Two-Spirit: Identity, History and the Rise of a Movement in Canada

Each year, around the spring equinox, communities across Canada celebrate and raise awareness of 2SLGBTQIA+ Indigenous and Two-Spirit People. Observed on or near March 20, this day highlights the leadership, resilience, and cultural significance of Indigenous people who identify as Two-Spirit, as well as their place within the broader 2SLGBTQIA+ community.

The spring equinox symbolizes balance and renewal, making it a particularly significant time to recognize identities rooted in both cultural traditions and contemporary community life.

For many people in Canada, the term Two-Spirit remains relatively unknown. Understanding this identity also involves understanding a history marked by the upheavals of colonialism and a powerful movement of cultural resurgence.

What does "two-spirit" mean?

The term Two-Spirit was proposed in 1990 by Elder Myra Laramee at the third annual intertribal conference of North American Indigenous, First Nations and gay and lesbian people, held at the Sandy-Saulteaux Spiritual Centre.

The term is a translation of the Anishinaabemowin niizh manidoowag expression, which means "two spirits".

The 2SLGBTQIA+ Indigenous participants adopted this term to describe the diversity of genders and sexualities within Indigenous cultural frameworks. It also allowed them to move away from historically used colonial terminology to describe Indigenous gender diversity and to create a vocabulary rooted in Indigenous perspectives.

The term Two-Spirit is not simply another identity within the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. It is a concept specific to Indigenous peoples that connects gender, sexuality, spirituality, and community roles.

This term can be used by Indigenous people who understand themselves as possessing both a masculine and a feminine spirit, or who embody forms of gender diversity recognized within their own cultural traditions. As an encompassing concept, it can include identities that Western frameworks would describe as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or gender-diverse.

It is also important to recognize that not all gender-diverse Indigenous people identify as Two-Spirit. Some use other terms, including identities drawn from their own languages ​​or cultural traditions.

Gender diversity before colonization

Prior to colonization, many Indigenous nations across North America recognized and respected people whose identities or roles lay outside of rigid European gender categories.

In some communities, people possessing both male and female spirits were considered to have special gifts. They often held respected roles within their communities, for example as healers, mediators, advisors, artists, keepers of knowledge, or matchmakers.

Two-spirit people were frequently perceived as individuals capable of navigating between roles associated with men and women, thus contributing to community life in unique and valued ways.

Each Indigenous nation has its own traditions and teachings related to gender and identity. Therefore, understandings of gender diversity vary greatly from one community to another.

Colonization and the erasure of gender diversity

European colonization profoundly disrupted many indigenous traditions, including diverse understandings of gender and sexuality.

Missionaries and colonial governments imposed strict European gender norms and Christian moral frameworks. Institutions such as residential schools reinforced these beliefs and punished expressions of gender diversity.

Colonial authorities also condemned indigenous gender diversity and often attempted to erase these identities through violence, forced assimilation, and cultural suppression.

Over time, many teachings regarding gender roles and identities have been relegated to the shadows. These policies have had lasting effects and have contributed to the marginalization of Two-Spirit people, both within and outside Indigenous communities.

The rise of the Two-Spirit movement

At the end of the 20th century, 2SLGBTQIA+ Indigenous people began to organize in order to reclaim their place within Indigenous and queer communities.

The 1990 conference held at the Sandy-Saulteaux Spiritual Centre, where the term Two-Spirit was introduced, marked a pivotal moment. This term helped create a common language for discussing the diversity of Indigenous genders and sexualities and strengthened ties between activists and community members across North America.

Since then, Two-Spirit societies and organizations have formed in many regions of Canada. These groups support cultural revitalization, community healing, and advocacy for the rights of 2SLGBTQIA+ Indigenous people.

The growing recognition of the 2SLGBTQIA+ Indigenous and Two-Spirit Day of Celebration and Awareness, promoted nationally for the first time in 2021, reflects a growing awareness of the important role that Two-Spirit people continue to play within Indigenous communities.

A time to learn and celebrate

For many communities, observing the spring equinox is both a celebration and a reminder of the work that remains to be done.

Two-Spirit leaders, artists, and knowledge keepers continue to strengthen their communities and revive cultural teachings that had been suppressed. Their work is part of a broader movement of Indigenous resurgence and cultural renewal.

Recognizing this day invites Canadians to learn more about the history, resilience, and leadership of Two-Spirit people across the country.