What is "two-spirit"

Etymology 1 a. (context of a Native American English) Identifying as transgender, or as any of various tribal third genders, rather than as cismale or cisfemale. n. A Native American North America who is not a cisgender male or female, but rather is transgender or belongs to belongs to any of various tribal third genders. Etymology 2

a. (context theology English) Involving two spirits; especially, pertaining to the doctrine of dualism espoused in the so-called ''Treatise on the Two Spirits'' in the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead%20Sea%20Scrolls.

Two-Spirit (also two spirit or twospirit) is a modern umbrella term used by some indigenous North Americans to describe gay, lesbian, bisexual and gender-variant individuals in their communities. The term was adopted in 1990 at an Indigenous lesbian and gay international gathering to encourage the replacement of the anthropological term berdache. It is a spiritual role that is recognized and confirmed by the Two-Spirit's indigenous community. While some have found the term a useful tool for intertribal organizing, not all Native cultures conceptualize gender or sexuality this way, and most tribes use names in their own languages. While pan-Indian terms are not always appropriate or welcome, the term has generally received more acceptance and use than the term it replaced.

Third and fourth gender roles traditionally embodied by two-spirit people include performing work and wearing clothing associated with both men and women. Not all tribes/nations have rigid gender roles, but, among those that do, some consider there to be at least four genders: feminine woman, masculine woman, feminine man, masculine man.

The presence of male-bodied two-spirits "was a fundamental institution among most tribal peoples" and, according to Will Roscoe, both male- and female-bodied two-spirits have been documented "in over 130 North American tribes, in every region of the continent."