In 1720, just two years after French colonizers renamed Bulbancha “New Orleans”, a French military officer named Ladun complained to Governor Bienville about indigenous queerness. Bienville, who founded New Orleans and lived into his 80s without ever marrying, told the young man to relax, that queerness was quite common in these parts among the Natives. Ladun recorded Bienville’s response in his journal, “there were young men who seemed to have renounced their sex in order to serve uses so contrary to nature; that they were no longer received in the society of men.”
Indeed, there were. In fact, homosexuality among Indigenous Peoples was not only common in the lower Mississippi River Valley, but also throughout North America. Furthermore, in addition to being acknowledged, queerness was celebrated and revered among First Nations. This shocked many European colonizers.
Indigenous notions of gender and sexuality were much different than European ideas, which were rooted in patriarchy and Christianity. Many Native groups recognized the existence of more than two genders and just as many had very different ideas on the role of women in politics and society. Gay, lesbian, and trans people were ubiquitous in pre-colonial America. This fact was very threatening to early colonizers in that it challenged heteronormativity.
What we know about Indigenous queerness (and history in general) is limited because most First Nations were not literate civilizations; rather, their culture was primarily oral. What written records we have consists of colonial records (letters, journals, and travel logs) and do not paint a comprehensive picture. And yet as biased as they are, these records do establish clearly that Indigenous Peoples did not subscribe to a male-female binary.
For example, one Father Montigny writes of some Natchez men in the 1720s: “they wear their hair long and in braids, and wear skirts like the women.” Another priest, Father LeMaire records in his journal in 1714 that he is concerned about Natchez “men who dress like women and are excluded from all the work of men.” The Natchez, like most, if not all, Indigenous People groups recognized five distinct genders amongst their people: male, female, transgender, Two Spirit female, and Two Spirit male.
The term “Two Spirit” is somewhat common now, but this term did not come into widespread use until the late 20th Century, and it was not used in pre-colonial times. The term emanates from the Native belief that all people have both male and female spirits within their bodies and that sometimes, one spirit is more dominant than the other. In other words, a person’s identity is not determined by their physical body, but rather their predominant spirit. Sometimes, the two spirits fluctuated back and forth. Today we would call this gender fluid. The point is the term “Two Spirit” refers to gender, not sexual orientation.
These complex and nuanced notions of gender underscore the fact that trans people have always existed. There are written accounts of a great female Tunica leader who dressed as a man during her life and who was buried in upper-class French menswear.
Another concept the colonizers could not wrap their heads around was the fact that many Native groups entrusted women to lead their tribes. Writing of the Houma in the 1690s, Father Montigny observed, “It is a masculine woman who appears to be the most esteemed.” In 1722, Father Charlevoix noted of the Natchez, “There is among that nation a woman chief who has as much authority as the Grand Chief.” And in 1771, Jean Bernard Bossu describes a great female Ishak (Atakapas) leader and compares her to England’s Queen Elizabeth I, “She rules with as much courage, wisdom and discretion as a man could.”
On occasion, Judeo-Christian notions of gender were at such odds with Native beliefs that diplomatic crises arose. One such incident occurred in 1699 between Sauvole, the first French Governor of Louisiana, and Antobiscania, the leader of the Bayogoula. Upon meeting Antobiscania’s wife, Sauvole was puzzled and annoyed that a woman was in attendance at such an important meeting. Consequently, Sauvole essentially dismissed her and treated her rudely. Horrified at such misogyny, Antobiscania chastised Sauvole and proceeded to lecture him on how to properly treat women. This rebuke caused Sauvole to later write that he “had not considered the savages were sensitive in that manner.”
“Savages.” Such a word embodies the arrogance of the colonizers, who were convinced they were right about everything. Indigenous queerness proves they were not. Nevertheless, the legacy of patriarchal homo- and transphobia persists, despite advances made in recent years. This is why it’s so important to know and remember the long history of queerness in the First Nations. The legacy of acceptance of LGBT+ people has a deep history locally, for which we should salute Native American Nations.
November is National Native American Heritage Month. In 2009, Congress passed and President Obama signed legislation establishing the Friday following Thanksgiving Day of each year as “Native American Heritage Day.”
