabemowin term niizh manidoowag, meaning “two spirits.”
University of Toronto and Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. (2021). Two-Spirit Community. Re:Searching for LGBTQ2S+ Health. https://lgbtqhealth.ca/community/two-spirit.php
them. (2018, December 11). What Does "Two-Spirit" Mean? | InQueery | them [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4lBibGzUnE&t=1s.
| Sexuality | LGBTQ2+ |
| Gender | Spirituality |
| Identity | Indigiqueer |
Resources
Select resources from the U of C Catalogue
Queer Indigenous Studies by Call Number: E98 .S48 Q84 2011ISBN: 9780816529070Publication Date: 2011-03-15Queer Indigenous Studies invites new dialogues in Indigenousstudies about Indigenous-centered approaches to understanding gay,lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, and Two-Spirit (GLBTQ2) livesand communities. Rooted in the Indigenous Americas and the Pacific, anddrawing on various disciplines, contributors analyze and critique therelationship between colonialism and heteropatriarchy. The contributorsjoin in reshaping Native studies, queer studies, transgender studies,and Indigenous feminisms.
A Two-Spirit Journey by Call Number: HQ75.4 .C53 A3 2016ISBN: 9780887558122Publication Date: 2016-04-22A compelling, harrowing, but ultimately uplifting story of resilience and self-discovery." A Two-Spirit Journey" is Ma-Nee Chacaby's extraordinary account of her life as an Ojibwa-Cree lesbian. From her early, often harrowing memories of life and abuse in a remote Ojibwa community riven by poverty and alcoholism, Chacaby's story is one of enduring and ultimately overcoming the social, economic, and health legacies of colonialism. As a child, Chacaby learned spiritual and cultural traditions from her Cree grandmother and trapping, hunting, and bush survival skills from her Ojibwa stepfather. She also suffered physical and sexual abuse by different adults, and in her teen years became alcoholic herself. At twenty, Chacaby moved to Thunder Bay with her children to escape an abusive marriage. Abuse, compounded by racism, continued, but Chacaby found supports to help herself and others. Over the following decades, she achieved sobriety; trained and worked as an alcoholism counsellor; raised her children and fostered many others; learned to live with visual impairment; and came out as a lesbian. In 2013, Chacaby led the first gay pride parade in Thunder Bay.Ma-Nee Chacaby has emerged from hardship grounded in faith, compassion, humor, and resilience. Her memoir provides unprecedented insights into the challenges still faced by many Indigenous people.
One Bead at a Time by Call Number: E99 .T34 L58 2016ISBN: 9781771332651Publication Date: 2016-06-25One Bead at a Timeis the oral memoir of Beverly Little Thunder, a two-spirit Lakota Elder from Standing Rock, who has lived most of her life in service to Indigenous and non-Indigenous women in vast areas of both the United States and Canada. Transcribed and edited by two-spirit M#65533;tis writer Sharron Proulx-Turner, Little Thunder's narrative is told verbatim, her melodious voice and keen sense of humour almost audible overtop of the text on the page. Early in her story, Little Thunder recounts a dream from her early adulthood, "I stared at these lily pads for the longest time and I decided that there was one part of the pond that had lots of lily pads and no frogs. I said, 'I want to go there because there's lots of lily pads but no frogs and I like creating community.'" And create community she does. Little Thunder established the first and today, the only all-women's Sundance in the world, securing a land base in the Green Mountains of Vermont for future generations of Indigenous women's ceremony. She was active in the A.I.M. movement and she continues to practice and promote political and spiritual awareness for Indigenous women around the world. A truly remarkable visionary.
Full-Metal Indigiqueer: the Pro(1,0)zoa by Call Number: PS8645 .H58 F85 2017ISBN: 9781772011876Publication Date: 2017-11-28Using binary code and texts from classics of the English language such as Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene, Joshua Whitehead unravels the coded "I" to trace the formation of a colonized self and reclaim representations of Indigenous texts. Joshua Whitehead is an Oji-Cree, Two-Spirit member of the Peguis First Nation.
TEDx Talks. (2015, August 6). Why we need gender fluidity | Nicholas Metcalf | TEDxUMN [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICWB8pfGBvc.
Nick Metcalf of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe in South Dakota, speaks on his experiences as a two-spirited individual, and the necessity of gender fluidity in today’s world (TEDx Talk).
