- Also called (since 1990):
- two-spirit
berdache
-
What does the term "berdache" refer to?
The term "berdache" historically referred to Indigenous North Americans who didn't conform to Western gender and sexual norms. It was applied to individuals who assumed the dress, social status, and role of the opposite sex.
Originating from the Arabic word for "slave" or "kept boy," the term was later used by Europeans to judge American Indian cultures and individuals who occupied roles outside the male-female binary.
Many consider "berdache" offensive. In 1990, the term "two-spirit" emerged as an alternative. Two-spirit individuals are believed to embody both male and female spirits, holding unique positions in their communities as healers, ceremonial leaders, and more.
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Which cultures traditionally recognized berdache people?
The term berdache is an early European designation for American Indians (in Canada called First Nations peoples) who did not conform to Western gender and sexual norms. Many consider the term offensive, and the alternative term two-spirit emerged in 1990.
Many nations within American Indian cultures accepted multiple sex and gender roles. Acceptance varied from tribe to tribe; some gender-variant individuals were culturally integrated and held roles that contributed to their communities, while others were rejected and ostracized. Two-spirits are seen as uniquely able to see life from both male and female perspectives and bridge the differences between them. They have held specialized roles in their communities, earning respect as basket weavers and potters and as healers, matchmakers, and ceremonial leaders.
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How did berdache people express their gender identity?
The term berdache historically referred to Indigenous people who didn't conform to Western gender and sexual norms. Many consider the term offensive, and the term two-spirit is now used.
Many nations accepted multiple gender roles, and generally did not use sexuality to define gender roles. Two-spirits held specialized roles, such as healers, matchmakers, ceremonial leaders, and artists, bridging the differences between male and female perspectives. Acceptance varied among tribes; some integrated gender-variant individuals, while others ostracized them.
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What roles did berdache individuals often have in their communities?
The term berdache is outdated. Two-spirit is now used by some Indigenous North Americans to describe people who embody both male and female spirits. Two-spirits were thought to uniquely understand both male and female perspectives and bridge the differences between them.
Historically, two-spirits held specialized, respected roles as healers, matchmakers, ceremonial leaders, artists, basket weavers, and potters. Some gender-variant people were culturally integrated and made contributions to their communities as warriors, healers, tribal leaders, medicine people, religious ceremonial figures, and visionaries; however, acceptance differed among tribes, and some were rejected.
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Why do some people today prefer the term "Two-Spirit" over "berdache"?
The term "Two-Spirit" is often preferred over "berdache" due to the negative connotations and historical inaccuracies associated with the latter. "Berdache," originating from the Arabic word for "slave" or "kept boy," was used by Europeans to denigrate Indigenous individuals who did not conform to Western gender and sexual norms. It was a term of judgment that condemned individuals and the cultures that accepted them.
In contrast, "Two-Spirit," derived from the Ojibwa term niizh manidoowag, seeks to reconnect gender and sexual identity with Native identity and culture. Coined in 1990, it represents individuals believed to embody both male and female spirits, holding unique perspectives and bridging differences. While the term "Two-Spirit" has faced some criticism, it generally serves as a more respectful and accurate way to describe gender-variant individuals in Indigenous communities.
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How is the concept of berdache important to understanding gender diversity in history?
The term berdache historically identified American Indians who defied Western gender and sexual norms. Originating from the Arabic word for "slave" or "kept boy," it was initially used by Europeans to condemn gender variation outside the male-female binary.
However, many Native American cultures accepted multiple gender roles, integrating individuals into various community roles based on their cultural practices, not sexuality. The arrival of Europeans led to the suppression of these traditions, but in 1990, the term two-spirit emerged as a replacement, reconnecting gender and sexual identity with Native identity and culture. While the term berdache is now considered offensive, understanding its historical usage is important to understanding the diversity of gender roles in Native American cultures.
