Before the influence of Westerners in North America, many Native-American nations accepted and respected transgenderism. The first Westerners to come to North America, Spanish and French explorers, discovered that transgenders often had open display and public acceptance. Native-American transgenders, called berdaches, were mostly men who assumed female characteristics, though some were similarly situated women. Berdaches found acceptance among their own people, but Westerners viewed them disapprovingly, which is demonstrated by the negative tone of their observations. As such, Western presence and influence increased, affecting how berdaches were viewed and treated by their people.
Berdaches were found in many Midwestern parts of North America, stretching from Northeast Mexico up to the Great Lakes, Westward to the Dakotas, and further North along the Pacific West Coast into Alaska. Some were found in Northern Florida. This vast range, stretching thousands of miles, demonstrates that the acceptance of transgenders in North America was widespread, despite the many differences between societies spread so far apart. Overall, there was an many as 110 different Native-American nationalities who recognized berdaches (Callender, 1983, p. 445). Female berdaches were found in the Northwestern parts of North America, generally fewer in number and in less complex societies where agriculture was less important. There were as many as thirty different Native-American nations who recognized female berdaches.
The distinguishing features of berdaches was the donning of female clothes and hairstyles by men (Callender, 1986, p. 447). Other features for men were engaging in female occupations and emulating female speech patterns and mannerisms (Greenberg, 1986, p. 179). When engaging in female occupations, male berdaches acquired a reputation for being exceptionally skilled in women's roles. Both male and female berdaches, combining activities of both genders, maximized their economic status, and some women who owned property and demonstrated male traits were known for having more say than ordinary women (Bullough, 1993, p. 4). Though berdaches acted as the opposite gender, they were viewed by their people as a third or alternative gender, neither male nor female. Similarly, berdaches felt their essence was unique, something distinct from both genders (Schnarch, 1992, p. 117).
Berdache status was recognized usually in two ways. The first was a child displaying opposite gender interests beyond a certain age, causing their society to dress and treat them in that role. The more widespread belief of causation, however, was the individual having a transformation vision, such as a dream, which occurs in adolescence or early adulthood. This was a self-reported reason for becoming a berdache. The supernatural view of causation may account for the high status that many berdaches had. In most situations, berdache status appears to come from within, and is initiated by the individual, though there are some accounts of berdaches being designated for the role from birth.
Similar to other cultures through-out the world, berdache sexuality was diverse. Berdaches could be homosexual, heterosexual, and asexual, but no reports show them having sex with each other. Many accounts show berdaches as exclusively heterosexual, with male berdaches marrying women and female berdaches marrying men. For this reason, equating transgenderism with homosexuality is not wholly accurate. Though there were many examples of male berdaches being homosexual, having sex with men is a secondary and derivative characteristic, apart from gender identity (Callender, 1986, p. 176). As a result, berdache status was primarily one of roles, and not one of sexual preference.
Even more unlike Western civilization, high social positions frequently accompanied berdache status. Berdaches sometimes had high ranking titles and were often described as holy. The French explorer Jacques Marquette observed berdaches during his explorations in the late 1600's in Michigan and Illinois. Marquette observed that the Illinois consulted berdaches when making important decisions (Callender, 1983, p. 453). As European influence increased, however, Native-Americans began describing berdaches in less complimentary terms. Native-Americans who once described berdaches as sacred now increasingly became ashamed of them. Similarly, the likelihood of finding berdaches decreased.
Despite their near disappearance, a researcher visited Lakota reservations in South Dakota in the early 1980's and found that berdaches still exist, and are called winktes. Though experiencing repression and almost disappearing in the latter half of this century, winktes have adapted and survived. Williams found that contemporary winktes are very much like their predecessors. They are viewed by their people as different, sacred individuals, who are neither male or female. Some are married, but most are not permitted to do so. Like their predecessors, winktes retain respect from more traditional Lakotas, but this respect has declined among those with more Western acculturation (Williams, 1986, p. 193).
Among those interviewed was a sixty year old Lakota male who remembers the winktes decline occurring in the 1920s and 1930s. He describes winktes as once being sacred, feared because of their spiritual power, but this view changed as Native-Americans became educated in white schools. Now, Lakotas have less respect for winktes, similar to how homosexuals are treated in California. Also interviewed was a forty-nine year old male who identifies as a winkte. He describes his status as spiritual in nature, very much in part with the berdache tradition. His family and reservation have always accepted him in the winkte role and he takes a leading role in ceremonies. He describes himself as having been a winkte as long as he can remember, and having had confirmation visions as a child, which he first spoke to his grandfather about.
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Though I utilized several sources for this article, most information came from the article by Callender and Kochems entitled The North American Berdache. I strongly recommend reading this article. Especially descriptive are Callender's maps of North America showing where berdaches were located.
Sources Cited
1. Bullough, B., Bullough, V. L. (1993). Crossdressing, Sex, and Gender. University of Pennsylvania Press.
2. Callender, C., Kochems, L.M. (1983). The North American Berdache. Current Anthropology, Volume 42. No. 4 August-October 1983.
3. Callender, C., Kochems, L.M. (1986). Men and Not-Men: Male Gender-Mixing Statuses and Homosexuality. Anthropology and Homosexual Behavior. Haworth Press Inc.
4. Greenberg, D.F. (1986). Why Was The Berdache Ridiculed? Journal Of Homosexuality, Volume 11, No. 3-4. New York: Hawthorne Press Inc.
5. Schnarch, McGill (1992). Neither Man Nor Woman: Berdache - A Case For Non-Dichotomous Gender Construction. Anthropologica XXXXIV 105-121.
6. Williams, W. L. (1986). Persistence and Change in the Berdache Tradition Among Contemporary Lakota Indians. Haworth Press Inc.
