The development of urban Two-Spirit communities and the role of American Indian poets Paula Gunn Allen and Janice Gould Item Type text; Thesis-Reproduction (electronic) Authors Ishcomer, Brandie A. Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 27/09/2021 21:08:12 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/291999 THE DEVELOPMENT OF URBAN TWO-SPIRIT COMMUNITIES AND THE ROLE OF AMERICAN INDIAN POETS PAULA GUNN ALLEN AND JANICE GOULD by Brandie Ann Ishcomer Copyright © Brandie Ann Ishcomer 2003 A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the AMERICAN INDIAN STUDIES PROGRAMS In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Master of Arts In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 2003 UMI Number: 1414230 Copyright 2003 by Ishcomer, Brandie Ann All rights reserved. UMI UMI Microform 1414230 Copyright 2003 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 2 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This thesis has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at The University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this thesis are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgement of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the copyright holder. SIGNED APPROVAL BY THESIS DIRECTOR This thesis has been approved on the date shown below: date Professor, American Indian Studies 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Many people have shaped this work both directly and indirectly. Firstly, I would like to thank my mother, Marian L. Ishcomer, for the gift of life and all of the beauty it entails. In the same breath, I would also like to express my gratitude to my grandparents who, through their encouragement, have been instrumental to my personal and intellectual development. Grandma and Grandpa Swanson, thank you for teaching me to love so many things in life. My two siblings, LeAnn L. Ishcomer and Robert J. Ishcomer, are the context of my life. Robert and LeAnn, I am thankful that we experienced the intense joy and pain of our earliest years together. Our shared beginnings provide me with tremendous strength. I would also like to thank the American Indian Studies Program at the University of Arizona, and in particular professors Luci Tapahonso, Eileen Luna-Firebaugh and Mary Jo Tippeconnic-Fox. As my committee members, these three professors have dedicated untold time and energy, not only to this thesis, but also to my personal and intellectual development. Thank you for your wisdom and guidance. I would also like to express my gratitude to Professor Manley Begay. Your courses exemplify the best that American Indian Studies has to offer, Thank you for guiding me toward balance. Two AISP courses were instrumental to the shaping of this thesis. My final paper for "American Indians and the Urban Experience," which was co-taught by Eileen Luna- Firebaugh and Susan Lobo during the spring semester 2003, produced the building blocks of this work. Secondly, the course "Research Methods" provided an important platform for feedback during the infant stages of this thesis. Thank you to the course instructors. Dr. Jay Stauss and Dr. Nancy Parezo, as well as to my fellow graduate students, for your repeated thoughtfiil critiques of my work. My colleagues, the graduate students of AIS, have been my saving grace, time and time again. I would particularly like to thank Lara Coggin, Katrina Jagodinsky, Ginny Beisel, Leola Tsirmajinnie, Diana DeLeon, Amanda Griffith, Veronica Hirsch, Nikki Menard, Peter Morris, Husi Cazares, Carrie Ortiz, and Megan Morey. Thank you all for the dinners, the conversations, the laughter, your graciousness and support. It has been a joy to experience this program with you all. I would like to thank Mount Holyoke College, my undergraduate institution, for teaching me the art of both written and oral expression. I would particularly like to thank my undergraduate advisor. Professor Gabriele Wittig-Davis. I would also like to recognize Professor Deidre Almeida, whose courses on American Indian Education inspired me to pursue an advanced degree in American Indian Studies. I would also like to thank Professor Melinda Micco for her support and encouragement. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the Women, particularly Marina Hadjioannou, DeAnna Rivera, and Kim Mettler. Without your strength and support, this work would not exist. Special thanks to my dear friend Amy Muth for topic inspiration. My dog. Lucky, and cat, Chuey, have gifted me hours of pure joy and comfort. Finally, Melissa Rodis, my life-partner, has been a tremendous support and inspiration throughout the writing process. Melissa, you are all that is beautiful in this world. Tu eres mi vida, mi amor y mi pasion. 