Masaryk University Faculty of Arts

Department of English and American Studies

English Language and Literature

Markéta Bártová

Gender Variety in Native American Societies Bachelor’s Diploma Thesis

Supervisor: Jeffrey Alan Vanderziel, B.A.

2015

I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography.

…………………………………………….. Author’s signature

Acknowledgement I would like to thank my supervisor, Jeffrey Alan Vanderziel, B.A., for his support, advice and comments.

Table of Contents

List of Figures ...... 6

1. Introduction ...... 7

2. Gender ...... 9

Terminology ...... 9

Western vs. Native American Concept of Gender ...... 11

Introduction to Gender Variety of Native American Indians...... 14

Early Encounters and Research ...... 14

General Information Concerning Gender Variety of Native American Indians 17

Important Terms Connected to Gender Variety of Native American Indians ... 20

3. Navajo Concept of Gender ...... 24

General Introduction to Navajo Tribe and its Understanding of Gender ...... 24

Hermaphrodite and Male Nádleeh ...... 28

Becoming Nádleeh and Navajo Origin Myth ...... 28

Description of Nádleeh ...... 31

Occupational Activities ...... 31

Partnerships and Sexuality ...... 33

Status ...... 35

Female Nádleeh ...... 36

4. Mohave Concept of Gender ...... 38

General Introduction to Mohave Tribe and its Understanding of Gender ...... 38

Alyha ...... 40

Becoming Alyha and Mohave Origin Myth ...... 40

Description of Alyha ...... 43

Occupational Activities ...... 45

Partnerships and Sexuality ...... 46

Status ...... 48

Hwame ...... 50

5. Zuni Concept of Gender ...... 53

General Introduction to Zuni Tribe and its Understanding of Gender ...... 53

Male Lhamana ...... 56

Becoming Lhamana and Zuni Origin Myth ...... 56

Description of Lhamana ...... 58

Occupational Activities ...... 59

Partnerships and Sexuality ...... 60

Status ...... 61

Female Lhamana ...... 62

6. Conclusion ...... 63

Works Cited ...... 67

Resumé ...... 70

Resumé ...... 72

List of Figures

Table 1: Mainstream American Culture Gender System (Jacobs, Thomas, and Lang

258) ...... 13

Table 2: Navajo Gender System (Jacobs, Thomas, and Lang 261) ...... 26

Table 3: Sexual Relationships and Classifications: Traditional and Transitional

(Jacobs, Thomas, and Lang 162) ...... 34

Table 4: Permitted, Possible, and Inappropriate Sexual Relationships (Traditional-

Transitional)1 (Jacobs, Thomas, and Lang 167) ...... 34

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1. Introduction

Ever since the first encounters between the Native American tribes and Euro-

American explorers were made, the Native American cultures have been portrayed as much more primitive than Western societies. A speech by Ayn Rand, a well-known

American novelist and philosopher, serves as an example of such attitude. In her

Address to the West Point in 1974 she stated:

[…] let’s suppose they were all beautifully innocent savages, which they

certainly were not, what was it that they were fighting for? If they opposed white

men on this continent. For their wish to continue a primitive existence? Their

right to keep part of the earth untouched, unused, and not even have property but

just keep everybody out, so that you have to live practically like an animal, or

mabye a few caves above it? Any white person, who brings the element of

civilization, has the right to take over this country […]. (Stine Gerdes)

The aim of this Bachelor’s thesis is to point out the diversity of traditional gender systems and social organizations of Native American tribes, focusing on their distinct comprehension of alternate gendered people since they are the primary source of the

Native American gender systems’ variety. The complexity of Native American cultures demonstrates that they are not primitive. On the contrary, they are much more complicated than Western cultures.

The thesis consists of two main parts. The first part provides a necessary theoretical background and the second part of the thesis is the analytical one dealing with specific Native American tribes.

The theoretical part of the thesis provides the reader with an introduction to gender. In the first subchapter, differences between gender and sex are highlighted.

Gender is divided into three elements, all of which are dealt with as well. Gender role

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change is analyzed in all the three tribes in the analytical part and therefore explanation of what it means and how it differs from gender role crossing is provided.

The second subchapter of the first chapter is focused on the differences between the Native American and Western understanding of gender. It highlights the Western conception of binary gender system and importance of sex as an indicator of one’s gender.

The last subchapter dedicated to gender deals with the Native American conception of gender. It summarizes opinions of early conquerors on Native American understanding of gender, which were mostly negative and full of misunderstanding. It is stated that research dealing with gender of Native Americans was problematic, mainly because not much information was actually acquired and if so, the reliability of it is not very high, especially from the times of early research. The subchapter engages in introduction to the gender variety of Native American Indians, stating what being an alternate gender actually means, where and in how many Native American tribes gender variants occurred. The issues connected to terminology of alternate genders of Native

America are mentioned. It is stressed that the best-known terms, “berdache” and “two- spirit”, are actually inappropriate to use when denoting Native gender variants.

The analytical part of the thesis is separated into three chapters, each of them dealing with a specific Native American tribe and its conception of social stratification and gender system. The societies chosen for this thesis are the Navajo, the Mojave and the Zuni. In the end the three cultures are compared and their distinctness proves the complexity of Native American societies.

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2. Gender

Terminology

Gender has been the subject of many discussions and theories. Biological anthropologists, cultural anthropologists and feminists all treat gender differently.

Therefore, various classifications of gender and explanations of what gender actually means exist. Since this thesis deals with gender variance in Native American societies and an analysis of three Native American tribes, clarification of how gender will be understood is necessary. Gender is visible through one’s behavior and occupations.

West, Zimmerman and Butler state that it “is not something we are born with, and not something we have, but something we do – something we perform” (as cited by Eckert and McConnell-Ginet, 1). In short, they are stating that gender is not equal to one’s sex.

According to Callender and Kochems, “gender is ‘less directly tied to this anatomical basis, although ultimately limited by it” (as cited by Roscoe, “Changing Ones” 124).

The most important factors influencing one’s gender are culture and society. Gender “is seen as ‘the social, cultural, psychological constructs that are imposed upon … biological differences” (Worthman 1). This view is different from the standard understanding of gender in Western societies, where one’s sex normally equates one’s gender. Sex is “a biological categorization based primarily on reproductive potential”

(Eckert and McConnell-Ginet 2). After being born, one gradually develops and becomes a specific gender which can, but does not have to, correspond with one’s sex. In sum, then, it is important to perceive sex and gender as two terms that might influence each other in some cultures, but cannot be seen as equal.

Gender, if understood as mainly influenced by culture and society, is made of three elements, contributing to its final form. First is gender identity, understood as “a

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person’s subjectively felt experience of being masculine, feminine, or ambivalent”

(Lang, “Men as Women” 47). The second element is gender role, “the observable expression of gender identity in the social context” (Lang, “Men as Women” 47).

Gender status is the last component, reflecting “the social position of an individual with reference to the other members of her or his culture as a woman, man, or someone belonging to an additional gender status separate from both” (Lang, “Men as Women”

47). Gender roles cover external expressions of one’s gender, such as personal clothes choice, accessories, hairstyle, behavior of a specific gender (one’s way of speech, gestures and movement), exhibition of gender-specific tasks and rules and choice of a partner. Physical characteristics are the essential aspect of gender status which is then ascribed to a person. If a person wants to take up a gender status of the opposite sex, the status cannot be ascribed, only achieved. Furthermore, one does not lose gender status if some of the gender role components are missing (Lang, “Men as Women” 50 – 55). All of the three gender components are interconnected with each other.

Gender role change and gender role crossing are two terms denoting different phenomena. Gender role change serves “as a higher level generic term for various kinds of crossing over culturally defined gender roles, usually including the entrance into an ambivalent gender status” (Lang, “Men as Women” 11). There are several components, characterizing gender role change. A person may or may not include them all; this varies in connection to a specific culture. They are “partial or complete transvestitism; the expression of culturally defined characteristic behavior patterns of the opposite sex; the carrying out of activities that are culturally assigned to the opposite sex and no sexual relations with persons who occupy the same gender status as the person in question” (Lang, “Men as Women” 11). Crucial is the adoption of opposite-sex occupational activities, the most visible element of gender role change. Gender role

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crossing differs from gender role change in a smaller number of elements, typical for opposite sex that one takes up. If one crosses gender role, there are still more gender role components of one’s own sex kept than borrowed (Lang, “Men as Women” 11).

However, it is problematic to determine what the breakpoint between gender role crossing and gender role changing is; this is variable in Native American tribes.

Western vs. Native American Concept of Gender

There is a clash between the concept of gender held in Euro-American societies and how it is portrayed in Native American ones. In the past, after the first contacts between these two different environments have been made, an idea of more genders than two was seen as perverse by Western societies. In the Euro-American environment,

“two clearly defined things are referred to as sexes or gender and everything else is

‘deviant’” (Jacobs, Thomas, and Lang 260). The liberal attitude of Native American tribes towards gender variety was completely different from the Western approach.

“The peoples of North America … saw no threat in homosexuality or gender variance.

Indeed, they believed individuals with these traits made unique contributions to their communities” (Roscoe, “Changing Ones” 4). The idea of gender duality was seen by

Westerners as the only accurate approach toward gender. Thus, any departure from this system was not right in the eyes of people from Euro-American cultures. Gilbert Herdt states, “The Euro-American view that there are only two sexes and two genders and that the distinctions between male and female, man and woman, are natural, unchangeable, universal, and desirable is reflected in popular culture and, until the mid-twentieth century, dominated the biological and social sciences” (as cited in Nanda, 105). This binary attitude was a cause of inaccurate information about the tribes, offered by ethnographers in the past. Will Roscoe observes that, “The four-hundred-year history of ethnographic documentation on Native American people has been selective. This

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selectivity is most pronounced in the literature dealing with sex and gender relations, especially where these deviated from the bipolar European norm of the heterosexual

‘man’ and ‘woman’” (Living the Spirit 32). To sum, then, an essential distinction between Native American and Western gender system lies in the Euro-American idea of dichotomy, which contradicts Native American concept of gender variants.

The second, crucial difference between the Native American and Euro-American understanding of gender lies in importance of sex as an indicator of gender. In Western cultures, sex is usually identical to one’s gender which is specified right after biological sex of a newborn is known. Thus, Euro-American gender system is “sex based or deductive” (Valdes 22). In Native American societies, the influence of sex on gender is not that strong. Native American gender system is “personality-based or inductive”

(Valdes 22). In other words, sex of a newborn child functions only as a preliminary indicator of its sex. “Gender was induced transitively from personality, rather than deduced intransitively from sex, as occurs in Euro-American societies” (Valdes 217).

What gender a child is going to be in the end is affected by its own inclinations towards gender-specific activities, behavior, appearance and other characteristics, which will later make up a “final” gender. The claim that one did not know what gender the child is right after being born is supported by public ceremonies of Native American tribes, usually occurring in time period of puberty or early adolescence, through which one was finally admitted to a specific gender of the culture’s gender system. The only similarity between the two systems and their attitude towards sex lies in social organization. “Both the Native American and Euro-American systems look to sex first to organize the social order” (Valdes 218). Otherwise, there is a strict division between the two societies in connection to sex and gender. According to Lee M. Kochems and

Sue-Ellen Jacobs, “The gender category determined by the recognition of biological,

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physiological features of morphological sex is the basis of the mainstream American culture system of gender … There is no other gender/sex category, for those, who do not fit into this system. Such individuals are considered to be deviants: fags, dykes, lesbians, gay people, bisexuals, transsexuals and transgenders” (Jacobs, Thomas, and

Lang 258). The Euro-American system of gender is thus much less flexible than the

Native American one. The typical strictness and monotony of Wester gender system is the cause of liberty loss in one’s gender choice.

