Alaska Native transgenderism is seeping its way into traditional native culture in the form of the fabricated term “two-spirit.” Alaska Natives are generally united in anthropological terms with American Indian (AI/AN). However, historically two-spirited persons are predominantly unfounded in Alaska Native records. While American Indians share an overarching parallel of significant commonalities such as resilience, colonization, and historical trauma, such a correlation as it relates to two-spirited history is misleading.
Two-spirit classification occurred in 1990 by a group of AI/AN activists at the third annual Intertribal Native American, First Nations, Gay and Lesbian American Conference, held in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Activist Albert McLeod proposed the term two-spirit to refer to the Indigenous LGBTQ community. Present day, the term is now being used as an indoctrination tool for young Indigenous and non-native children throughout the country. Drag queen story hours have popped up in Alaska and all over the Lower-48 that include choice books like “Rainbow Crow” and “47,000 beads” which idolize and normalize gender dysphoria and instill confusion into delicate, wide-eyed little ones.
Engaging our cherished Elders and preserving their stories is essential in preventing this historical revisionism.
Storytelling within the Alaska Native community is precious and sacred. As many Alaska Native languages are primarily oral, storytelling is a means of teaching life lessons on heritage and survival. Although there is traditionally a stronger reliance on written (rather than oral) history in academia, Dr. Gregory Smithers of the Virginia Commonwealth University in his 2014 peer-reviewed article on two-spirit identity among the Cherokee argues that oral tradition is critical to a more complete understanding of history. His reasoning for this stance is due to the fact that only a single written account from 1825 exists of men performing women’s duties. As public as this issue has been recently, the One Spirit Warriors (OSW) initiative has invited a diverse group of Alaska Natives, Elders and a younger generation from across the state to share any oral history passed down from their ancestors as it relates to two-spirit ideology. One Spirit Warriors has yet to receive confirmations of this teaching, which begs the question: “Where is the local Alaska Native history of two-spirit identity?”
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What local history does show, based on findings by the Alutiiq Museum in Kodiak, is that before any Christian influence of the Russian Orthodox faith, the coastal Alutiiq/Sugpiaq people of Southcentral Alaska had very specific guidelines applicable to gender roles and marriage. Interestingly, husbands moved in with their wives’ families to aid in the duties involving food gathering and labors of survival. Wives commonly received tattoos that marked significant life events that affected their identity such as marriage, motherhood, and the transition to Elder status. Many argue that the influence of Christianity had compelled such structure, but archaeological artifacts of living conditions demonstrate that prior to the Russian’s arrival, gender and roles in marriage were very well-defined.
The modern term “two-spirit” is not as prevalent in historical documents or oral history as activists would like the general public to believe. Engaging our cherished Elders and preserving their stories is essential in preventing this historical revisionism. Their influence in perpetuating our culture is significant for the safeguarding of those beliefs that the majority of Alaska Natives cherish such as our tradition, culture, and valuing our Creator-given identities.
The views expressed here are those of the author.
15 Comments
Yes only one God the fathers.
He created Man and Women end of story
Not people wanting to be freaks, it’s pure evil
God created man and woman. End of story!
Born with balls or no balls, anything outside of these facts is perversion.
These activists look like they been given over to their hardened hearts. Like king Saul, they won’t change. Might as well as take your kids out of public schools, abandon native identity since it’s going to ge taken from us anyway if we don’t conform, and pick up the cross raising your children/grandchildren on Christ that never changes. These people are rewriting Native identity and history. There is the past identity and then there is this new one. In Christ you have only one identity. 2 Corinthians 5:17 “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!”
People can change our culture, value systems, arts, but Jesus Christ doesn’t change. Hebrews 13:5 “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” He is the Rock of All ages. His kingdom will reign forever while all other kingdoms as the Native kingdoms pass away.
Amen!
Excellent article Katrina!! You just knocked it out of the park with your excellent writing and articulation of the facts, based on credible references!!
Interesting to call it two-spirit. Sounds like alter-ego. Perhaps demon possession.
The ironic thing is this fixation on sexual and material identity is a symptom of the person having lost connection with Spirit.
Those who are in connection with Spirit, do not have to chase their identity around, or find themselves, or make themselves something they are not. They realize that they are already everything and this body is but a temporary vessel. We wear different vessels throughout our infinite existence.
Covid, goverment corruption, medical tyranny, financial tyranny, and broken self identities are all symptoms of broken people who have lost connection with spirit.
Katrina – well written and thank you. Jen, a second Amen! Common Peasant – bullseye.
Romans 1:28 – and since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, He gave them up to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.
Elizabeth Henry: I do not acknowledge your god. I’m an atheist. But I am not depraved. I donate time and money to local charities, drive Meals on Wheels, retired from a science career. I’m a normal if not boring guy doing good. I’m doing what OUGHT to be done.
And quite a virtue signaler as well.
Well yeah; the things I do are virtuous. They are. I do good things.
But don’t you? Isn’t that what drives you?
One of the biggest obstacles preventing useful communications within communities is Christian extremists’ insistence that anyone who is not a Christian is incapable of having morals, incapable of doing right for the sake of right, incapable of making decisions that take into account the effect those decisions have on others. Christian extremists very literally demonize anyone who does not believe in their deity. I, too, am an atheist, but aside from not believing in the Judeo-Christian deity, what is it that I do that they think is so terrible? I worked for an honest living all my adult life, pay my taxes, served in the military, donate time and money to charities, and try hard to live my life so as to not harm others. I’m willing to listen to the opinions of religious people about community issues, even when those opinions are based on a religious faith that I don’t share. Why can’t they return that respect?
My Aleut Mom and Dad said “Stay away from those guys in that house. They are wierd and not nice”. That was my traditional training. That’s bona fide.
Very informative, well-written, and well-researched. I hope Alaska Natives find this value-added to the ongoing preservation of their culture.
One of the biggest obstacles preventing useful communications within communities is Christian extremists’ insistence that anyone who is not a Christian is incapable of having morals, incapable of doing right for the sake of right, incapable of making decisions that take into account the effect those decisions have on others. Christian extremists very literally demonize anyone who does not believe in their deity. I, too, am an atheist, but aside from not believing in the Judeo-Christian deity, what is it that I do that they think is so terrible? I worked for an honest living all my adult life, pay my taxes, served in the military, donate time and money to charities, and try hard to live my life so as to not harm others. I’m willing to listen to the opinions of religious people about community issues, even when those opinions are based on a religious faith that I don’t share. Why can’t they return that respect?