National Film Board of Canada
Four youth travel Bebamikawe Trail on Wiikwemkoong Unceded First Nation Territory. Two of the youths are Two Spirited and discuss the confrontations and acceptance that they have encountered within their community and how it has affected their ability to experience and learn their culture. Long before the settlers arrived to Turtle Island (aka North America), there existed a Two Spirit Society in many tribal communities. The Two Spirited people were revered and treated with respect and equality. They were sought for their wisdom, healing, and visions. Once a child had reached the age of puberty, a special ceremony was held. The child would enter a lodge, and pick either a basket or a bow. The item chosen helped to provide guidance on whether the feminine or masculine role would be the path followed. The Two Spirit Society was quickly abolished with the arrival of settlers. The Two Spirit Society has been revived….Niish Manidoowag speaks to the real issues that Transgender Youth encounter in their life’s journey. We honour all LGBQT peoples everywhere.
Mishibinijima, D. (Director). 2017. Niish Manidoowag (Two-Spirited Beings) [Film]. National Film Board of Canada.
National Film Board of Canada
This short documentary presents the empowering story of Rodney "Geeyo" Poucette's struggle against prejudice in the Indigenous community as a two-spirited person (gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender).
Desjarlais, S. (Director). (2007). First Stories - Two Spirited [Film]. National Film Board of Canada.
- An exploratory, community-based research project examined the paths of migration and mobility of Canadian Indigenous people who identify as Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and/or queer (LGBTQ). A total of 50 participants in Winnipeg, Manitoba and Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada were interviewed, many of them telling stories about the multiple layers of domestic violence, violence in communities, state and structural violence that they experienced. In order to better respond to relationship violence experienced by Indigenous Two-Spirit/LGBTQ people it is necessary to understand the specific and historical context of colonization in which relationship violence occurs. We further need to align our efforts to end relationship violence with broader anti-violence struggles.
Ristock, Janice, Zoccole, Art, Passante, Lisa, & Potskin, Jonathon. (2019). Impacts of colonization on Indigenous Two-Spirit/LGBTQ Canadians’ experiences of migration, mobility and relationship violence. Sexualities, 22(5-6), 767–784. https://doi.org/10.1177/1363460716681474
Two-Spirit Identity in a Time of Gender Fluidity
- Indigenous sexual and gender minority people have been identifying as two-spirit since 1990 and are reclaiming traditional Indigenous gender terms such as nádleehí or agokwe. At the same time, Settler-dominated communities are undergoing a cultural shift toward challenging binary categories of sex and gender, causing some Settler governments to adopt a multi-gender framework reminiscent of the Indigenous systems they aimed to erase through colonial systems and practices. This article examines how shifts in Settler gender frameworks relate to traditional and contemporary understandings of gender in Indigenous nations and how Indigenous gender systems support resistance to ongoing colonization.
Robinson, Margaret. (2020). Two-Spirit Identity in a Time of Gender Fluidity. Journal of Homosexuality, 67(12), 1675–1690. https://doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2019.1613853
Reclaiming Space-Regaining Health: The Health Care Experiences of Two-Spirit People in Canada
- This paper documents the experiences of Two-Spirit people, both within society generally and in the context of health and health care. Findings of a national qualitative research study on gay, lesbian, bisexual, and Two-Spirit people's health care are reported with particular attention placed upon Two-Spirit people's notions of identity and community, the meaning of health, and the experience of health care barriers within and outside of Aboriginal communities. Currently, the body of academic research on health and health care access largely excludes gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered/transsexual people (glbt). The smaller growing body of research on glbt health has little reference to Two-Spirit people. This paper attempts to redress these glaring absences.
Brotman, Shari, Ryan, Bill, Jalbert, Yves, & Rowe, Bill. (2002). Reclaiming Space-Regaining Health. Journal of Gay & Lesbian Social Services, 14(1), 67–87. https://doi.org/10.1300/J041v14n01_04
The University of British Columbia offers a Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer Studies research guide, with access to electronic resources such as books, articles, media, and theses that focus on two-spirit and LGBTQ2 topics among Indigenous communities.
- Use the left-hand tabs to find specific types of resources and research tips.
The University of Toronto offers the Two Spirit and LGBTQIA Indigenous Resources research guide, with access to archives, databases, books, and films that focus on LGBTQIA topics within Indigenous communities.
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Use the left-hand tabs to find resources and further research in two-spirit and Indigenous studies.