Table 1: Mainstream American Culture Gender System (Jacobs, Thomas, and Lang 258)

GENDER STATUS MAN WOMAN Gender features dress pants dress occupation breadwinner caretaker demeanor aggressive passive sexual object choice women men Gender/ sex category male female

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Introduction to Gender Variety of Native American Indians

Early Encounters and Research

Ever since the Euro-Americans first encountered gender diversity of Native

American tribes, their attitude towards “berdaches” has been negative. Visitors to the

New World were shocked by liberty of Native gender systems. The journals of conquerors are full of misunderstanding, hatred and ridicule. The first to observe gender customs of Natives were Spanish explorers. Being Catholics, it was impossible for them to understand gender diversity and acceptance of homosexual intercourse in the distant society (Nanda 11). Cabeza de Vaca expressed his overly negative attitude when referring to “berdache” as “a piece of devilry” (as cited by Lang, “Men as Women” 67).

He was horrified and disgusted by Karankawa males, dressed as women. “I saw a most brutish and beastly custom, to wit, a man who was married to another, and these be certaine effeminate and impotent men, who goe [sic] clothed and attired like women, and performe the office of a woman” (as cited by Roscoe, “Changing Ones” 4).The attitude of explorers toward diverse gender system varied. Some were just thunderstruck after seeing that gender systems are not always as strict as they are in their own society, others expressed aversion and loathing. Unfortunately, in some cases the visitors harmed the Natives, especially when there was no use of them. For example, forty male berdaches served Vasco Núñez de Balboa as food for his dogs (Roscoe, “Changing

Ones” 4). A basic assumption of Westerners was that parents of berdaches were desperate and tried to do whatever they could to make their child change its mind and behave according to its biological sex. When referring to a male “berdache”, Alexander

Henry the Younger claimed that, “His father, who is a great chief amongst the

Saulteurs, cannot persuade him to act like a man” (as cited by Roscoe, “Living the

Spirit” 18). Spanish conquerors were in their writings focused on homosexual relations

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of Natives, seeing sodomy as a devilish sin. There was no attention paid to the abilities of “berdaches” or the role they played in a specific tribe. “To judge by the Spanish sources, they were neither curanderos nor healers, and in no way acted as a spiritual mediators or shamans or priests between the material and spiritual world” (Trexler 2).

In 1833, Edwin T. Denig visited the Crow tribe in Montana, not knowing anything about the tribe; he was unable to understand a gender system of Crow Indians. He was horrified by the fact that women and men, dressed as opposite sex, devoting themselves to opposite sex occupations, were accepted and in some cases admired. In the culture of conquerors they would be despised and punished for such behavior (Roscoe, “Changing

Ones” 3). Denig himself wrote, “Most civilized communities recognize but two genders

… But strange to say, these people have a neuter … Strange country this, where males assume the dress and perform the duties of females, while women turn men and mate with their own sex!” (as cited by Roscoe, “Changing Ones” 3). As for terminology used by explorers, it was quite inconsistent and confusing. Among popular terms were

“homosexual”, “hermaphrodite” and “transvestite”. Yet some tribes used all of them in order to denote distinct genders (Jacobs 273). In fact, all these terms refer to different phenomena. Terminology of early conquerors therefore causes confusion and it is hard to tell whom exactly the terms refer to. Angelino and Shedd point out, “While a berdache is a transvestite, a transvestite is not necessarily a berdache” (as cited by

Jacobs, 273). The negative attitude and disunity of observances were typical for the times of early encounters between Native Americans and Euro-Americans. A proper research was essential to make interpretations understandable.

As for research dealing with the gender variance of Native American tribes, information is quite scanty and not devoted to gender system issues. Native American tribes were dealt with in many ethnographic works, but the topic of gender was mostly

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passed over, or just mentioned subtly. The primary cause of researchers’ reluctance to deal with gender variance was the original link between homosexuality and gender variance. Homosexual relations were initially seen as loathsome and later baffling activity, unaccepted by Western cultures. Furthermore, ethnographers did not fancy a thought of investigating their own gender system in order to deal with the system of

Natives (Lang 23 – 24). In order to properly inspect the gender system, researchers would have to examine their own, strictly patriarchal values and explore completely different ones, denying their conviction of dichotomy. The decisions not to deal with

“berdaches” were of personal matters as well. Since “berdachism” was connected to homosexuality and topic of homosexuality used to be very controversial and looked down on, it was not a welcomed thing to write about it. Ethnographers were afraid of losing the reputation they built throughout the years of their career by being willing to truly unfold the reality of gender as understood by Natives. “Many anthropologists have collected empirical data on homosexual behavior … but have never published it partly because of their fear of being stigmatized and partly because anthropological journals have rarely accepted articles dealing with homosexuality” (Lang, “Men as Women” 20).

Researchers were usually afraid of the contact with “berdaches” overall and that is why they decided not to deal with the matter of “berdachism” at all. Besides, even after the information was given to ethnographers from tribal people, one could not be sure that they told the truth. The natives often provided information they thought researchers would be glad to hear. “A Paiute consultant candidly told Steward (1941:440) that there weren’t any tüvasa (“berdaches”) in his group ‘because our Indians were good and taught their children right” (Lang 19, “Men as Women”). A problem of unclear terminology provided by researchers still occurred. Researchers continued to use terms such as “hermaphrodites”, “transvestites” and “homosexuals”, providing insufficient

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terminology, which lead to ambiguity. Public interest in “two-spirit” people gradually grew till 1970. People wanted to know who “berdaches” really are and where they occur. Researchers shared characteristics, typical for an alternative gendered person, such as clothes, behavior and occupations. This led people to belief that whoever shared these components was an alternative gender. Another problem was connected to sex being the main indicator of a “berdache”. Researchers categorized “berdaches” in dependence on their biological sex, not gender. In reality, gender was much more important than sex in Native societies. The will of researchers to make the results publicly understandable led them to overgeneralizing and creating their own categories so that the research would be easily comprehensible. When naming the “berdaches”, researchers used terms specific for western culture in order not to confuse the reader.

The result of all these efforts was inaccurate research, not portraying the reality of

Native American cultures (Jacobs, Thomas, and Lang 285 – 286). Terms like

“hermaphrodite” and “transvestite” were gradually abandoned after 1970 and the new ones replaced them (Jacobs, Thomas, and Lang 286).

General Information Concerning Gender Variety of Native American Indians

Since colonial times, the existence of gender variety in Native American tribes has been mentioned in various journals. The validity of information, especially the one from the times of early contact between two cultures, is not high and was full of overstated negativism and ridicule. Gradually, the quality of research grew and reexaminations of the sources led to more accurate findings. It is important to keep in mind that since none of the Native societies are the same, their gender systems cannot be overgeneralized. “Small bands of hunter-gatherers existed in some areas, with advanced civilizations of farming peoples in other areas. With hundreds of different languages, economies, religions, and social patterns existing in North America alone,

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every generalization about a cultural tradition must acknowledge many exceptions”

(Williams 1). Furthermore, in order to understand gender concept of the Natives, it is necessary to abandon Western thinking and view the Native American societies as distinct cultures, uninfluenced by Euro-American idea of gender system. The amount of tribes, keeping the tradition of alternate genders today, has gradually been reduced. If still kept by the tribe, the traditions have mostly been modified to suit present time. This thesis is going to deal with traditional gender perception in original Native American cultures, not the modern ones.

Since the concepts of alternate genders varied in every Native American tribe, it is possible to provide only a general description of what gender variant person is.

Alternate gendered people, “partially or completely take on the culturally defined role of the other sex and … are classified neither as men nor as women, but as genders of their own in their respective cultures” (Lang, “Men as Women” XI). However, even the

“berdaches”, who performed opposite gender role perfectly, could not acquire status of a man or a woman. In Native American tribes they were viewed as a separate gender, mainly due to impossible anatomical change of their body. “No matter how successfully a male berdache imitated the social behavior of a woman, he could not become one physiologically, lacking her reproductive capacities, unable to menstruate or conceive.

Nor could a female berdache impregnate women. Indian societies sharply rejected claims that berdaches had transcended their anatomical sex in any sense other than the social” (Callender and Kochems 454). In most cases, gender variant people kept some of their own sex attributes and had access to both female and male spheres of occupations. However, some of the spheres were abandoned to them since they were not seen as a regular male or female but a separate gender. “In most societies, women-men did not participate in the prestige system of hunting and war honors required of men”

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(Gilley 9). According to Will Roscoe, there are 4 categories of alternative gender roles.

The first of them is called “crossing out of the gender role”, meaning that a person does take up some opposite sex gender role characteristics, but does not change gender status or gender role. The second is called “gender role mixing”, denoting a person taking up opposite sex gender role elements for good and therefore disuniting one’s own gender status. “Gender role change” means that one completely changes one’s gender role to the one of the opposite sex. The last category is “gender role splitting”. Person belonging to this category keeps gender role characteristics of both sexes and therefore retains a completely ambiguous gender status (as cited by Lang, “Men as Women” 342

– 343).

As for number of tribes, where existence of alternative gendered people was documented, data is not unified. Furthermore, “so many North American cultures were disrupted (or had disappeared) before they were studied by anthropologists” and therefore were not recorded (Gilley 7). According to the Gay American Indian history project, alternate gendered people occurred “in at least 133 North American Indigenous groups” (Lang, “Transformations” 70). Variant female gender roles occur much less in the documents. However, this does not necessarily mean that they occurred less in reality. It is possible that researchers, intentionally or unintentionally, overlooked female gender variants and therefore remarks of them were left out. Geographically, gender variant people occurred most “in the region extending from California to the

Mississippi Valley and the upper Great Lakes, the plains, the Prairies, the Southwest, and to a lesser extent along the Northwest Coast. With few exceptions, gender variance is not historically documented for eastern North America, though it may have existed prior to the European invasion and disappeared before it could be recorded historically”

(Nanda 14).

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Important Terms Connected to Gender Variety of Native American Indians

None of the constructed terms denoting alternative genders of Native American have been fully accepted. With an introduction of a new term a critique of it appears as well. “Berdache”, the oldest term, has been the most controversial. It was first used in the 16th century by Spanish explorers arriving to New World, after they “encountered certain male aboriginals who dressed in women’s garb and practiced sodomy. Their catholic sensibilities appalled they described them with obscene term bardaje (bardaxa)”

(Fulton and Anderson 603). As for etymology of the term, “it can be traced back to the

Indo-European root *welɘ to strike, wound, from which the old Iranian *varta-, “seized prisoner” is derived” (Williams “Changing Ones” 7). Spanish conquerors took the term from Arabic expression “bardaj” or “barah”, which “meant ‘kept boy’, ‘male prostitute’, catamite’ (Angelino and Shedd 1955:121). ‘Berdache’ is the French adaptation of these terms and was first used by eighteenth-century travelers, who mainly applied the word to supposedly ‘passive homosexual’” (Lang 6). There were Italian,

French, Spanish and American versions of term “berdache”. The meaning of the term in

Europe gradually changed. Later it no longer denoted “age and active/passive roles … becoming a general term for male homosexual. … By the mid-nineteenth century, its use in Europe lapsed” (Roscoe, “Changing Ones” 7). In Native American context, however, the use of “berdache” did not stop. Due to its homosexual connotations and original use of it to denote “male prostitute”, it is easy to see why “berdache” is viewed as negative and insulting name for alternate gendered people of North America nowadays. Not only does the term highlight its homosexual nature, it also completely leaves out other aspects of being an alternate gender. Despite the fact that “berdache” is not suitable to refer to Native American alternate genders, it was used by anthropologists in articles and research for a long time. “Its first use in an

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anthropological publication was by Washington Matthews in 1877. ... The next anthropological use was in J Owen Dorsey’s 1890 study of Siouan cults. … Following

Kroeber’s use of the word is his 1902 ethnography of the, it became a part of standard anthropological terminology” (Roscoe, “Changing Ones” 7). Despite the original meaning of the term, “berdache” was used to refer to people, who usually devote themselves to opposite sex activities, dress themselves and behave like opposite sex and normally have intercourse with same sex people, who are not berdaches and therefore are seen as a distinct gender. Spiritual power, in form of a vision or a dream, was attributed to “berdaches” as well. (Roscoe, “Changing ones” 8). According to this definition, “berdache” should denote female gender variants as well. However, the original meaning of “berdache” has nothing to do with females since it referred to male prostitutes and therefore was explicitly applied to males. Another problem with the use of “berdache” for both female and male gender variants lies in description of usual occupations of female alternate gender roles of North America. Walter L. Williams observes that, “With a few possible exceptions, Native Americans conceptualize females who take on a hunter-warrior role separately from male berdaches. Female gender variation was recognized in a number of cultures, but it had a separate and distinct status of its own” (Williams, “Spirit” 11). Thus, Williams decided to use a distinct term for female gender variants, “Amazon”. However, this term is problematic as well. “Amazons are distinctly associated with the warlike element of the masculine role … In Native North America, however, this warlike component appears in connection with women who go to war without either giving up the feminine role or transforming their feminine gender status into an ambivalent one” (Lang, “Men-

Women” 8).

