User:Secephalopod/Two-spirit

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Two-Spirit (also two spirit or, occasionally, twospirited) is a modern,, umbrella term used by some Indigenous North Americans to describe Native people in their communities who fulfill a traditional third-gender (or other gender-variant) ceremonial and social role in their cultures.

The term two-spirit was created in 1990 at the Indigenous lesbian and gay international gathering in Winnipeg, and "specifically chosen to distinguish and distance Native American/First Nations people from non-Native peoples." The primary purpose was to encourage the replacement of the outdated and considered offensive anthropological term berdache. Even though this term is not universally accepted—it is criticized as a term of erasure by traditional communities who have their own terminology and disapprove two-spirit's "western" binary implications —it has generally received more acceptance and use than the anthropological term it replaced.

"Two Spirit" was not intended to be interchangeable with "LGBT Native American" or "Gay Indian"; it was created in English (and then translated into Ojibwe), to serve as a pan-Indian unifier for general audiences instead of traditional terms in Indigenous languages for what are actually quite diverse, culturally-specific ceremonial and social roles(if and when they exist at all). Opinions vary as to whether or not this objective has succeeded. The decision to adopt this term was also made as a means for individuals under the two-spirit identity to distance themselves from non-Native gays and lesbians, as the term and identity of two-spirit "does not make sense" unless it is contextualized within a Native American or First Nations framework and traditional cultural understanding. The gender non-binary ceremonial roles traditionally embodied by Native American and FNIM people intended to be under the umbrella of two-spirit can vary widely. No one Native American/First Nations' culture's gender or sexuality categories apply to all, or even a majority of, these cultures.

In contemporary society, two-spirit traditions and revival are challenged by cultural damage and loss among their communities from the impacts of colonization, such as residential school systems for First Nations people. Increased visibility, while being seen as empowering, has also had undesirable consequences. These include the spread of misinformation of Indigenous cultures, Pan-Indianism and cultural appropriation.