4 DEDICATION for the Others 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS I ABSTRACT 7 II INTRODUCTION 8 III CHAPTER 1 SAUL ALINSKY AND STEPHEN CORNELL: THEORIES OF COMMUNITY AND CONSTITUENCY IN URBAN INDIAN COUNTRY 12 Urban Two-Spirit Communities 12 Community Organization Theory: Saul Alinsky 15 Theory on The Development of Supratribal Constituency: Stephen Cornell. 20 Conclusion 24 IV CHAPTER 2 TWO-SPIRIT WOMEN IN TRADITIONAL NATIVE NORTH AMERICAN SOCIETIES: FEMALE-BODIED GENDER STATUS CHANGE AND GENDER ROLE CROSSING 25 The Battle of the Sto-ro-ka and the Ka-tsi-na (Acoma-Laguna) 25 A Desire in the Child's Heart (Mohave) 25 Men-Women in Ethnological Records 28 Men-Women Who Underwent Institutionalized Foi nal Gender Role Change 30 Gender Role Crossing for Independent and Married Women 32 Women Warriors and Manly Hearted Women 34 Girls Raised as Boys 35 Same-sex Partnerships and Lesbianism 36 Status of Men-Women in Their Societies 39 Conclusion 41 V CHAPTER 3 FROM CONSCIOUSNESS TO CONSTITUENCY: CONTRIBUTING FACTORS TO THE FORMATION OF URBAN TWO-SPIRIT COMMUNITIES 43 Urban Indian and Two-Spirit Migration 44 The Development of Urban Indian and Two-Spirit Constituencies 48 The Politics of Self-Naming: From "Berdache" to Two-Spirit 51 Linking the Present with the Past 53 Conclusion 54 VI CHAPTER 4 THE ROLE OF TWO-SPIRIT WOMEN WRITERS IN BUILDING COMMUNITY; THE POETRY OF PAULA GUNN ALLEN AND JANICE GOULD 56 Janice Gould and Paula Gurm Allen 58 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS - Continued Role of Traditional Stories in the Works of Paula Gunn Allen 59 Landscapes in Gould's Poetry 60 Mixed-Blood Identities in Allen's and Gould's Poetry 62 Invisibility of Two-Spirit Women and Testimony of Existence 66 The Themes of Survival and Continuance 69 Poetry As Contemporary Storytelling 70 Conclusion 71 VII CONCLUSION.... 73 VIII WORKS CITED 76 7 ABSTRACT This thesis seeks to examine the factors that contributed to the development of Two-Spirit (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and other gender/ sexuality variant American Indians) communities in urban areas. Secondly, it explores how these communities are reflected in the poetry of American Indian women Paula Gunn Allen and Janice Gould. This paper investigates these questions within the context of two theories on community development and organization, one by Saul Alinsky and the other by Stephen Cornell. Next it discusses gender and sexuality variance in American Indian tribal societies as reflected in studies conducted during the 1910s through the 1950s. Thirdly, examines the development of community and constituency of the international Two-Spirit community within the framework of Alinsky and Cornell's theories. Lastly, it will look at the role of contemporary American Indian poets, Pimla Gunn Allen and Janice Gould, in the shaping and actualization of urban Two-Spirit communities. 8 INTRODUCTION Being a Native lesbian is like living in the eye of a hurricane- terrible, beautifully wild; filled with sounds and silences; the sweet music of life- affirmation and the disharmony of life-destruction. To balance these disparate elements, to create in this center of chaos is a gift of honor and great love/ Above, Beth Brant, a Quinte Bay Mohawk who grew up in Detroit, eloquently expresses the complexities of life as a Two-Spirit woman. In "—And We Are Still Here: from Berdache to Two-Spirit People" Sue Ellen Jacobs and Wesley Thomas explain that the term "Two-Spirit" refers to a wide variety of Native American and First Nations roles and identities past and present. [...] two-spirit is an indigenously defined pan- Native North American term that bridges Native concepts of gender diversity and sexualities with those of Western cultures. Two-Spirit roles and identities are also referred to as gay, lesbian, transvestite, transsexual, transgender, drag qi: eens, and butches, as well as winkte, nadleeh, and other appropriate tribal terms. The silences Brant refers to are replete in academia. Scholarship on both urban American Indians^ and urban Two-Spirits remains underdeveloped. This paper will rely on Donald Fixico's definition of the term "urban Indian," which includes American Indians "who moved to cities and to border towns, and who experienced urban life.""^ The literature that does exist on Two-Spirits is often historically oriented, therefore focusing on the concept of the "berdache." Following the standards set at the 1993 and 1994 ' Brant, Beth. "Giveaway." Off Our Backs. 25.10 (1995): 8. GenderWatch. SoftLine Information, Inc. University of Arizona Library, Tucson.24 March 2002.