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Despite the issues with “berdache”, it was widely used by ethnographers and researchers till the end of twentieth century. Two conferences, dealing with “berdache” of North America were held in 1993 and 1994. They were organized by Sue-Ellen

Jacobs, Wesley Thomas and Sabine Lang. A big part of the conferences dealt with issues connected to terminology, mainly the inadequateness of “berdache” term in connection to alternate genders. Sabine Lang writes, “We all agreed that the term

‘berdache’ was no longer appropriate. If it is ill-chosen for referring to males, it is downright absurd when used to refer to females” (Lang, “Men as Women” XIV). Many suggestions of a new, appropriate term were heard at the conference. In the end it was

“agreed upon to replace ‘berdache’ with ‘two-spirit’ (see Jacobs and Thomas 1994). It was further agreed upon that, whenever we needed o to use the term “berdache” in our writings … the word should be put into quotation marks” (Lang, “Men as Women”

XIV). As for whom “two-spirit” term refers to, its scope is much wider than that of

“berdache”. In L. Tietz’s view, “two-spirit” denotes:

Contemporary Native American/First Nations people who are gay or lesbian;

contemporary Native American/First Nations alternative genders; the traditions

of institutionalized gender variance and alternative sexualities in Native

American/First Nations (tribal) cultures; traditions of gender variance in other

cultures; transvestites, transsexuals, and transgendered people; and drag queens

and butches. (as cited by Lang, “Men as Women” XIII)

The term is obviously problematic. Since it was constructed for Native American gays, lesbians and alternate gender people of today and not only the traditional gender variants, distinct identities were added to the denotation of the term. However, this step led to overgeneralization and caused ambiguity. Furthermore, although the term highlights the spirituality of an individual, the numeral denoting duality is in accordance

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with Western dichotomous gender system which is not identical to the Native American one (Nanda 12). In addition, at the conferences it was agreed that “two-spirit” will not be translated to Native American languages since its translation to some tribal languages would lead to distorted, sometimes completely different meaning. For example, “If translated into Navajo, ‘two-spirit’ means someone who is neither living nor dead (Wesley Thomas, information shared during the 1994 conference) …

According to Will Roscoe (personal communication, 1992), the Zuni translation of

“two-spirit” would be ‘witch’” (Lang, “Men as Women” XVI). Thus, both “berdache” and “two-spirit” are problematic terms since they do not actually indicate what being

Native American alternative gender means.

Every term constructed to denote a specific phenomenon in distinct culture will always have its supporters and opponents. The basic solution to this problem is not to create any definitions or labels at all, because they all lead to generalizations and none of them can possibly refer to every form of gender diversity found in North America.

However, it is impossible to only use the original terminology of a specific tribe if making a general observation. In this thesis, the traditional terminology of every mentioned tribe will be used as often as possible. If not referring to a specific culture and making a general statement, “gender variance”, defined by Jacobs and Cromwell as

“cultural expression of multiple genders (i.e. more than two) and the opportunity for individuals to change gender roles and identities over the course of their lifetimes,” will be used altogether with gender diversity, its equivalent. (as cited by Jacobs, Thomas, and Lang 4). Another term, frequently used in this thesis, will be alternative, or alternate, gender. “Berdache” and “two-spirit” will be mentioned in quotation marks.

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3. Navajo Concept of Gender

General Introduction to Navajo Tribe and its Understanding of Gender

The Navajo, a tribe numbering more than 300,000 today (Donovan), “occupy areas of Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico” (Roscoe, “Living the Spirit” 40). The original predecessors of the Navajos, Athapaskans, occupied territory of Canada and

Alaska. The sources of their subsistence were small game hunting and gathering.

Athapaskans traveled south and afterwards separated into two tribes, the Navajo and

Apache, after reaching the Southwest. Ancestral Puebloan groups occupied the

Southwest as well and were agriculturalists. The Navajos followed their subsistence pattern and also became agriculturalists. (Roscoe, “Changing Ones” 40 – 41). After the arrival of Europeans, the subsistence system of the Navajos modified further. Driver states, “In the eighteenth century, as a result of European influence, they turned to horticulture and sheep herding as their main subsistence strategy” (as cited by Roscoe,

“Living the Spirit” 40). Together with the change of subsistence pattern, the Navajos modified culturally due to contact with Anasazi. “The Navajo’s encounter with the ancestors of the Pueblo Indians … gave them a new food source (corn) along with new crafts and religious practices” (Roscoe, “Changing Ones 134). As for traditional social organization of the Navajos, the tribe is matrilineal and matrilocal. Therefore, women were respected and enjoyed high status. “Homes and lands passed from mothers to daughters; husbands lived with their wives’ families; divorce could be initiated by either party. The eldest woman in the household, along with her sisters, controlled the use of family lands and sheep” (Roscoe, “Changing Ones” 41). Navajo women were productive and economic element of the tribe. “At the same time, they produced textiles, pottery, basketry, and other valuable exchange goods” (Roscoe, “Changing

Ones” 135). The social organization of the Navajos enabled almost equal positions of

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men and women. “The absence of a developed system of warfare and any form of social stratification, and the practice of matrilocal residence, matrilineal descent, and serial monogamy, all contributed to relatively egalitarian male-female relations” (Roscoe,

“Living the Spirit” 40). Since women were not subordinated to men, male alternative genders were not looked down on because of their feminity. “In societies with low status for women, a male who would want to give up his dominant position would be seen as crazy. … Among the Navajos, women have very high positions of respect, and this is reflected in the virtual deification of the nadle” (Williams 66). Furthermore, there was no strict sex division of labor and therefore gender variant people of the tribe could participate in both fields of labor and were not oppressed. “Because women were not required to fulfill functions defined by men and because the sexual division of labor was defined so as to allow the possibility of mixing or combining male and female work roles, the cross-gender role was a viable option for both men and women” (Roscoe,

“Living the Spirit” 46). Therefore, nádleehí, Navajo alternative genders, benefited from the social organization of the tribe, such as Hastíín Klah, a well-known nadle, did.

“Being ambitious and talented, he took advantage of these opportunities and was undoubtedly not the only nádleehí to have done so. His career reveals how historical factors help account for the presence and status of alternative gender roles” (Roscoe,

“Changing Ones” 135).

In the traditional Navajo gender system, one is given a certain gender depending on one’s occupational preferences, characteristic behavior and appearance of specific sex and, lastly, sex specific role (Jacobs, Thomas, and Lang 157). Occupations of women “include those associated with childrearing, cooking and serving meals, making pottery and baskets, and doing or overseeing other work associated with everyday aspects of the domestic sphere” (Jacobs, Thomas, and Lang 157). Activities typical for

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male gender comprise of “getting wood, preparing cooking fires, building homes, hunting, planting and harvesting various vegetables, and doing or overseeing work associated with the ceremonial aspects of everyday life” (Jacobs, Thomas, and Lang

157). Still, the division of labor varies throughout Native American societies. In Navajo tribe, one could take part in opposite sex occupation. However, the division of occupational activities based on one’s sex was not absent and was of big importance in case of defining one’s gender. The primary indicator of gender was biological sex. In addition, sex-specific occupational preferences played a big role in indicating one’s gender as opposed to tribes where one’s vision was of primary importance “While the occupational aspect is crucial in defining and identifying a Navajo nádleehí, the spiritual aspect is central in defining the gender status of other tribes” (Jacobs, Thomas, and Lang 106). Therefore, the important indication of one being nádleehí was inclination towards opposite sex occupations. In fact, nádleehí was skillful in both female and male occupations, which was a big advantage. “Nadles undertook the duties of both sexes and excelled in their dual economic roles” (Roscoe, “Living the Spirit”

40). As for traditional Navajo gender system, according to Wesley Thomas it comprised of five gender statuses and three gender categories (Jacobs, Thomas and Lang 261).

Table 2: Navajo Gender System (Jacobs, Thomas, and Lang 261)

Gender status woman female hermaphrodite male man ’asdzáán nádleeh nádleeh nádleeh hastiin Gender features: sexual object men and women ? men women and choice nádleeh nádleeh demeanor feminine masculine androgynous feminine masculine dress female male androgynous female male occupation weaver hunter varies weaver hunter Gender/sex female body female body mixed male body male body category genitalia

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In the system there were three distinct gender statuses of nádleehí, referring to female or male alternate gender and hermaphrodite. “The Navajo referred to both physical intersexes … and also to persons of the male and female sex who carried out a gender role change as nadle, ‘being transformed’ … The Navajo do in fact distinguish between

‘real nadle’ (i.e. intersexes) and ‘those who pretend to be nadle (i.e. transvestites)’

(Lang “Men as Women” 68). Yet, there is no proper evidence of “real nadles” who would have both genitals. “The presence of fully developed genitalia of both sexes is extremely rare; more likely cases are males with very small penises, females with very large clitorises, and boys with undescended testicles” (Williams 78). It was not usual for a tribe to use the same gender status for more genders. “The Navajos, in using the word nadle for females, males and hermaphrodites alike, are clearly an exception in North

America Navajo’s belief” (Williams 78). Even though all the female and male alternate genders and intersexes were categorized by the same term, they were not completely equal. “Real nadles” were more strictly delimited than “pretend nadles”, whose definition fluctuates. According to Hill, “real nadles” “always dress as women, do not marry, and have sexual relationships exclusively with men” (as cited by Lang, “Men as

Women” 73) “Real nadles” were thus having more female than male components; the elements were not equally divided. As for “pretend nadles”, Hill stated that they “can choose between men’s and women’s clothing, marry persons of the same as well as of the opposite biological sex, and have sexual intercourse with men and with women. If they marry, they take on the clothing and activities of a man” (as cited by Lang, “Men as Women” 73). Hence, there are distinctions between the “real” and “pretend” categories of nadle. The biggest difference lies in the possibility of marriage, which affects “pretend nadle’s” status. Hill stated that when “pretend nadles” married, they had to give up feminine clothes and activities and keep only masculine components,

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therefore becoming men. It did not matter whether the one nadle married was a woman or a man. Hill’s consultant claimed, “If they marry men, it is just like two men working together” (as cited by Lang, “Men as Women 73). The ambiguity was the main component of being nadle. The “real” ones proved the ambiguous element by having genitals of both sexes and “pretend” nadles by their actions and choice of clothes. Even after marriage one could return to a full nadle status. “If a male-bodied nadle gave up the ambivalence in favor of an unambiguous partner relationship … his culture apparently deprived him of his ambivalent gender status, even though he might have been able to return to it, for example, in the case of a divorce” (Lang, “Men as Women”

75). Thus, the crucial component of being nadle lies in ambiguity between feminity and masculinity. “In spite of the concept of transformation inherent in the term nadle, the emphasis clearly does not lie on a process (of change), but rather on a condition or state of affairs (having a share in both sexes/genders at the same time)” (Lang, “Men as

Women” 68). The information given by Hill and other anthropologists more likely covers male alternate genders and intersexes of the Navajo and probably was not focused on female nadles as well, contributing to the fact that there is not much information on female nadles altogether. Therefore, following subchapters will be dealing with male and intersex nadles and female nadles will be covered in the last subchapter dedicated to the Navajos.

Hermaphrodite and Male Nádleeh

Becoming Nádleeh and Navajo Origin Myth

Since there is a difference between the “real” and “pretend” nadles, distinctions occur in becoming one of them as well. If one was born with both female and male genitals, he immediately acquired the status of nadle. This is atypical for the concept of alternate gender change, since in most tribes the change was not immediate but gradual,

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with first signs of ambivalence being observed in childhood. “Their entrance into the woman-man status is atypical, both in terms of the point in time and also in terms of manner of their recruitment. Only among the Navajo did the intersexual nadle, or hermaphrodite, appear as the genuine woman-man” (Lang, “Men as Women” 147).

