Two-Spirit

A modern English umbrella term used across many Indigenous North American communities to describe people who fulfill a traditional third-gender or gender-variant ceremonial and social role.

Definition

A modern English umbrella term used across many Indigenous North American communities to describe people who fulfill a traditional third-gender or gender-variant ceremonial and social role. Two-Spirit is not available for non-Indigenous people to claim - it is a specifically Indigenous cultural and spiritual identity.

Flag

No single official flag exists; designs vary by nation and community, often incorporating medicine-wheel colours (red, yellow, black, white) or two feathers over a rainbow field. Standardized HEX values are deliberately not codified. See the Two-Spirit profile for context.

Etymology

Created in 1990 at the Third Annual Intertribal Native American, First Nations Gay and Lesbian Conference in Winnipeg, Manitoba, as an English-language alternative to Western LGBTQ+ terms.

History

  • Two-spirit roles predate European contact in many Indigenous nations; people embodying both masculine and feminine spiritual qualities held specific ceremonial, healing, and social responsibilities
  • European colonialism violently suppressed these traditions through missionary activity, legal criminalization, and forced assimilation
  • 1990 - Indigenous LGBTQ+ people create "Two-Spirit" at the Winnipeg gathering
  • The term is placed first in the Canadian acronym 2SLGBTQIA+ in recognition of Indigenous peoples as the original communities recognizing gender diversity on this land

Notable people

  • We'wha (1849-1896) - Zuni lhamana; cultural ambassador who met President Grover Cleveland in 1886
  • Kent Monkman (1965-) - Cree painter; identifies as Two-Spirit; known for decolonial art

See also

Sources & further reading