Sacramento Native Americans explain what is the 'Two Spirit' Community? | Race and Culture
According to IHS, the term "Two-Spirit" does not simply mean someone who is a Native American/Alaska Native is gay.
Intro
June is widely known as LGBTQIA+ Pride Month, a celebration of visibility, equality, and self-affirmation for the queer community. It was officially designated as Pride Month when former President Bill Clinton issued a formal proclamation on June 11, 1999, recognizing it as “Gay & Lesbian Pride Month.”
However, also happening in the 90s was the rise of the term "Two-Spirit" in the Native American community throughout the Americas.
What is "Two-Spirit" Meaning and history
“Two-Spirit is a person that identifies as having both a masculine and feminine spirit," said Virgil Rambeau, an associate clinical social worker and one of the facilitators for the Two-Spirit Talking Circle at the Sacramento Native American Health Center (SNAHC). "It is a way for indigenous people throughout Turtle Island or North America to describe their sexual gender and spiritual identity."
Rambeau said the term was created in 1990 by an elder by the name of Myra Laramie at the third annual international LGBT Native American gathering.
Being Two-Spirit lifestyle and meaning
"Well, as a young person who also identifies as Two-Spirit, the Two-Spirit community (is) just, it's just something very powerful and something very beautiful," said Manuel “Manny” Luna, community health program manager for SNAHC.
Luna, whose family is from the Arizona/New Mexico area, says he didn't identify as Two-Spirit until later on in life.
"I never really heard the term before, never really understood. My family never really, really looked into that aspect of Two-Spirit, you know what actually it meant. And it wasn't until I moved away, and I went to college, and I started engaging with other folks who are native as well. You also identify as LGBTQIA+, you know, in that community, where I really started to look into what Two-Spirit actually meant," Luna said.
"Rather than coming out to the world, I had to come into myself and just really look inwards," Luna said.
Two-Spirit and LGBTQIA+ community
“A lot of times we aren't really looked at, you know, in a lot of different LGBTQIA+ community spaces," said Luna when asked about how the Two-Spirit community is incorporated with the LGBTQIA+ community.
This led to the topic of why SNAHC started and continued to run its Two-Spirit Talking Circle.
"The fact that we had this space that we're able to gather together and be with other Two-Spirit folks, or maybe even natives who just identify with the LGBTQI+ community, you know, and also just wanting to dabble in and see okay, what does Two-Spirit actually mean, you know, and how does that relate to my tribal traditions is just something so powerful and really heartwarming to see," Luna said.
So can a person be both a part of the LGBTQIA+ community and be "Two-Spirit"?
“So you can identify as both part of the LGBTQI+ community and Two-Spirit community and also you could just identify as one or the other," Luna said. "Some folks might identify as just to Spirit and not part of the LGBTQI+ community and that's okay. And some folks may just identify as part of the LGBTQI+ community but not ready to really identify as Two-Spirit or don't want to really identify as Two-Spirit and that's okay, too. You know, we're all part of the same community and making sure that we are contributing to our people the best way we can, which is through an open heart, and also with an open mind as well," Luna said.
Two-Spirit Talking Circle Information
The Two-Spirit Talking Circle meets every Friday, from 11 a.m. to noon on Zoom.
"The Two-Spirit talking circle is a space to support and honor those in the Native American, Alaskan Native/1st Nations, and self-Identified Indigenous People within the LGBTQI+ community," the SNAHC website reads. "Members are welcome to join the talking circle and explore their individual and cultural identities and cultivate connections for knowledge and healing."
Registration is required to receive the Zoom link. Space is limited to eight members.