Becoming a “pretend” nadle usually took some time and the final decision was made in early adulthood. However, even if a child preferred opposite sex activities, it did not necessarily mean that a change of gender status will come in the end. “As one of Hill’s informants explained, ‘A boy may act like a girl until he is eighteen or twenty-five; then he may turn into a man or he may not. Girls do the same thing’” (as cited by Roscoe,

“Changing Ones” 45). In many Native American tribes the recognition of a gender status was of a spiritual character or a test. However, the Navajos are not among these.

“The status of nadle does not require supernatural legitimation. A child becomes nadle because he/she is physically intersexual or behaves like the opposite sex” (Lang, “Men as Women” 163). The Navajo culture lays emphasis on individual freedom. Parents did not intervene in the gender status change of their child. “Parents would not try to impose such a role on a child, without the child’s initiative” (Williams 49). Various religious ceremonies enabled the people in Navajo tribe to experience what it feels like to be the opposite gender “During the Yeibichai ceremony, for example, the mask of the female Yé’ii god is held before the face of each initiate, who looks through the triangular eyes of the mask. … What the initiates learn to see is a female view of the world” (Williams 46).

Respect for nadles among the Navajos is largely based on their presence in origin myth of the tribe. Nadles in the story demonstrate the ability to master both female and male gender tasks, will to advise people and teach them how to make new products and also willingness to save tribal people by enabling them to get into the fifth,

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present world. The story revolves around five worlds; the first two of them being occupied by people, led by First Man and First Woman. However, they are not satisfied with the living situation and therefore move to the third one. There they meet Turquoise

Boy and White Shell girl, first male and female nadles. The nadles help people by teaching them how to make new, useful things and helpful crafts. As the story continues, the female nadle leaves the people and becomes the Moon Bearer. Turquoise

Boy, on the other hand, decides to stay with the people (Williams 18 – 19). The story continues by First Man finding out about the infidelity of his wife. He talks to nadle in order to find out whether he is able to undertake female occupations, which nadle immediately demonstrates. Great-Coyote-Who-Was-Formed-in-the-Water then comes to see the First Man and tells him to separate from women by crossing the river. The

First Man and other men do so and from then on men and women live separately. Nadle goes to the other side with men. He therefore undertakes female activities with men occupying male activities and they are happy. Women, on the other hand, are only able to farm and therefore crave meat a lot. Later, the two groups want to fight each other but the second chief suggests rejoining again. Women agree and in the end the two sides live together (Roscoe, “Living the spirit” 84 – 86). One day, however, a flood comes.

Luckily, Turquoise Boy finds a reed thanks to which people can climb to the fourth world. Afterwards, White Shell Girl finds a reed as well and people climb once again, coming to the fifth world, where they still live. The whole story points out the importance of nadles in Navajo culture. Children are read this story and are taught to believe it (Williams 20). The story also highlights the importance of both men and women, since it is possible to fully function as a tribe only if the two groups co-exist and work together, with nadles being able to function in both fields of occupation.

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Description of Nádleeh

A variety occurs in nadles’ appearance. In connection to nadle’s choice of clothes the reports differ, pointing out the diversity:

Reichard reports that they wore either men’s or women’s clothes. Some, such as

the male nádleehí Charlie the Weaver, photographed by James Mooney in 1893

and by A. C. Vroman in 1985, appear to have alternated between a unique style

of dress, neither that of men or women, and women’s dress. Other male nádleehí,

such as Kinábahí, photographed by anthropologist Willard Hill in the 1930s,

routinely dressed as women 16. Still others – such as Hastíín Klah – did not

cross-dress at all (or did so only on ceremonial occasions). (Roscoe, “Changing

Ones” 41 – 42)

Intersexes usually dressed themselves only in female clothes, since their ambiguity was already proved by their dual sex. Those who cross-dressed, on the other hand, normally combined female and male clothes. A change occurred only if “pretend” nadle married.

Afterwards they dressed as men. “Hermaphrodites usually dress as women and assume the position of women when sitting. Transvestites wear the garb of either sex” (Hill

275). As for behavior, male nadles and hermaphrodites were reported to behave like women and imitate the way females speak and move (Lang, “Men as Women” 129).

Imitation of female voice occurred in chanting as well. “This female speaking style also carried over into singing events, a popular Indian form of entertainment. A nineteenth century observer at a Navajo night singing reported that the nadles sang in falsetto”

(Williams 53).

Occupational Activities

Based on nadle’s dual nature, occupational activities of both sexes were opened to them.

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They quite generally act as head of the family and are given the control and

disposal of all the property. They supervise the work of the women around the

hogan and direct the planting and the work in the fields. At large ceremonial

gatherings they are placed in charge of preparation and cooking of the food.

Beside these general domestic duties, they knit; tan hides, make moccasins, are

said to be excellent sheep raisers, and excel as weavers, potters, and basket

makers. (Hill 275)

Therefore, nadles pursued almost all occupational activities in Navajo tribe. The only occupations they could not undertake were hunting and participation in warfare

(Williams 60). It is not known whether there was any female occupational activity that nadles could not pursue. Even though there was so big a choice in labor activities, nadles more likely devoted themselves to the feminine ones (Lang, “Men as Women

245). As for specialized occupations, nadles functioned as “healers and artists” (Roscoe,

“Living” 2). A very special function of nadles was arranging romantic relationships between young people (Williams 71). The occupational versatility of nadles usually made them very wealthy. “The economic role of the nadle is dual, their activities overlapping both those of men and women. They are given unusual opportunities for material advancement” (Hill 275). Furthermore, the artistic abilities of nadles, especially their knitting, pottery and basket making, enabled them to trade their products with other people (Hill 275). Nadles did become the chanters of the tribe.

However, this function was not tied to nadle status; it was most often practiced by men and sometimes women. When a woman undertook the occupation of chanter, she was respected for it and according to Reichard she was able to “pass the chants (healing rituals) on to other women” (as cited by Lang, “Men as Women” 162). Not every nadle had the ability to be a chanter. As Reichard stated, “It was expressly said of another

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nadle that he ‘didn’t know any medicine’ … that is, he did not possess ritual knowledge” (as cited by Lang, “Men as Women” 163). Chanting was therefore based on one’s skill, not a dual nature of a person and everyone had a chance to become a chanter if having certain abilities. “His luck-bringing dual sexuality is of no help to the nadle if he is not capable of performing a healing ritual in all of its complex recitations and orders of events … The occupation of chanter is primarily one of technique, not a supernatural gift” (Lang, “Men as Women” 163). One of nadles, Kinipai, was said to know “the chants for curing insanity resulting from incest, and for curing body sores, and is noted as a midwife” (Hill 265).

Partnerships and Sexuality

Nadles were generally very sexually active members of Navajo tribe. One of them, Kinábahí, once informed Hill that “‘she’ had had sex with over one hundred different men” (as cited by Roscoe, “Changing Ones” 10). However, the promiscuous behavior of nadles was not viewed negatively by Navajos; it was accepted. “What we can see from this pattern is that berdaches serve as a socially recognized outlet for male sexual release beyond the marriage bond – for both unmarried adolescents and married men … their promiscuity is respected rather than censured” (Williams 102). Even at public celebrations, nadles were trying to draw men’s attention by behaving like women. Hill observed that, “At dances, the male-bodied nadle assumed the feminine role and joked flirtatiously with men, just as women did” (as cited by Lang, “Men as

Women” 70). In this thesis it has already been mentioned that nadles functioned as matchmakers. This is connected to nadle’s sexual activity, which was a reason for others to believe that nadles bring luck in love life. (Roscoe, “Changing Ones 10).

As for sexual relationships, Navajos are focused on gender rather than sex of a person. Therefore, female nadle having sex with a woman and male nadle having sex

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with a man are not seen as homosexual but heterosexual intercourse. If there are two women, two men, two male nadles or female nadles having sex with each other, the relation is seen as homosexual. In traditional sense, such intercourse would be seen as incest (Jacobs, Thomas, and Lang 162 – 163).

Table 3: Sexual Relationships and Classifications: Traditional and Transitional (Jacobs, Thomas, and Lang 162)

Gender Feminine Masculine Male Masculine Feminine Categories Female Female (nádleehí) Male (nádleehí) Feminine inconceivable heterosexual heterosexual relationship female rare Masculine heterosexual inconceivable relationship rare heterosexual male Masculine heterosexual relationship rare inconceivable relationship female rare (nádleehí) feminine relationship heterosexual relationship rare inconceivable male rare (nádleehí)

Table 4: Permitted, Possible, and Inappropriate Sexual Relationships (Traditional-Transitional)1 (Jacobs, Thomas, and Lang 167)

Gender Feminine Masculine Male Masculine Feminine Categories Female Female Male (nádleehí) (nádleehí) Sex: inappropriate permitted permitted possible female inappropriate Gender: woman Sex: male permitted inappropriate possible permitted Gender: inappropriate man Sex: permitted possible inappropriate possible female inappropriate inappropriate Gender: nádleehí Sex: male possible permitted possible inappropriate Gender: inappropriate inappropriate nádleehí

Not only was it inappropriate to sleep with someone of the same gender, but it was dangerous as well. “Homosexual, anal intercourse between men resulted in madness,

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but intercourse between a man and a male-bodied male nadle did not” (Lang, “Men as

Women” 210).

Marriages were often set up to gain wealth and therefore were not very strict in case of extramarital relations. “In traditional Navajo culture, marriages were often set up as economic arrangements by the two families. In this case, it was common that one might have sexual affairs outside of the marriage” (Williams 95). Rules, concerning marriage of nadle, were the same as for heterosexual couples. “One cannot marry a person from the same clan as one’s father or mother, or from the same clan as any of their parents. To do so would be seen as bringing harm on oneself” (Williams 95).

Status

Nadles enjoyed high status and respect from other members of Navajo society.

Originally, they were never looked down on or ridiculed. “They were never made fun of and their abnormalities were never mentioned to them or by themselves” (Hill 274).

Women were respected among Navajos and status of nadle was almost identical to that of a woman. Hill states, “The blood payment for the murder of a nadle is the same as that for a woman, which is higher than that required when a man is killed” (as cited by

Jacobs, 30). Thus, when it was obvious that a child either had tendencies to become a nadle in the future or was born intersex, parents were not trying to prevent or hide it. On the contrary, they felt fortunate “Children with berdache tendencies were given special care and encouragement. According to Hill, ‘As they grew older and assumed the character of nadle, this solicitude and respect increased, not only on the part of their families but from the community as a whole’” (as cited by Roscoe, “Changing Ones”

43). Nadles were said to be better at female occupations than women themselves.

Therefore they often supervised women when performing female occupational activities. “It is they who keep close watch on the women during the daily work in the

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hogan and while they are cooking for large gatherings on special occasions. Moreover, through their outstanding accomplishments in the area of women’s handwork, nadle hurl a further challenge to the women” (Lang, “Men as Women” 73). Their ability to be better at female occupational activities than women is probably one of the many causes of their success and prosperity. The immense respect for nadles is obvious from what tribal people said to anthropologists. One of the Navajos told Hill, “They know everything. They can do both the work of a man and a woman. I think when all the nadle are gone, that it will be the end of the Navaho” (as cited by Williams, 63).

Female Nádleeh

There is not much information concerning female nadles of the Navajos.

Therefore, it is impossible to state how many of them actually occurred in the tribe.

