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Last night I was listening to a recording from a few years ago when I heard Ma-Nee Chacaby speak in Ojibwe about her grandmother's 2spirit teachings, and I want to share a few thoughts about "2spirit" in Anishinaabewakiing.
I'd prefer non-Natives not retweet, but you do you w/e
I'd prefer non-Natives not retweet, but you do you w/e
We (young LGBTQ2 Native ppl) have had a lot of convos about 2spirit and what it means, on twitter & beyond. I don't want to make it seem like "youth critique 2s & elders defend it" bc 2spirit has ALWAYS been a complicated, conflicted term.
Like the term "Turtle Island," I see people sometimes say it's ONLY a pan-Indian term. That's a bit simplified though—Turtle Island and Two-Spirit DO have tribally-specific roots. While their homogenizing can be an issue, when we condemn them wholesale it also erases those roots.
The origin of 2s has been said over & over yet it's still important (and I am still learning it). Dr. Myra Laramee (Cree/Metis/Ojibwe) received it in a dream in 1990 & shared it at a gathering. This is important bc it wasn't just COINED—it is in the tradition of spirit names
(which, spirit names are a THING common in Anishinaabe + Cree communities, tho not so say other peoples don't have similar concepts)
Some people have said "2spirit" comes from Ojibwe. I don't know if that is what Dr. Laramee had in mind, but I have a few reflections on that:
Some people have said "2spirit" comes from Ojibwe. I don't know if that is what Dr. Laramee had in mind, but I have a few reflections on that:
1) I have not found any term that translates to that in Ojibwe language archives, though I've found other terms
2) I have heard elders say that even if we lose traditions, they can come back to us in dreams
3) Ma-Nee Chacaby has shared teachings from her grandma on 2spiritness
2) I have heard elders say that even if we lose traditions, they can come back to us in dreams
3) Ma-Nee Chacaby has shared teachings from her grandma on 2spiritness
I have listened to Ma-Nee share teachings entirely in Ojibwe language. She uses the phrase "niizh ojichaag gaa-ayaawaajin," a person who has 2 spirits, which comes from her grandma. MN elders I've spoken to don't recognize the term, but that doesn't invalidate Ma-Nee's knowledge.
Now there are a good number of places in Anishinaabewaki where 2s young ppl call themselves niizh ojichaag or variations on it. Many don't have much access to language or elder teachings. Although there are many Ojibwe words for gender/sexual diversity, they aren't widely known.
It's different in some regions—esp the southwest but also some plains/western nations have very specific words that have been remembered & are still used. I've noticed they tend to question 2s the most, bc it doesn't mesh with their specific traditions. Which is totally valid!!
I'm not trying to speak for all Anishinaabe 2spirits, lol. Plenty probs disagree with me! I just think we have a fairly unique relationship to "2s" as a term bc of the language & community stuff, a context which isn't well-known. I also wanna recognize the work of earlier 2s ppl.
I think even if we dislike or disagree with some (or all) of how it's used, we can (hopefully) recognize that ppl did & do important work from 1990-present that was facilitated by the term 2s. AND recognize the flaws in some of that work (such as Aiyyana Maracle's trans critique)
The work of prior and present generations has helped so that I—very personally—have experienced the way "2spirit" can sometimes give non-2s Native community members a way to understand me through our culture. It's not universal, but it's worth noting that contribution as well.
anyway I could go on and on about this and I should probably just get a blog rather than write threads of a bajillion tweets, so I'll stop here. Hopefully it's clear that I say this as a 2s person with great love & respect for all lgbtq2 Native ppl. Even if they disagree with me!
