In the centuries before the colonization of North America, Native Americans held nation-specific answers to questions related to gender roles. Several groups of indigenous people living in North America had their own concepts of the gender spectrum and their own language for it. Examples are given in the following video of nation-specific definitions of gender in Lakota and in Diné:

It is explained that, “each nation’s understanding of gender and sexual diversity is different and grounded in specific spiritual beliefs.”

The U.S. government did its utmost to eradicate the vivid cultures of Native Americans in addition to their languages through mandatory boarding schools, which took tens of thousands children in the 19th century to force them to assimilate. As an integral part of the cultures and sacred beliefs of several nations, the notion of expanded gender roles to include more than two genders is part of what was sought to be erased. Today, the umbrella term two-spirit is used by Native Americans that live outside the gender binary, traditionally taking on the gender roles of both men and women. As there are still over one-hundred tribes in North America, each with their own unique culture, two-spirit and how it is defined are Nation specific.

By claiming the term two-spirit, Native Americans are working to undo the damage done to their cultures, to decolonize their nations and revive what the U.S. Government tried to destroy. Additionally, claiming Two-Spirit is another way forward for educating non-native people about Native American history and traditions and how those were nearly erased. It is one more area within which Native Americans have to fight to be heard and seen.