“Unfortunately, little is known about female nádleehí, although Hill stated that they were equal in number to male berdaches in traditional times” (Roscoe, “Changing

Ones” 43). Female nadle occurrence in origin myth of the Navajos is one of the few references that one can find. A way of getting information about female nádleehí is to have a talk with the Navajos themselves. However, there is not much information from the referents and even if one manages to get some, it does not necessarily mean it is going to be true. It is possible that female nadles were allowed to pursue the two occupations denied to male and intersex nadles. “According to one report, they hunted and went to war, and a case is known of a Navajo woman who led a war party against the Hopi to avenge her son’s death” (Roscoe, “Changing Ones” 43). Another piece of information was documented by Haile, who wrote of alleged female nadle that, she is

“‘industrious, swings an axe as well as any man, and is generally respected.’ She married a man, but soon after the marriage he took her sister to be his wife and bear his children. The female nádleehí then adopted and raised the children” (as cited by

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Roscoe, “Changing Ones” 43). Since Navajo gender system uses the same term for both female and male nadles, it is assumed that together both female and male nadles create a whole unit. “Female berdaches were often conceptualized as complementary to nadle berdaches. This is evidenced by informants who describe both roles as a set and especially by those native languages in which the same term is employed for both”

(Roscoe, “Changing Ones” 92). As for recognition of female nadle status, Hill stated that, “Female-bodied nadle likewise began to act like boys when they were still children, and as adults made the final and binding decision for or against their nadle status” (as cited by Lang, “Men as Women 299).

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4. Mohave Concept of Gender

General Introduction to Mohave Tribe and its Understanding of Gender

The Mohave belong to Yuman River-cultures. Yuman River societies varied greatly and Mohave tribe was the most advanced out of them (Devereux, “Mohave

Culture” 91). The tribe was originally situated “along both sides of Colorado river, where that stream forms the boundary between Arizona and California, for about two day’s journey southward from the southernmost part of Nevada” (Kroeber 276). It was located near to other well-known cultures, such as the Pueblos, the Navajo and the

Apache (Kroeber 276). As for number of Mohave people, “Population estimates indicated approximately 2,000 Mojave descendants in the early 21st century”

(Britannica). The area of their settlement was dry. Along Colorado River, however, the place was suitable for farming (Kroeber 276). Dutton states that Mohave, “subsisted on small-scale agriculture, supplemented by gathering, hunting, and fishing. This subsistence strategy combined with Mojave kinship, marriage, and residence patterns allowed for relatively egalitarian male-female relations” (as cited by Roscoe, “Living”

38). Yet, the warlike nature of Mohave people regulated these relations. “A developed system of warfare and emphasis on male values such as bravery and skills in battle contributed to an ideological masculinization of Mojave society” (Roscoe, “Living” 38).

Through warfare men could gain prestige in the tribe. “It was an opportunity for distinction and gain rather than a matter of necessity or revenge. The bravest fighters became chiefs. Chieftainship was also hereditary in the male line” (Kroeber 278).

Dreams were of great importance in Mohave culture. One could not become a good warrior without having a dream about his future warfare success. “The premiere source of prestige for Mohave men was warfare – but without the correct dreams foretelling success there was no point in pursuing a career as a warrior” (Roscoe, “Changing” 159).

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Women could participate in warfare as well. “Both hwame: and women could also become shamans, and both were involved in warfare, from joining war parties and engaging in combat to participating victory dances and scalp rituals” (Roscoe,

“Changing” 159). The basic way of gaining prestige for a woman, however, was to give birth to a child. “According to Devereux, the Mohave viewed women’s role in childbearing as a direct counterpart to men’s role as warriors – both promoted tribal welfare, dominance and continuity. It is important to stress … that having children gained them this respect regardless of their marital status” (Roscoe, “Changing” 159).

Thus, alternate genders of Mohave tribe could not gain as respected status as men or women since they differed from both of them and “were considered less than ideal men and women” (Roscoe, “Living” 46). Marriages were not accompanied by ceremonies of any kind. “Among the Mohaves … men and women established marriages with no formalities simply by sleeping together, and there were no formal rules regarding residence after marriage… Divorce was easy and frequent… adulterers were rarely punished; unmarried mothers were common” (Roscoe, “Changing” 157). Thus, it was not obligatory to marry someone. If two people married, it was due to their mutual attraction. The social organization of River Yuman cultures varied. The Mohave’s social structure was quite loose. The system of “patriarchal clans served only to enforce incest prohibitions and to provide names by which all the women members of a clan were known” (Roscoe, “Changing” 157).

Gender system of the Mohave consists of four gender statuses, each of them denoting a distinct gender category. In addition to statuses of man and woman, there are categories of alyha and hwame. Devereux observed, “Male transvestites, taking the role of the woman in sexual intercourse, are known as alyha. Female homosexuals, assuming the role of the male, are known as hwame … English all Mohave refer to an alyha: as

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she and to hwame: as he” (Devereux, “Institutionalized” 500 - 511). There was a rigid division of occupational activities according to one’s sex. Both male values and strict gender roles might have contributed to the extreme imitation of opposite sex by alternate gendered Mohaves. “It is possible that in the strict sex/gender system of the

Mojave, with its clear separation of activities related to male and female sex roles, such close adherence to biological sex characteristics was a necessary and logical part of their cross-gender roles” (Roscoe, “Living” 46). Alyha, for example, often pretended to be pregnant. Still it was known by other members of the tribe that they cannot become pregnant, since they were not real women. “Although alyha imitated many aspects of a woman’s role – dress, sexual behavior, menstruation, pregnancy, childbirth, and domestic occupations – they were also recognized as being different from women”

(Nanda 22). The tribe of Mohave is the only society where this extreme form of opposite sex imitation occurred, making the statuses of tribal gender variants different from those of other Native American societies. “Culturally, alyha were not constructed as androgynes like the women-men of the Plains, but rather as quasi-women” (Lang,

“Men as Women” 347). It is therefore assumed that the Mohave “recognize only two biological sex categories, but apply ‘the principle of biological sex to create four rather than two gender statuses… by the social device of allowing cross-sex transformations

(Lang, “Men as Women” 40).

Alyha

Becoming Alyha and Mohave Origin Myth

The Mohave believed that recognition of one being alternate gender was indicated before one was actually born. Pregnant women could see the hints of their child’s gender through their dreams. “If a pregnant woman dreamed of masculine implements, such as arrow-feathers, her female child could become a hwame. If she

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dreamed of objects associated with women, her male child could grow up to become an alyha” (Roscoe, “Living” 37). Further indications of alyha status occurred in boy’s childhood before taking part in puberty ceremonies:

At this age, young people began to engage seriously in the activities that would

characterize their adult lives as men and women; boys learned to hunt, ride

horses and make bows and arrows; boys developed sexual feelings for girls. A

potential alyha avoided these masculine activities. Instead he played with dolls,

imitated the domestic work of women, tried to participate in the women’s

gambling games and demanded to wear the female bark skirt rather than male

breechclout. (Nanda 20 – 21)

Since the status of alyha was not as respected as a status of a man or a woman, the parents, observing that their child is having tendencies to become an alternate gender, were usually not happy about it. “Parents and relatives will sometimes try to bully them into normal behavior – especially the girls, but they soon realize that nothing can be done about it. … They are not proud of having a transvestite in the family, because transvestites are considered somewhat crazy” (Devereux, “Institutionalized” 503). Even though Mohave alternate genders were not widely supported, they were rarely teased for being alyha or hwame. “‘It is their nature to behave that way,’ Devereux’s informants told him. “They cannot help it’” (as cited by Roscoe, “Changing” 139). If one still wanted to mock alyha for their gender, the fact that alyha were of masculine physique usually discouraged one from doing so. “Because alyha were very strong, people usually avoided angering them” (Nanda 21). If parents of a boy did not manage to change his mind, preparations of initiation ceremony began. Devereux described the initiation ceremony subsequently:

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On the appointed day, the boy was led by two of his female relatives to a circle

drawn by the singer in the center of the crowd of people. This was the test

component: if the boy did not want to adopt the status of an alyha, he would not

enter the circle. If he did enter it, though, four songs were sung, to which the boy

danced like a woman. ‘After the fourth song he is proclaimed a homosexual’. (as

cited by Lang, “Men as Women” 239).

Some respondents claimed that boys did not know that the initiation ceremony is going to happen; others denied the surprise element (Lang, “Men as Women” 239). It is important to remark that the gender role change was irreversible. “The effects of the ceremony were permanent” (Devereux, “Institutionalized” 509). After the ceremony, alyha was bathed in Colorado River and dressed in a special female skirt. The last component of the ceremony was giving alyha a new, feminine male. Various informants described the initiation ceremony differently. However, basic elements, such as the ritual being public, singing special ritual songs to the boy so that he could dance, bathing him and dressing him in female skirt occurred in all of the reports (Lang, “Men as Women 239). After the initiation ceremony ended, alyha were supposed to imitate the opposite sex as authentically as possible. A Mohave singer told Devereux, “They will feel toward their possible transvestite mate as they would feel toward a true woman, respectively man … the transvestite must attempt to duplicate the behavior- pattern of his adopted sex and make ‘normal’ individuals of his anatomic sex feel toward him as though he truly belonged to his adopted sex” (Devereux

“Institutionalized” 502). In sum, then, when a woman acquired a dream signifying the gender of her child, it did not always mean that the child will become the specific gender in the end. What truly acknowledged one’s gender status was the ceremony, which also tested whether one’s gender role change was valid.

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In the Mohave origin myth there is an account of both female and male alternate genders. The myth begins by proclamation that alternate genders existed in the world since its beginning. God Matavilye, laying on a death-bed, says that some of the people standing beside the bed will become transvestites. The myth defines the primary signs of one willing to become an alternate gender, stating that the process begins in the womb and continues in one’s childhood. It also states that if parents fail to convince a child not to transform its gender, nothing can be done about the situation. The story makes unfavorable account of hwame, pointing out their salacious nature (Roscoe,

“Living” 77 – 78).

Description of Alyha

The most obvious element of alyha status was the extreme imitation of female physiology, which clashes with the usual pattern of the North American alternate genders. “The Mohave male gender variant, called alyha, was at the extreme end of the cross-gender continuum in imitating female physiology as well as transvestism” (Nanda

14). Alyha were apparently convinced that their genitals are equal to female ones.

“They resented any normal nomenclature applied to their genitalia. Alyha insisted that their penis … be called a clitoris …, their testes…, labia maiora …, and their anus …, vagina” (Devereux, “Institutionalized” 510). Alyha’s erection during intercourse caused embarrassment of alyha, who tried to hide it. A consultant told Devereux that, “When alyha get an erection, it embarrasses them, because the penis sticks out between the loose fibers of the bark-skirt. They used to have erections when we had intercourse.

Then I would put my arm around them and play with the erect penis, even though they hated it” (as cited by Lang, “Men as Women” 135). Alyha imitated bodily functions of women as well and the Mohave is probably the only tribe where this occurred. “A complete simulation of female bodily functions was reported only for the Mohave, the

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question of whether women-men in other cultures may have observed regulations pertaining to menstruation cannot be answered. It there were more data, it would be possible to determine whether simulations of menstruation were rare (Lang, “Men as

Women” 140). Alyha invented a way of how to make a husband believe that she is really menstruating. Devereux stated, “If an alyha found a husband, she simulated menstruation by scratching her thighs until they bled. She then submitted to all the puberty regulations prescribed for girls, and afterward followed the rules obtaining for the days of menstruation each month … The husband … had to abide all of the regulations which the culture applied to him” (as cited by Lang, “Men as Women” 135).

As for pregnancy imitation, alyha and her husband respected all of the regulations of the

Mohave. According to Devereux, “The feigned menstruations were no longer produced, and the alyha and her husband compiled with the usual taboos surrounding pregnancy, with the alyha being more strict than biological women, even taking into account otherwise obsolete taboos” (as cited by Lang, “Men as Women” 135). Interestingly, not all of the prohibitions were followed by alyha and her husband. They continued to have sex with each other, even though women avoided intercourse during pregnancy since it was believed that sex could cause harm to the fetus (Lang, “Men as Women” 135).

