He is the patron of thieves and the inventor of lying, a gift he passed on to Autolycus, who in turn passed it on to Odysseus. ![]() ![]() In some Greek myths Hermes plays the trickster. Many cultures have tales of the trickster, a crafty being who uses tricks to get food, steal precious possessions, or simply cause mischief. The trickster openly questions, disrupts or mocks authority. Tricksters can be cunning or foolish or both. Often, this bending or breaking of rules takes the form of tricks or thievery. The trickster crosses and often breaks both physical and societal rules: Tricksters "violate principles of social and natural order, playfully disrupting normal life and then re-establishing it on a new basis." Lewis Hyde describes the trickster as a "boundary-crosser". Tricksters, as archetypal characters, appear in the myths of many different cultures. In mythology and the study of folklore and religion, a trickster is a character in a story ( god, goddess, spirit, human or anthropomorphisation) who exhibits a great degree of intellect or secret knowledge and uses it to play tricks or otherwise disobey normal rules and defy conventional behavior. The trickster figure Reynard the Fox as depicted in an 1869 children's book by Michel Rodange “As the country is gradually being filled with the Missions, these detestable people will be eradicated and that this most abominable of vices will be exterminated,” wrote Spanish missionary to California Francisco Palou in 1777.īy the mid-20th century, gay Native Americans, facing homophobia and ostracism within their own communities, began to flock to urban centers for safe haven.For other uses, see Trickster (disambiguation). Whatever their status, the subjugation and Christianization of Indians by Europeans ensured that two-spirits were stamped out. “There were even some patrilineal tribal societies who committed infanticide of such children or later in life,” he said. In other tribes, they were merely tolerated. He believes two-spirits tended to be honored only in matrilineal tribes like the Navajo, where descendancy is traced from the mother’s line. Thomas, a Navajo anthropologist, professor and graduate dean of the Navajo Technical University School of Graduate Studies and Research. “But not all tribes honored them,” said Wesley K. Drawn while on the Great Plains, among the Sac and Fox Indians, the sketch depicts a ceremonial dance to celebrate the two-spirit person. George Catlin (1796-1872), Dance to the Berdache. “Two-spirit is a pan-Indian term for Native people who identify as gender queer, gender non-conforming, gender fluid,” he said. New York City musician and activist Tony Enos offers a slightly different interpretation. ![]() Like Ward, Bingen believes only Natives who are in touch with their traditions can claim two-spirit identity - and the term should never be co-opted by non-Natives. “I can wear heels and a dress, put makeup on, and go out and be pretty.” Dad taught us girls to do anything that a man can do, so we learned how to install sheetrock and to roof, and to fix our own cars.”īut she said she still has a “girlie” side. “Two-spirits are people who can balance both their male and their female sides,” she said. Born on the Lower Brule Reservation, she now lives in Sioux Falls, which makes her an “urban Indian," serving on the board of the Sioux Falls Two Spirit and Allies group. ![]() Thirteen hundred miles away in South Dakota, Kellie Bingen also identifies as a two-spirit bisexual. This year, the tribal council blocked him from using their facilities to hold a second annual “Miss Apache Diva” beauty contest. “Some people that claim to be traditional are upset with me because they think I’m acting like I know more than them.” “I still carry the traditional face markings, the traditional attire,” he said. National Archives and Records Administration - 523798īut not everyone in the community accepts him, and he admits to loneliness. 1886 photograph of We'wha (Zuni, N.M.), a famous lhamana (“like a woman"), the traditional Zuni gender role now described as two spirit.
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