Aboriginal / Two Spirit

Jump to Resource Listing

What does “Two-Spirit mean?

The term two-spirit (also spelled 2-spirit or two-spirited) was coined by Myra Laramee in 1990.(4) Two-spirit means different things to different people and different communities. One of the most commonly cited understandings of the term is a person who possesses both masculine and feminine spirits; however, two-spirit is used throughout English-speaking communities on Turtle Island2 to distinguish the wide variety of Indigenous concepts of gender and sexual diversity as separate from the European gender binary, which was violently imposed on Indigenous communities through Christianization and the residential school system. Within Indigenous cosmologies, gender and sexual diversity are viewed holistically, with people of many genders and sexualities holding important roles in families and communities. For some people two-spirit is a gender identity, while others use it to describe their sexual orientation, and still others as a spiritual identity (and some a combination of these elements). Although two-spirit is sometimes used as an umbrella term for LGBTQ Indigenous people, it is important to note that not every Indigenous person who identifies as LGBTQ will identify as twospirit, and not everyone who identifies as two-spirit will identify as LGBTQ. Some people use the term two-spirit in order to distance themselves from colonial society. Others may identify with a nation-specific term, as many Indigenous languages have words for the gender diversity traditionally found in their communities.

Though LGBTQ and two-spirit experiences may overlap, the two are distinct identities, encompassing a vast range of lived experiences. For this reason, many LGBTQ-focused services may not meet the needs of Indigenous community members, and some Indigenous community services may not meet the needs of LGBTQ and two-spirit people.(5) Further, although Western medicine is practiced in most First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities, Indigenous understandings of health and wellness may be different than those of health care providers, and should be respected.

Resources