Two Spirits in Today's Society

Ashley Ciero
February Blog

     Two spirits were men who dressed and lived like women or just acted feminine in Native American societies. In the 1800's, two spirits were treated with respect and actually valued highly in society. In today’s society, feminine males may be treated as outcasts and are even prohibited from marrying each other. What flip flopped how they are viewed in society?

    Native Americans, although they had many different religious beliefs, revolved much of their culture around the spiritual world. ₍₁₎ These feminine men were said to be "doubly blessed" and have spirits from both sexes. ₍₂₎ Blessings from the spirit world meant they were high in society and these people were often leaders and teachers in the tribes. ₍₂₎ Native Americans were known for being very accepting when it came to different genders in their society unlike most cultures. These two spirited people were normal in the society and were not just valued because of their spirits but also because of the various jobs they could carry out. They did jobs that required the strength of a male and also jobs that were feminine; they worked in the field, were midwives, matchmakers, and really good counselors. ₍₄₎ They were valued highly because they were also a major help in adopting children and raising them. ₍₄₎

As the Great Awakening came through and effected the English colonies it also effected the Native Americans as well. ₍₃₎ The Great Awakening was a religious revival that strengthened Christianity and the culture that came with it. ₍₄₎ This changed the view of two spirits within the tribes because the Christians didn’t believe there to be multiple spirits and were against feminine males or any marriage that wasn’t heterosexual. These two spirits had to fit into the standard of being male or female based on their physical parts and were no longer accepted as feminine males on the gender continuum but the gender binary. ₍₂₎ 

 As you can see from this picture, many states have a ban on gay marriage. If you take a closer look into which regions of the United States have these bans they are mostly states that are in the south or along the Bible belt. The Bible belt is a group of states in the south that have strong Christian beliefs. Although I am a Christian myself and do not think that same sex marriage is the way that God intended us to be, I do believe that people should have the freedom to marry whom they chose. The fact that most states don’t just frown upon it but make it illegal is stripping these people from their rights. We live in a world much different than the Native Americans did but maybe they had the right idea when it comes to accepting people into society. When the English came over to America the natives accepted the colonial women into their society as sisters or wives and, contrary to colonial stereotypes, did not rape them or treat them wrongly. The way of Christianity is supposed to be a way of acceptance and forgiveness yet we are the ones making gay marriage illegal. I feel that we should be more tolerant of these people and accept them for who they are, just like the Native Americans did.

_{1. "Native Americans:Religion." (online forum message). Ducksters. Feb 2013. http://www.ducksters.com/history/native_americans/american_indian_religion.php (accessed February 23, 2014).}

_{2. Williams, Walter. "The 'two-spirit' people of indigenous North Americans." (online forum message). The Guardian. Oct 11, 2010. http://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/oct/11/two-spirit-people-north-america (accessed February 24, 2014).}

_{3. Harvey, Paul. "The Indian Great Awakening". (online forum message). Religion in American History. 2011. http://usreligion.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-indian-great-awakening-part-1-of-4.html (accessed Feburary 23, 2014).}

_{4. Moore, Crystal. “The History of Sexuality in America”. Lecture, UNCC, Charlotte, NC, 2013-2014.}