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berdache, early European designation for American Indians (in Canada called First Nations peoples) who did not conform to Western gender and sexual norms. The term has been utilized in anthropology and other disciplines to define American Indian homosexuality, transgenderism, and intersexuality. Many consider the term to be offensive, however, and in 1990 the alternative term two-spirit emerged.
Historical development of the word berdache
The term berdache was first used in Italian in the 15th century, recorded in French in 1548, in Spanish (cognate term) in the first quarter of the 16th century, and first applied to American Indians by the Spanish in the late 16th century. The term was published in The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents, volume 59 (1900), containing documents dating from 1673 to 1677. The Jesuits recorded the observations of numerous missionaries and traders who had witnessed men in womenâs clothing, work roles, and sexual roles. The term berdache originates from the Arabic word bardaj (âslaveâ or âkept boyâ). That word spread into western Europe, as a result of contact with the Muslim world, and became the Spanish term bardaxa/bardaje (person engaging in sodomy) and then the French term bardache (a boy kept by a pederast). While the Spanish and French originally used the term for male transvestites or the passive partner in sex between males, anthropologists later applied the term berdache to American Indians who assumed the dress, social status, and role of the opposite sex.
History of berdache
The arrival of Europeans in the Americas and the introduction of Christianity had a marked effect on berdache traditions and acceptance. Europeans viewed any gender variation outside of the male-female binary and any sexual practices and behaviours other than the culturally accepted relations between men and women as deviant. For them, the term berdache was one of judgment, one that condemned individuals who occupied those roles, as well as the cultures that accepted them. As colonization continued, berdache people and traditions were pushed out.
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Individuals labeled as âberdacheâ occupied what the Europeans considered to be sexually deviant roles. Initially, only biological men who adopted womenâs social status, dress, and sexual roles were labeled as berdache. Although female berdaches also were present, they were not acknowledged and were later often overlooked by anthropologists.
The term berdache was also applied to individuals who were anatomically different, such that they did not fit the European definition of male or female, and were judged as freaks of nature, monsters, and deviants. This classification of American Indians who were what would now be considered intersex (previously known as hermaphrodite) was continued by anthropologists.
In American Indian cultures, many nations accepted the practice of multiple sex and gender roles. According to American cultural anthropologist Serena Nanda, American Indian cultures generally did not use sexuality in their definition of gender roles. Individuals were accepted within their communities and conformed to various culturally accepted roles within their tribes, including warriors, healers, tribal leaders, medicine people, religious ceremonial figures, and visionaries. Acceptance varied from tribe to tribe, however; while some gender-variant individuals were culturally integrated and held roles that contributed to their communities, others were rejected and ostracized.
Europeans and, later, Euro-Americans prohibited and attempted to erase American Indian cultures, languages, and spiritual beliefs and practices, including gender and sexual variance. With the forced Christian education of American Indian children, those cultural and spiritual beliefsâincluding the roles of âtwo-spiritedâ peoplesâwere presented as evil and ungodly. That âeducationâ resulted in the loss of languages, cultures, and spiritual beliefs. As with the reclaiming of language, culture, and religion in the American Indian Movement (beginning in the late 1960s), two-spirited peoples began to reclaim their history within the context of Native traditions.
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Finding that the Western terms, concepts, and identities, such as gay, lesbian, transgender, and intersex emphasized the physical and sexual at the expense of the spiritual (which was the essence of Native traditions), they sought a term that would reconnect gender or sexual identity with Native identity and culture. In 1990, at the third annual American Indian gay and lesbian conference in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, the term two-spirit was designated as a replacement for berdache. The term two-spirit is translated from the words niizh manidoowag, from Ojibwa, a subgroup of the Algonquian language. Because this term was recently created, it has no linguistic equivalent or meaning in other nations and tribes, and it does not serve as a replacement for the historical and traditional terms already in use or available in other nations and tribes. Despite its obvious utility, the new term among other things implies an undesirable binary, and it has met with a variety of other criticisms among Native Americans.