Alyha tried their best to make their pregnancy as believable as possible. Obviously, they never delivered a living child. Devereux described the process of alyha’s pregnancy:

They stuffed pieces of cloth and bark under their dresses, and then concocted a

strong purgative. After one or two days of severe abdominal cramps – which the

alyha referred to as labor pains – they went into the woods, took the squatting

position of women in childbirth and emptied their intestines over a hole. After

burying this ‘stillbirth’ …, they went home and began to mourn the stillborn

child. (as cited by Lang, “Men as Women” 135)

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Alyha imitated female behavior patterns as well. “Such persons speak, laugh, smile, sit, and act like women” (Roscoe, “Living” 80). As for bodily decorations, getting tattoos was usual for Mohave people. Alyha got the same tattoos as women did. As Devereux stated, “The Mohave alyha also received the tattoos which otherwise were reserved to women” (as cited by Lang, “Men as Women” 132). Clothes wise, alyha were sometimes referred to as “transvestites” in some sources. Devereux described alyha as “obviously a biological male in the clothing and social role of a woman” (as cited by Lang, “Men as

Women” 135). Yet other reports contradict this and lead to confusion. For example,

Waltrap observed that a certain alyha “does not dress in women’s attire even though he likes the idea of being able to do so…” (as cited by Jacobs 30). Despite all the effort to totally imitate females, alyha were not seen as women. “Nowhere else did women-men probably come as close to the totality of a feminine gender role without gaining the feminine gender status” (Lang, “Men as Women” 136).

Occupational Activities

In Mohave culture, alternate genders could pursue not only the opposite sex occupational activities, but also some of the male ones. Alyha “could engage in traditionally feminine activities, such as pottery and craftwork, as well as some masculine activities. In this way, the alyha avoided some aspects of the masculine role, while engaging in certaine production activities related to both gender roles, gaining access to additional economic opportunity and the potential for accruing wealth”

(Roscoe “Living” 37). Waltrap made a note about a certain alyha, “He makes jewelry and dolls, woman’s work, and is considered an expert craftsman” (as cited by Jacobs

30). Alyha were tribal gamblers, being linked “to core beliefs concerning luck, skill, and destiny” (Roscoe, “Changing” 148). In one Mohave myth, alyha are portrayed as

“leading dances, gambling excessively, and enjoying sex with men” (Roscoe,

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“Changing” 148). Alyha were associated with scalp dancing, which makes them equal to elder, postmenopausal women. “It was the taunting of the old women and alyha: that served to transform the scalp’s deadly power into sexual energy and fertility for the tribe” (Roscoe, “Changing” 161). Alyha were skilled shamans as well. The spiritual abilities originated in a dream alyha received, designating their shamanistic role. The gender ambiguity of alyha had no effect on their shamanistic power. “In the case of the

Mohave alyha, a latent spiritual power underlay their shaman’s function; this latent power, however, seems to have had little to do with gender role change itself, but instead with the special ability of the alyha to receive dreams. Alyha were no more holy than the Mohave shamans” (Lang, “Men as Women” 168). Yet the dreams of alyha, denoting their shamanistic nature, did not function as a verification of their abilities.

Kroeber states, “Their abilities could be questioned, and they could be killed” (as cited by Lang, “Men as Women” 165). According to Devereux, alyha were not able to curse other people (as cited by Lang, “Men as Women” 165). Kroeber states that they were especially skillful curers of venereal diseases, some of which were named alyha as well

(as cited by Lang, “Men as Women” 164). It was said to be convenient to actually marry alyha. Male shamans often married alyha as well. “Devereux did not mention this, but he did report that it was convenient for “shamans” who specialized in healing syphilis to take an alyha as a wife … they were the preferred partners of male

‘shamans”” (Lang, “Men as Women” 164).

Partnerships and Sexuality

Alyha were courted by men. The courtship of alyha differed from ordinary courting of girls. “The man did not go to the alyha’s house or to the house of his parents, and sleep beside him in chastity for a night or two, before leading him away to his home. They were courted at gatherings like widows, divorcees or lewd women”

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(Devereux, “Institutionalized” 513). Flirting with alyha was the same as flirting with mature women. “Berdaches are not generally courted like virgin females, but are flirted with like older women” (Williams 114). It was not hard for alyha to find a husband since they were said to be better at wife’s duties than women themselves. “Alyha were considered highly industrious and much better housewives than young girls” (Nanda

21). Furthermore, among the Mohave it was believed that alyha bring luck and therefore a husband of an alyha will be lucky as well. “Mohaves attribute the ability of an alyha to attract a man to their shamanistic powers of love magic. More concretely, they consider alyha to be lucky, and their luck extends to their husband” (Williams 113).

Men desired new sexual experiences, which could have been another reason for them to have a relationship with alyha. “Since the favorite methods of sex for Mohave men are as inserter in anal intercourse and receiving fellation, these acts can be done by an alyha as well as by a woman. For the men, sex with an alyha is in fact a little different from the kind of sex they have with women” (Williams 115). There are no reports of alyha having sexual relationship with women (Devereux, “Institutionalized” 515). In marriage, alyha took up a role of a wife, fulfilling the duties a wife should master. “As full members of the man’s household, the alyha wives had duties and responsibilities the same as the female-bodied wives” (Gilley 12). The union of a man and an alyha was the same as a heterosexual marriage. “Living together with alyha or hwame followed the same patterns as did the establishment and dissolution of opposite sex partnership

(e.g. man’s wish to separate because of his alyha wife’s infertility” (Lang, “Men as

Women” 200). Infertility of alyha was a frequent reason for a husband to want a divorce. However, to divorce alyha was not simple. “They resisted and were able to beat up their husbands. If a husband used barrenness as grounds for leaving, the alyha faked pregnancy again” (Roscoe, “Living” 38).

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Status

Since the Mohave belong to warlike tribes, alyha could not be as respected as alternate genders in other, non-warlike societies. “In warlike groups in which the status of women-men was not defined as ambivalent but as quasi-feminine, by contrast, the esteem attaching to the woman-man status was far less pronounced or even low” (Lang,

“Men as Women” 321). Mohave believed that alyha could not help their will to become alternate genders and therefore were not teased for being alyha. “In general, alyha were not teased or ridiculed for being alyha … because it was believed it was their fate. The future alyha’s desire for a gender change was such that he could not resist dancing the women’s dance at the initiation ceremony, and once his desires were demonstrated in this manner, people would not thwart him” (Nanda 22). The alyha were connected to cowardice. “The word ‘malyhaek’ (thou art a coward) clearly shows this belief”

(Devereux, “Institutionalized” 512). In Mohave society, cowardice was seen as an awful quality. Towards alyha, however, no such attitude appeared. “Cowards were despised, and all men expected to participate in raids. Such demands were not made upon alyha”

(Devereux, “Institutionalized” 512). Even if teasing of alyha still occurred, it is necessary to understand that Mohave joke around a lot and not everything they say is meant seriously. Pointing out the cowardice was often a joke (Devereux,

“Institutionalized” 518). The fact that alyha were not seen as cowards for not going to war is visible through alyha making fun of the men who did not go to war during the welcome feast:

At that feast old women, who have lost a relative in the battle, would taunt those

who did not go to war in the following manner: they prepared a penis of wood

with bark wrapped around it, or merely twisted the front of their fiber-skirt into a

protuberance … poking those who had remained home between the legs, saying,

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“You are not a man but an alyha”. The alyha themselves indulged in this

practical joke, using mostly the above-mentioned stick, or an old club.

(Devereux, “Institutionalized” 517)

Alyha were often teased due to their conviction that they have the genitals of opposite sex. Yet, since alyha were usually of robust physique, tribal people most often decided not to tease them at all. If one still did, it sometimes angered alyha and afterwards alyha wanted to harm the person who teased them whenever they saw the person. “A certain man passing by the house of an alyha said to him in jest, ‘How is your penis today?’

‘Not penis, cunnus’, replied the alyha angrily. ‘Well then, how big is your cunnus?’ the man replied, using the word ‘erection’ instead of ‘big’. The alyha picked up a club and for one or two weeks tried to assault the man whenever he saw him” (Devereux,

“Institutionalized” 511). Alyha normally accepted the taunting and joking since they understood the humorous nature of the Mohave. A certain alyha stated, “I just go along with it. I’m not crazy about it. But, for the most part, we all get along. They don’t mean any harm by it” (Williams 106). In some cases, the joking could be explained as flirting. “Because all the men are doing the teasing, it means that the man who is actually erotically attracted does not stand out … this practice allows for same-sex affection without suspicion” (Williams 106). Alyha’s husbands, on the other hand, were teased a lot and often not in a friendly manner. Especially during alyha’s faked pregnancy the teasing occurred very often. “In the meantime, the husband was primarily the one who had to bear the brunt of the derisive commentary, and the Mohave were keen on mockery and ridicule” (Lang, “Men as Women” 135). A consultant, who had been married to alyha and biological women as well, told to Devereux, “People used to tease me about my wives’ imaginary children… they would kick a pile of animal dung and say, ‘These are your children.’ And yet I had real children once and they died. Were

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they not dead they would now take care of me in my old age” (as cited by Lang, “Men as Women” 135 - 136).

Hwame

There were two ways for women to become a hwame. Sometimes women decided to become alternate gender right after they gave birth, especially after a difficult delivery (Lang, “Men as Women” 299). Most often, prenatal dreams and refusal to do activities typical for girls signified the will of a child to become a hwame. “The Mohave hwame ‘[threw] away their dolls and metates and [refused] to shred bark or perform other feminine tasks’” (Blackwood 30). Hwame were then taught boys’ duties. Their status was originally acquired through an initiation ceremony. “The Mohave publicly acknowledged the new status of the woman by performing an initiation ceremony.

Following this ceremony she assumed a name befitting a person of the male sex and was given marriage rights” (Blackwood 31). There was uncertainty concerning occurrence of initiation rituals of hwame. Some ethnographers claimed it did not exist, others claimed the opposite. The most probable is that the rituals did happen in the past, but later gradually disappeared from Mohave culture.

Hwame were said not to always cross-dress, “although Devereux states that in

‘ancient times’ they wore male garments” (as cited by Roscoe, “Changing 141). Like alyha, hwame were given the same tattoos like men. (Lang, “Men as Women” 283).

Mohave tribal people said to Devereux that Sahaykwisa, a well-known hwame, “did not menstruate. As evidence of this, they pointed out that she never got pregnant, despite the fact that she hired herself out as a prostitute for white men” (as cited by Williams,

240). Hwame did not urge their lovers to refer to their genitals as those of males.

“Allusions to their female genitals displeased them, but in contrast to alyha they did not insist that their genitals be called by the analogous terms for the opposite sex” (Lang,

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“Men as Women” 274). As for occupational activities, “the Mohave hwame were known as excellent providers, hunting for meat, working in the fields, and caring for the children of their wives. Cross-gender females also adhered to male ritual obligations”

(Blackwood 31). Hwame were very good at shamanism, allegedly better than men.

“Mohave hwame were said to be powerful shamans, in this case especially good at curing venereal disease” (Blackwood 31).

If hwame wanted to court women, they “found wives by attending dances or by visiting girls or married women by day – circumventing direct contact with girls’ parents, who were not likely to approve the courtship” (Roscoe, “Changing” 141). In marriage, hwame fulfilled the duties of a husband. “As adults they were regarded as excellent providers, and they adopted masculine role components, such as the taboo against sex when their wives naturally did not become pregnant from the hwame, but rather from their former husbands or from male lovers” (Lang, “Men as Women” 274).

If hwame married a pregnant woman, hwame was believed to be the real father of the child. “If a woman becomes impregnated by a man, but later takes another lover, it is believed that the paternity of the child changed. This idea helps to prevent family friction in a society where relationships often change” (Williams 240). Hwame behaved similarly like men. “They adopted the attitude and postures of the typical Mohave male, taking special delight in sitting among the men at gatherings and bragging salaciously about their wives’ sexual attributes. They had sex with their wives in a variety of positions, without assuming distinct active/passive roles” (Roscoe, “Changing” 141).

Hwame’s sexual relations were not as strict as those of alyha, because they also had relationships with men. For example, “the well-known hwame, Masahai Amatkwisai, married women three times and had sexual relationships with many men as well”

(Nanda 24). It was very easy to divorce a hwame, since all one had to do was leave

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(Devereux, “Institutionalized” 515). The majority of divorces happened either due to the fact that the wives of hwame ran off with a man or because the wives could not endure the teasing anymore. “Like the husbands of the alyha, the wives of hwame were often teased, so that, according to Devereux …, their marriages proved to be unstable, especially since hwame were also exposed to actual verbal and physical assaults, and occasionally they were even raped by men” (Lang, “Men as Women” 294).

