Berdache (Two-Spirit)

Historical Development of the Term Berdache

The term berdache was first published in The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents, Volume 59, published between 1667 and 1669. The Jesuits recorded the observations of numerous missionaries and traders who had witnessed men in women's clothing, work roles, and sexual roles. The current English term berdache originates from the Arabic word bardaj (slave or kept boy). This word spread into Western Europe, as a result of contact with the Muslim world, and became the Spanish term bardaxa/bardaje (person engaging in sodomy) and then the French term bar-dache (catamite or a young man/boy who has sex with men). While the Spanish and French originally used the term in referencing men who wore women's clothing and/or had sex with men, anthropologists later adapted the term berdache and applied it to Native American/First Nations people who were gender variant, sexually variant, and/or anatomically (sex) variant.

History of Berdache

The arrival of Europeans and introduction of Christianity had a marked effect on “berdache” traditions and acceptance. Europeans held the belief that biological sex and gender were dichotomous and “naturally” related: biological sex was male or female; gender was man or woman; and male equated man, while female equated woman. Gender variation outside of this binary was viewed as deviant. Sexuality held a similar dichotomous conception; although the term homosexual did not come into existence until 1870, sexual practices or behavior outside of culturally accepted relations between biological men and biological women were also considered deviant. Europeans were not open to the idea of gender roles beyond that of man or woman. In addition, the Christian concept of sodomy (“abnormal” sexual practice) was associated with “uncivilized” cultures.

The term berdache was one of judgment, one that damned individuals who occupied these roles, as well as the cultures that accepted them. As colonization continued, “berdache” people and traditions were pushed out. Christianity and the assimilation of Native American/First Nations peoples into Western culture brought homophobia and the enforcement of Western gender roles into communities.

Individuals labeled as “berdache” occupied what the Europeans considered to be sexually deviant roles. There was no distinction between gender and sexuality, as they were viewed as being intertwined and inseparable. Initially, only biological men were labeled as berdache, and they were seen as occupying women's social status, dress, and sexual roles. Although they were viewed as effeminate men, the focus was on sexual acts, which Europeans labeled as deviant and abnormal. Female “berdache” existed; however, they were not acknowledged and were later often overlooked by anthropologists.

...