The Spirit and the Flesh: Sexual Diversity in American Indian Culture

Williams, an ethnohistorian at the University of Southern California, presents a fascinating and thorough study of American Indian acceptance of sexual diversity. Drawing on interviews with Native Americans, anthropologists and historians, Williams documents how tribal cultures revered the “berdache”any man who “does not fill a society’s standard man’s role, who has a nonmasculine character.” Many American Indian communities believed that some members belonged to an “alternative gender” neither male nor female, their identities determined by spiritual inclination, not sex. Berdaches were treated as sacred and held ceremonial roles as psychic healers, “medicine men” and prophets. Williams also illustrates how European settlers in North and South America sought to repress the berdache tradition and how it went underground, reemerging after the rebirth of Native American culture and the rise of gay liberation. Author’s Note: Shortly after the second revised edition this book was published in 1992, the term “Two-Spirit Person” became more popular among native people than the older anthropological term “berdache.” When I learned of this new term, I began strongly supporting the use of this newer term. I believe that people should be able to call themselves whatever they wish, and scholars should respect and acknowledge their change of terminology. I went on record early on in convincing other anthropologists to shift away from use of the word berdache and in favor of using Two-Spirit. Nevertheless, because this book continues to be sold with the use of berdache, many people have assumed that I am resisting the newer term. Nothing could be further from the truth. Unless continued sales of this book will justify the publication of a third revised edition in the future, it is not possible to rewrite what is already printed, Therefore, I urge readers of this book, as well as activists who are working to gain more respect for gender variance, mentally to substitute the term “Two-Spirit” in the place of “berdache” when reading this text. — Walter L. Williams, Los Angeles, 2006