Hwame were less respected than alyha and the teasing of hwame was therefore much worse than that of alyha. Since they were not as strong as men and could hardly defend themselves, they were often raped and humiliated. Sahaykwisa, a well-known hwame, was raped by a man with whom her wife ran off. According to Devereux, the rapist said, “The next time she comes I will show her what a real penis can do” (as cited by Lang, “Men as Women” 294).

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5. Zuni Concept of Gender

General Introduction to Zuni Tribe and its Understanding of Gender

The Zuni occupied the southeastern part of the Colorado Plateau and were specifically situated along the Zuni River. They were quite secluded from other tribes and therefore not much influenced by other cultures till the arrival of Spanish (Williams

11 – 17). The population of Zuni today is more than 7,000. (New Mexico) The tribe was living in a climate, for which harsh winters and dry springs were typical. As for means of subsistence, men took care of corn and hunted and women cultivated vegetables (Williams 12 – 13). In Zuni culture, women and men pursued distinct occupational activities and at the same time were of equal statuses:

Although Zuni women and men specialized in separate areas of economic,

social, and spiritual life they enjoyed equal prestige and status. According to

Edmund Ladd, ‘Men are responsible for the universe. Women are responsible for

the family and the tribe.’ These roles were distinct but complementary, both

were essential to the welfare of society as a whole … while men were

responsible for growing corn, women were responsible for storing and

distributing it. (Williams 18)

Artistic activities were also separated according to one’s sex. “Men wove blankets, made jewelry, and manufactured their own tools. They even knitted their wives’ wool leggings … Pottery and ceramics, on the other hand, were made exclusively by women.

And while weaving was usually a male craft among the Pueblos, at Zuni women also wove…” (Williams 18). Both men and women equally participated in religious activities (Williams 18). Zuni tribe was matrilineal and matrilocal, which helped women to keep their high status. Women always had a place to stay and therefore were not obliged to choose economically convenient partner (Williams 20). Women were the

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ones who initiated the courtship. “‘Courtship is often initiated by the girl and premarital affairs take place in her home. According to a male Zuni informant: ‘If a girl asks you to her house, you just sleep with her and you leave before morning several times. Then one day you stay later and you’re seen, and then everyone knows you’re married’”

(Williams 20). Therefore, Zuni marriages occurred quickly without any marriage preparations or ceremonies. At the same time, it was easy to get a divorce, especially for a woman since the house was her and it was up to a man to leave. “When a man has built such a house, and he and his wife quarrel and separate, even for no other reason than her flagrant infidelity, he walks out and leaves the edifice to her and his successor without the least thought of being deprived of anything that is his […]” (Williams 19 –

20). After the divorce, the children always stayed with their mother, which was in accordance with the social organization of the Zuni tribe (Williams 20). It is obvious that in Zuni culture women held immensely high status. This is supported by a high percentage of boys’ answers in 1950. “When Zuni boys were asked who they would like to be if they could change themselves into anything else, 10 percent wanted to be their sisters or mothers” (Williams 21).

In Zuni gender system there were 3 gender statuses “[…] among the Zuni there were men, women, and lhamana” (Gilley 8). The status of lhamana was used for both male and female gender variants, even though there is not much evidence or information dedicated to female lhamana. “Female berdaches were often conceptualized as complementary to male berdaches. This is evidenced by informants who describe both roles as a set and especially by those native languages in which the same term is employed for both (e.g. Pomo … Navajo and Zuni)” (Roscoe, “Changing”

92). Sex was not an important element of one’s gender. One’s gender was visible through one’s actions. “While the traditional roles of men and women were well

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defined, the Zunis viewed gender as an acquired rather than an inborn trait. Biological sex did not dictate the roles individuals assumed” (Roscoe, “Zuni” 23). The Zuni believed in “raw” and “cooked” concept of existence. “The Zuni used these terms as metaphors for the process of socialization, which proceeded from a ‘raw’ to a ‘cooked’ state. What made Zuni cooked were the cultural forms they learned, especially religion, but also economic, social, and kinship roles. By acquiring these, they became ‘real

Zunis’ … cooked persons … cultured” (Roscoe, “Zuni” 128). After being born, one was

“raw” since no process of socialization occurred yet. In Zuni culture there were initiation rites. They helped forming one’s personality and after completion of all of the rites, the person was finally cooked and socialized (Roscoe, “Zuni” 128). The initiation rites also formed one’s gender. “Gender was also acquired through initiations. Zuni men and women were not born; they were made or cooked… One became a man or woman by learning male or female social forms and, in particular acquiring symbols of gender during rites of passage” (Roscoe, “Zuni” 130). The initiation rites consisted of three main parts. According to Victor Turner they were, “separation, a period of withdrawal and isolation; liminality, a transitional period in which normal statuses and social structure are suspended …; and incorporation, procedures that return the individual to society with a new identity status, rights, or responsibilities, dramatized as a ritual rebirth” (as cited by Roscoe, “Zuni” 128). Many initiations occurred in one’s lifetime and transformed one’s personality. “Most Zunis completed at least four initiations in the course of their lives, each employing increasingly differentiated symbols of gender”

(Roscoe, “Zuni” 132). The initiation rites of women and men differed from each other:

For men, this entailed a gradual evolution out of an original maternal ground

common to both males and females. For women, cooking occurred as a process

of self-actualization, marked by the physiological transitions characteristic of

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their bodies … Finally, certain ceremonies and religious groups provided means

for both men and women to balance and, temporarily, neutralize gender

differences […] (Roscoe, “Zuni” 144)

There were two types of initiation that lhamanas could undergo, depending on what gender they wanted to undertake. “If Zuni berdaches crossed genders to become women, then we could expect that they underwent female initiations, whereas completion of female initiations would point to male gender status” (Roscoe, “Zuni

129). However, it was more complicated than that. Male lhamana, for example, underwent the first male initiation as a boy. Yet, he did not undergo the second male initiation, which signified that he was not a cooked male. The rites he underwent influenced what occupational activities a male lhamana could perform. Since he underwent the first male initiation, he could engage in occupations connected to the first initiation. He could not, however, engage in warfare and hunting which were the male activities connected to the second initiation. As for female occupational activities, not all of them were accessed to male lhamana. Still, he could engage in many male and female occupations and even “move freely in both male and female social worlds” since no taboos concerned him due to his inability to give birth (Roscoe, “Zuni 144 – 145).

Male Lhamana

Becoming Lhamana and Zuni Origin Myth

First indications signifying that one is lhamana appeared in childhood. Children refused to pursue activities typical for their own sex and preferred the occupations of opposite sex. The final decision fell in one’s puberty. Children therefore had plenty of time to realize what gender they actually are and it was possible for them to change their mind and not undertake the lhamana status in the end. Stevenson states that,

“Although a preference for feminine over masculine activities could be manifested as

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early as childhood, women’s clothing was not put on at this point in time. Only on reaching puberty did the boy make the final decision to take on the status of lhamana or not, and only then did he put on women’s clothing…” (as cited by Lang, “Men as

Women” 82). Adoption of opposite sex clothing was of big importance in Zuni society and it signified one’s will to really become lhamana. Stevenson observes, “If a young male wanted to continue to do women’s work, then he had to don women’s clothing, which obviously confirmed his status as lhamana” (as cited by Lang, “Men as Women”

235). If a member of a specific family became lhamana, women in the family were really happy about that. “The women of the family ‘are inclined to look upon him with favor, since it means that he will remain a member of the household and do almost double work of a woman … and is expected to perform the hardest labors of the female department’” (Roscoe “Zuni” 23). Adoption of alternate gender status in Zuni tribe was connected to one’s own preferences and it was up to one’s will to become lhamana.

Supernatural played no role in Zuni tribe in becoming lhamana, since there were no dreams or visions signifying one’s gender status. The one who adopted lhamana gender status actually did not change the status only once. Parsons and Stevenson stated:

On the course of her life, the lhamana changed her gender status twice: once

during puberty she crossed over from the masculine (boy) status into an

ambivalent status (lhamana); and once after her death, when she returned – at

least for the most part – to the masculine status that she had held before puberty.

Dressed in a man’s trousers and in a woman’s dress, she was interred on the

south side of the cemetery, which was reserved for men. (as cited by Lang, “Men

as Women” 83)

The burial tradition points out the dual nature of lhamana, having both female and male elements at once. As for the voluntariness of becoming lhamana, Arnold Pilling claims

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that lhamana presence in a family “was nearly always a response to the lack of a sister or female matrilateral cousin in the household” (as cited by Roscoe, “Changing” 199).

However, even though it is possible that parents had some influence on their child’s gender status transformation, there is not much evidence of this and one more likely decided to become lhamana voluntarily.

Lhamana occur in an important episode of Zuni origin myth which is mainly about two sides fighting each other. One side consists of Zuni kachina spirits, agriculturalists and the other of enemy spirits, hunters. This myth is reenacted by a ceremony which takes place every four years. Kachina spirit, ko’lhamana, is captured by the enemies and afterwards transformed. Later, ko’lhamana manages to reconcile the two groups, performing a different substitution pattern and therefore plays an important role in creating balance in Zuni society. In the ceremony, ko’lhamana is played by lhamana (Williams 18). It is obvious that the myth highlights indispensableness of lhamana in Zuni culture. “The moral of this story is that the berdache was created by the deities for a special purpose, and that this creation led to the improvement of society

(Williams 18).

Description of Lhamana

One’s tendencies to become lhamana were observable in childhood via clothes and hairstyle. “In 1916 Elsie Clews Parsons reported a six-year-old ‘feminine’ Zuni boy. In response to his character, his parents began to treat him differently. ‘He is still dressed as a male … but his shirt is of a considerably longer cut … Around his neck is a bead necklace … not altogether commonplace for either little boys or girls. His haircut is the usual all round short cut for boys” (Williams 72). Clothes were a very important element of one willing to become alternate gender in Zuni culture. “By dressing him distinctly, the parents were recognizing his unique personality, distinct from both boys

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and girls” (Williams 71). The ambiguous nature of lhamana was preserved during her burial, since the clothes lhamana wore was both feminine and masculine. Parson states,

“For example, among the Zuni a male gender variant was buried in women’s dress but also in men’s trousers on the men’s side of the graveyard” (as cited by Nanda, 19).

Some lhamanas tried to simulate female physique. “A photo in Scherer … shows

We’wha, who quite obviously stuffed out her Zuni woman’s robe at chest level, or at least draped the blanked in such a way as to create the impression of an imposing female bosom (Lang, “Men as Women” 139). Still, despite the efforts of lhamana to look feminine and others referring to lhamana as “she”, it was usually quite obvious that male lhamana is actually a man. “Stevenson described We’wha as the strongest and tallest person in all Zuni. Furthermore, other photographs show We’wha as a quite masculine-looking lhamana (Lang ‘Men as Women” 150). Male lhamanas also imitated the female way of speech. According to Elsie Clews Parsons a certain Zuni “boy was using ‘the expressions of a girl, their exclamations and turns of speech’” (as cited by

Williams, 53).

Occupational Activities

Male lhamanas mostly pursued female occupational activities, in which they were usually better than women themselves. Gifford, Parsons and Stevenson observed that, “Lhamana wove textiles, wove baskets, made pots, and were expert plasterers” (as cited by Lang, “Men as Women” 79). To have male lhamanas in a family was very convenient since they were able to cope with housework perfectly and were especially efficient in managing physically demanding house activities. “Zuni women … felt lhamana to be great relief and help in the household because she did double the amount of work and generally performed the tasks that were the most difficult physically. On account of their physical stamina, lhamana were also highly esteemed and valued by the

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White families, especially as washerwomen” (Lang, “Men as Women” 241). The fact that male lhamanas were not actual women was a huge advantage. “Among the women’s work group, female family members would take time off from their work, due to menstruation, pregnancy, or nursing of a baby. But the berdache ‘is ever ready for service, and is expected to perform the hardest labors of the female department’”

(Williams 58). Lhamanas participated in Kachina Society, which was more typical for male gender. Parson states, “Nevertheless, in common with all boys but in contrast to most girls, lhamana were initiated into the ko’tikili, or Kachina Society, and on the basis of this initiation took part in those dances in which the kok’ko (anthropomorphic deities) were personified. However, the lhamana were not admitted to the esoteric fraternities”

(as cited by Lang, “Men as Women” 79). Furthermore, We’wha, a well-known lhamana, “was a religious specialist who regularly participated in ceremonies” (Roscoe,

“Changing” 16). Lhamana’s dual nature was highlighted during the tribal dances. “In

Zuni the lhamana moved back and forth between the male and female dance lines, perhaps signifying the between-the sexes status of the berdache” (Williams 70).

