#dine

[beyondtheadobe]

navajo woman, shiprock, circa 1913

[sartorialadventure]

Diné (Navajo) Girl Wearing Silver And Turquoise Squash Blossom Jewelry, 1950

[pingintech]

there is a lot of exclusionary and divisive trans discourse on this website these days in the midst of it all it can be hard for some people to remember we are all one community and as a result we neglect important conversations we should likely rather be having so today i want to talk about 2S identities both for education and positivity and to talk for a bit about how colonialism has changed the way we talk about gender

✨two spirit appreciation post ✨

first lets talk about what 2 spirit and why the term is important

a lot of people here on turtle island tend to have very black and white perspectives on sex and gender and gendered roles in american society but when people say gender is a social construct thats not just a catchy slogan it is something purposefully constructed that changes over time with societal values and it is a fairly new social construct especially within the context of turtle island

before colonization the social values held around gender sex and gender roles held by the people indigenous to this land were incredibly varied and complex and specific to each groups cultural and spiritual beliefs and values but they were overwhelmingly beliefs that not only viewed sex and gender as complex and fluid but celebrated those born with complex relationships with sex and gender and saw them as important spiritual members of their communities

after colonization indigenous people were killed en masse and separated children from their families in order to force their children into boarding schools because only through force and violence could colonizers make it seem as if their own cultural and societal values were not only normal and rational but righteous and moral

if sex and gender were truly binary and men belonged at the top of our societal hierarchy naturally and women were made to be subservient to men if these were truly normal civilized and natural ways of viewing the world it would not require genocide in order to enforce it

2 spirit describes an anti colonial movement within indigenous communities in attempt to form community around indigenous spiritual and cultural beliefs around sex and gender based on their own cultural and religious histories

2 spirit typically describes someone who holds both feminine and masculine spirits simultaneously but it has a wide range of meanings related to individual cultural beliefs

2 spirit is a term for indigenous people based on the history of indigenous peoples and only indigenous people can claim this identity

while the vast array of experiences 2 spirit can describe have existed long before colonization and have deep roots in each respective culture the term 2 spirit itself was coined by Anishinaabe elder Myra Laramee in 1990 During the Third Annual Intertribal Native American, First Nations, Gay and Lesbian American Conference the term 2 spirit comes from the Anishnaabemowin term niizh manidoowag which literally translates to two-spirits

not all 2 spirit people consider themselves trans or even queer and as these spiritual and cultural beliefs long outdate the modern trans or queer communities its frankly completely understandable as these identities are a natural part of their own culture

the issues 2 spirit indigenous people face and their issues are absolutely issues important to and similar to the struggles of trans people as a whole not only are 2 spirit identities counter to american beliefs about sex and gender and as a result gender expression in 2 spirit indigenous people specifically is often punished but gender expression within indigenous communities even outside of 2 spirit peoples is often punished by american patriarchy as american views around sex and gender are structurally imperialist euro centric and white supremacist and has no allowance for cultural diversity in terms of sex and gender

the laws and policies around sex and gender that disadvantage women at the expense of men that punish diversity in gender expression and identity are antithetical to many indigenous peoples core cultural and spiritual values and decolonizing our views around sex and gender is incredibly important for us to do within our own queer communities

2 spirit as a term also isnt meant to replace other terms from indigenous communities that describe cultural spiritual and historical beliefs around sex gender and gender expectations and there are many terms that are used to describe fluidity in gender and gender roles in their respective cultures such as

agokwe agokwe-nini okitcitakwe and ogokwe in Anishinaabemowin

etuijijaqimijinui'k and l'nuk in Mi'kmaq

nàdleehé in Dine or Navajo

aayahkwew Înahpîkasoht napêhkân iskwewak napêw iskwêwisêhot and iskwêw ka napêwayat in Cree and Plains Cree

winyanktehca winkte winkta and wintike in Dakota

sipiniq arnaasiaq angutaasiaq and choupan in Inuktitut

tuučuk and čakusšƛ in Nuuh-chah-nulth

titqattek in Ktunaxa

aakíí’skassi in Siksikáí’powahsin

miáti in Hidatsa

and many many more

2 spirit people across tribes and cultures and religions you belong in our community

trans people should absolutely be fighting for the rights and issues of indigenous folks but especially for those of our 2 spirit siblings

the trans community could absolutely learn quite a few things from 2 spirit elders about sex and gender and how to deconstruct our views around them

anti colonialism and anti imperialism are trans issues

and a world where first nations and inuit peoples have sovereignty over their own lands is one that benefits us all especially as queer people

i am not indigenous myself and while i think 2 spirit identities are really important in discussions of the trans community as their beliefs around sex and gender and gender expectations and roles far predate modern concepts of the trans community or even the queer community at large as we understand it today it is not my place to define these terms and thats why im not a lot of the information used in this post is based primarily on the information found on sites like these as well as descriptions and discussions of 2 spirit identity and community weve heard from actual 2 spirit people in our own community https://w2sa.ca/two-spirit-library/understanding-the-term-two-spirit https://www.theindigenousfoundation.org/articles/the-history-of-two-spirit-folks https://waapihk.com/2025/06/07/histories-of-two-spirit-identity/

[pogphotoarchives]

Navajo mother and child, New Mexico

Photographer: T. Harmon Parkhurst Date: 1925 - 1945? Negative Number: 003179

[jagsdoodloos]

Glow Week 2025

Day3: Wine/Dine

Wine - Sharing a vintage pinot noir with your one and only.

Dine - Having a race to see who can finish the big plate of pasghetti because you and your jam bud are incredibly hammered.

[bustour]

DY Begay (Diné, b. 1953), "Natural Two," 2010. Wool and plant dyes, 33 11/16 × 50 3/16 in. Collection of Jürg & Christel Bieri. Photo by Walter Larrimore for the National Museum of the American Indian.

"I'm inspired by colors from washes [dry stream beds] that I walk daily. [One] particular day we received some rain and the moisture restored and enriched the tired hues and soil designs. These land formations are dynamic movements—juxtaposing waves, like in the ocean. These natural events ignite my creative energy."—DY Begay

Fiber artist DY Begay is a Diné woman who weaves on a Diné loom in the customary plain-weave technique with churro wool—and from this foundation she has established an artistic career characterized by expanding the boundaries of her Diné weaving tradition. In pursuit of mastery, DY Begay has explored historical and contemporary weaving and dyeing practices as inspiration. From diverse global traditions, she has absorbed the values that she continuously applies to her personal style: perfecting her technical skills on the loom, exploring the expressive power of color through dyeing and blending, and establishing harmony within her compositions.

Though intrigued by them, Begay moved beyond the horizontal, geometric designs more typical of regional Diné textiles, and instead composed asymmetrical tapestries with rippling bands of color with occasional references to Diné geometric designs. Begay's designs are never static; she varies her creations between geometric, figurative, and abstract tapestries, as seen here in "Natural Two" which is currently on view through July 13 at our Washington, DC location in "Sublime Light: Tapestry Art of DY Begay."

[via Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian]

[ometochtli2rabbit]

Ojibwe Crafts (facebook)