Partnerships and Sexuality

There is not enough information to deal with sexual and partner life of Zuni lhamana in detail. The statements of the observers offer various interpretations of lhamanas’ sexuality. “In Zuni, We’wha was said to have been the father of several children, although Stevenson reported that lhamana never married woman and rarely had ‘any relations’ with them” (Lang, “Men as Women” 187). Furthermore, reports state variability in lhamanas’ behavior concerning relationships and living situation.

“Zuni lhamana usually stayed in their parents’ home, where they were highly valued by the women for their capacity for work (Stevenson 1904:37) … Wewha stayed single, but another Zuni lhamana married a man […]” (Lang, “Men as Women” 217). Other

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sources state that lhamanas were sexually attractive to neither men nor women. “[…]

Zuni Pueblo berdaches were expected to be asexual, since they were thought to embody both masculine and feminine elements in one person and to have no need for a mate to complete themselves” (“Berdache: Gender mixing” 3). Many elements of lhamanas’ sexual and partner life remain undercover. Stevenson states, “There is a side to the life of these men which must remain untold” (as cited by Lang, “Men as Women” 325).

Status

It is obvious that lhamanas were mostly respected for their abilities and acquired prestige thanks to them. “Stevenson documents the acceptance of the two-spirit Zuni lhamana We’wha, who played important ceremonial, civic, and artistic roles in ‘her’ community as a third-gendered person” (Slater and Yarbrough 170). Klah, another well- known lhamana, “stressed aspects of the masculine role and gained prestige as a renowned chanter” (Lang, “Men as Women” 245). Since male lhamanas were not biological females, they possessed strength which they were admired for. “The respect accorded to women-men in these places was often attributed to their physical strength, which is supposed to have enabled them to perform heavy women’s work with relative ease and without special assistance” (Lang, “Men as Women” 241). The masculine physique contributed towards lhamana acquiring status of a war chief. “When U.S. soldiers attempted to enter the village of Zuni in 1892 to arrest one of the Zuni war chiefs, it was a male berdache, described as the ‘tallest and strongest’ of the tribe who took the lead in resisting the soldiers” (“Berdache: Gender Mixing” 3). Overall, lhamana were generally accepted by tribal people, even though from time to time joking occurred. “The Indian governor of Zuni and other members of the community seemed to accept the berdache without criticism, although there was some joking and laughing about his ability to attract the young men to his home” (Williams 100). Due to

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their abilities and hard-working nature, lhamanas were usually among the richest people of the tribe. Stevenson “portrayed a lhamana as one of the richest ‘men’ [sic] in Zuni; this wealth was no doubt the result of hard work and competence in the area of women’s handcrafted artwork” (as cited by Lang, “Men as Women” 169 – 170).

Female Lhamana

Only one Zuni woman, holding ambivalent gender status, has been documented by Parsons. The woman, named Nancy, was married but the fact that she pursued both female and male activities makes her gender status confusing. According to Parsons,

Nancy „shared her specialist role as a builder of fireplaces with male lhamana and danced their role as ko’thlama in Kachina ceremonies; along with this, however, she was married and apparently also performed women’s work” (as cited by Lang, “Men as

Women” 287). Nancy did not hold a lhamana status. Parsons stated that, “She was jokingly called ‘katsotse’ (boy-girl) in Zuni, but she apparently did not hold a status corresponding to that of the lhamana (for a contrasting opinion regarding Nancy’s gender status, see Roscoe 1991:28), and she did not undertake a complete gender role change” (as cited by Lang, “Men as Women” 287). As for appearance of Nancy, she was of masculine physique. “Elsewhere, Parsons defined katsotstsi as ‘mannish, … girl- man, a tomboy,’ and repeated that Nancy was in demand as a worker among American employers” (Roscoe, “Zuni” 28).

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6. Conclusion

The goal of this thesis is to portrait the complexity of the traditional Native

American societies in contrast to the Western cultures. The theoretical part of the thesis highlights the strict, dual nature of Western gender system and its difference from the

Native American one which is much more complicated. The theoretical part also points out that sex is an important indicator of one’s gender in Western societies and therefore the gender of a newborn is immediately known, which is not typical for Native

American tribes. The analytical part focuses on the social organizations and gender structures of the Native American cultures and investigates the distinctions in their comprehensions of gender variant people.

A variety occurs in the process of becoming an alternate gender. An element of supernatural occurred in some Native American societies and Mohave tribe is one of them. Mohave believed in the power of dreams and mothers could therefore see an indication of actual gender of their children before they were born. In Navajo and Zuni tribe no such thing occurred and the first indication of one willing to become an alternate gender usually appeared in childhood when a child wanted to pursue opposite sex activities and behaved like opposite sex. In Mohave society one had to undergo an initiation ceremony which was a test as well. In Zuni initiation rites took place as well and one underwent several of them till one’s gender was finally acknowledged. In

Navajo culture no initiation process occurred and preferences of occupational activities and behavior imitation were the only indicators of one becoming “pretend” nadle. If one was a “real” nadle, intersex, the gender was obvious right after the child was born. The fact that intersexes were seen as alternate genders in Navajo culture is unusual for

Native American conception of gender variant people, since neither occupational preferences, nor behaving like opposite sex were the crucial indicators of their nadle

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status. The tribes also varied in permanency of one being alternate gender role. If one became alyha or hwame in Mohave society, the process was irreversible. In Navajo tribe, “pretend” nadle could lose the full nadle status if they married. However, after they divorced the person they married, they gained their nadle status back.

The tribes varied in gender status stratifications. The Navajos had three gender categories, but five distinct gender statuses. The gender division of Zuni tribe consisted of three gender categories as well and four gender statuses. The Mohave had four gender categories and four gender statuses. The diversity occurred in tribal gender terminology. In Zuni and Navajo tribes, all the alternate genders were named by the same gender category. In Mohave tribe two distinct gender categories were used to denote male and female gender variants, which is more typical for other Native

American societies as well.

A manner of opposite sex imitation differed. In Navajo and Zuni cultures, alternate genders imitated the behavioral patterns of the opposite sex. As for clothes, there is a variety. “Pretend” nadles usually combined both male and female clothes, whereas the “real” ones wore female clothes. Generally, lhamanas wore garb of both sexes. However, irregularities in connection to one’s clothes choices occurred in both tribes. The Mohave tribe is the only culture, where extreme imitation of opposite sex occurred. This was mainly alyha’s case, because not only were they convinced of having female genitals and wanted to be treated as such, but they also feigned menstruation and pregnancy. Alyha and hwame mainly wore the clothes of the opposite sex.

As for partner relations, distinctions occurred in connection to one’s gender status. If married, a “pretend” nadle always undertook a role of a husband and retained only masculine elements, even if nadle married a man. They were said to have

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relationships with both men and women. “Real” nadles did not marry and had sexual relations just with men. If alyha or hwame married, they kept their gender status, so alyha pursued a role of a wife and hwame a role of a husband. As for sexual relations, alyha were documented to have relationships only with men, whereas hwame with both men and women. In the case of lhamanas, there is not enough information to make conclusions. However, different kinds of their sexual relations have been reported.

The comparison of the three tribes points out the fact that a social organization of a specific tribe influences what status alternate genders are going to have. For the

Zuni and the Navajos, egalitarian relations between men and women were typical. This had a positive effect on alternate genders’ status since they were able to pursue both female and male activities, both viewed as equally important, which made them exceptional and highly respected. In Mohave tribe, on the other hand, male values were emphasized, mainly due to Mohave’s warlike nature. Furthermore, men in Mohave tribe could gain respect through warfare and women through giving birth to children. In this kind of environment gender variants could not gain such a respect as alternate genders of Zuni or Navajos did. Effects of social stratification on alternate genders’ status are visible through the attitude of parents towards their children willing to become an alternate gender. In Navajo culture, parents did not intervene into their children’s choices of gender. If they figured out that their child is gender variant, they were happy, because nadle held a very high status. In Zuni culture, parents sometimes tried to influence their children to actually become lhamana, since they were a welcomed help in household. In Mohave society, parents often tried to dissuade children from becoming a gender variant, since the statuses of alyha and hwame were not as respected as those of lhamana or nadle. Thus, since the original social organizations of distinct

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tribes differed, the statuses of alternate gendered people were not of the same importance in every Native American society.

The complexity of Native American societies is mainly visible through distinctions in social organization and complicated gender systems, consisting of more than two gender categories. Alternate genders of Native American cultures serve as an important element of diversification, since the concept of gender variants differs from tribe to tribe.

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Resumé

The purpose of this Bachelor’s thesis is to examine and analyze the traditional gender diversity in Native American societies altogether with their specific social organization systems, proving the complex nature of the tribes and by that highlighting their difference from a much more strict and easily understandable gender and social system of Western societies.

The theoretical part of this thesis emphasizes the differences between Western and Native American understanding of gender and its relationship to one’s sex.

Furthermore, it provides introduction to Native American conception of gender and points out the ambiguity of Western research and terminology. Altogether, the theoretical part stresses that it is no use to generalize the traditional Native American gender systems, since they are so complicated.

The analytical part consists of three chapters, each of them dealing with a specific Native American society. The comparison of the three tribes points out that traditional Native American societies vary in their comprehension of social organization and gender system stratification. Attitudes of the tribal people toward alternate gendered people differ, mainly in dependence on tribal social organization. Gender variant people themselves vary as well, with the main distinctions concerning the process of becoming an alternate gender, a way of adopting opposite sex elements and preservation of gender status in dependence partner life. Navajo’s concept of “pretend” and “real” nadles is a very specific one and especially the “real” nadles do not fit into original conception of

Native American alternative genders. The disunion of the analyzed tribes in this thesis provides an example of complicated nature of traditional Native American gender systems.

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The verification of Native American cultures’ complexity therefore denies the link between Native American societies and Western idea of their primitiveness.

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Resumé

Cílem této bakalářské práce je prozkoumat a analyzovat různorodost prvotních pohlavních systémů původních kmenů Ameriky. Práce se dále zabývá společenskými strukturami jednotlivých kmenů a tím dokazuje jejich složitou podstatu a vyzdvihuje jejich odlišnost od jednoduššího a přesně vymezeného pohlavního systému západních kultur.

Teoretická část bakalářské práce vyzdvihuje odlišnosti mezi západním pochopením pohlaví a jeho původní interpretací indiánskými kmeny. Práce také poukazuje na nejasnosti ohledně západního výzkumu a termínů, vytvořených západními etnografy. Teoretická část tedy zdůrazňuje, že nemá smysl zevšeobecňovat pohlavní systémy původních obyvatel Ameriky, vzhledem k jejich různorodosti.

Analytická část bakalářské práce se skládá ze tří kapitol, které se zabývají jednotlivými indiánskými kmeny. Po porovnání těchto kmenů je jasné, že se liší koncepcemi společenských a pohlavních systémů. Také přístup členů kmene k lidem s alternativním pohlavím se odlišuje, zejména v závislosti na společenské stratifikaci jednotlivých kmenů. Lidé s alternativním pohlavím se liší hlavně způsobem změny svého pohlavního statusu, mírou imitace opačného pohlaví a zachováním pohlavního statusu v souvislosti s partnerskými vztahy. Pojetí „předstíraného“ a „pravého“ nadle kmene Navajo je velmi specifické hlavně tím, že „pravý“ nadle nezapadá do obecné koncepce indiánů s alternativním pohlavím. Nejednotnost analyzovaných kmenů v této práci představuje komplexnost všech pohlavních systémů původních obyvatel Ameriky.

Ověření složitosti kultur původních obyvatel Ameriky tím pádem popírá spojitost indiánských kmenů se západní myšlenkou jejich primitivnosti.

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