Lester Brown\u27s edited volume acquaints social workers with two spirits, that is, those Native ... more Lester Brown\u27s edited volume acquaints social workers with two spirits, that is, those Native Americans who are gay, lesbian, or who may adopt mixed-gender practices and roles. Although well-intended, the attempts to sensitize social workers to Natives\u27 lives are occasionally thwarted by overgeneralizations and weak analyses. In the three chapters on identity, the intricacies of culture, gender, and sexuality theory are watered down and confused. In their comparison of Lakota and Dakota practices, Little Crow, Judy Wright, and Brown conjure the odd label non-heterosexual gender identity and collapse gender into sexuality. Mary Ann Jacobs and Lester Brown\u27s piece often homogenizes the American Indian, although the authors\u27 interviews with eight Native American lesbians and gays demonstrate a rich diversity of identities and experiences
OBJECTIVE—We examined if active family nutritional support is associated with improved metabolic ... more OBJECTIVE—We examined if active family nutritional support is associated with improved metabolic outcomes for Diné (Navajo) individuals living with type 2 diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—The presence of family support, using variables identified in earlier ethnographic research, was assessed via surveys in a convenience sample of 163 diabetic individuals. Diabetes outcome measures (HbA1c, serum glucose, triglycerides, total cholesterol, creatinine, and systolic and diastolic blood pressure measures) were extracted from participants’ medical records. Bivariate analyses and multiple logistic regressions were conducted. RESULTS—All measures of family support showed a relation with one or more indicators of metabolic control in bivariate analyses. In multivariate analyses, respondents were more likely to be in the best tertile for triglyceride (P < 0.05), cholesterol (P < 0.05), and HbA1c (P < 0.05) if another person cooked most of the meals. Respondents in families who ...
coming to terms with Navajo n^dleehf: a critique of berdache, "gay," "alternate gender," and "two... more coming to terms with Navajo n^dleehf: a critique of berdache, "gay," "alternate gender," and "two-spirit" CAROLYN EPPLE-Dine College In the course of the last seven years, I have been learning from and about Navajo persons known as nadleehi, or, asHilldescribesthem, "hermaphrodites.. .orthose who pretend to be" (1935:275). ] Traditionally, 2 nadleehi have practiced certain behaviors-such as attire, occupation, and, on occasion, sexual partner preference-in a manner associated with the gender of the opposite sex. Thus, a male nadleehi may (to varying degrees) wear women's clothing; participate in activities associated with women, such as cooking and washing; and have sexual relations with other men. In general this configuration of "other-gender" behaviors has been treated as a single phenomenon across cultures and such individuals have been termed berdache. But with the greater focus on gender and sexuality in anthropology and heightened sensitivity to Native American voices and categories, the term berdache has been criticized (e.g., Jacobs and Thomas 1994:7). As a result alternate terms and categories such as gay, alternate gender, and two-spirit have arisen. Most agree that berdache, with its French meaning of "male prostitute," is problematic; but in creating new categories, many rely on berdache's emphasis on other-gender behaviors, same-sex sexual practices, and unique roles, thereby creating slight variations on the same themes. The use of alternate gender suggests that in mixed-gender behaviors there is evidence for an altogether different gender (Jacobs 1983; Jacobs and Cromwell 1992); gay emphasizes the "multi-dimensional social role," and, less overtly, sexual practices of nadleehi' and others (Roscoe 1988); and two-spirit describes those with "both a male and a female spirit" in terms of gender and sexual practices (Tafoya 1992:256; Jacobs and Thomas 1994:7). 3 As I argue, however, none of these categories is adequate. I follow instead Halperin's approach, developed from the historical study of sexual practices. He redirects attention away from the cultural uses of terms (e.g., do the Iroquois have berdache?) toward their cultural meanings. He describes "the real issue" as twofold: "First of all [it is] how to recover the terms in which the experiences of individuals belonging to past societies were actually constituted, and second, [it is] how to measure and assess the ones we currently employ" (1990:28-29). Tothese points I respond with twoquestions of my own: First, what are the premises or epistemological assumptions of the four categories? And second, are the premises of the categories consistent with a Navajo worldview (at least with the version I am beginning to learn) and thus with how many Navajos understand nadleehi'? Unlike other studies, then, my inquiry extends beyond determining the absence or presence of alternate In this article I assess what premises underlie the categories berdache, "alternate gender," "gay," and "two-spirit"; and whether these premises are relevant to the ways in which many Navajos construct the "alternate gender" of those known as nadleehi. Proponents of these categories often extricate traits from their contexts and perceive male and female as mutually opposed, absolute values. Many Navajos, however, describe traits as inseparable from the universe and view male and female as situational values. [Native American, Navajo, gender, sexuality, worldview]
... as Naipaul and Walcott that "colonial education had effectively wiped out the type of hi... more ... as Naipaul and Walcott that "colonial education had effectively wiped out the type of histoncal memory that gives a people the proud and strong sense of self [Price] had found among the Saramaka," the descendents of escaped slaves ... CAROLYN EPPLE Arizona State University ...
Lester Brown\u27s edited volume acquaints social workers with two spirits, that is, those Native ... more Lester Brown\u27s edited volume acquaints social workers with two spirits, that is, those Native Americans who are gay, lesbian, or who may adopt mixed-gender practices and roles. Although well-intended, the attempts to sensitize social workers to Natives\u27 lives are occasionally thwarted by overgeneralizations and weak analyses. In the three chapters on identity, the intricacies of culture, gender, and sexuality theory are watered down and confused. In their comparison of Lakota and Dakota practices, Little Crow, Judy Wright, and Brown conjure the odd label non-heterosexual gender identity and collapse gender into sexuality. Mary Ann Jacobs and Lester Brown\u27s piece often homogenizes the American Indian, although the authors\u27 interviews with eight Native American lesbians and gays demonstrate a rich diversity of identities and experiences
OBJECTIVE—We examined if active family nutritional support is associated with improved metabolic ... more OBJECTIVE—We examined if active family nutritional support is associated with improved metabolic outcomes for Diné (Navajo) individuals living with type 2 diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—The presence of family support, using variables identified in earlier ethnographic research, was assessed via surveys in a convenience sample of 163 diabetic individuals. Diabetes outcome measures (HbA1c, serum glucose, triglycerides, total cholesterol, creatinine, and systolic and diastolic blood pressure measures) were extracted from participants’ medical records. Bivariate analyses and multiple logistic regressions were conducted. RESULTS—All measures of family support showed a relation with one or more indicators of metabolic control in bivariate analyses. In multivariate analyses, respondents were more likely to be in the best tertile for triglyceride (P < 0.05), cholesterol (P < 0.05), and HbA1c (P < 0.05) if another person cooked most of the meals. Respondents in families who ...
coming to terms with Navajo n^dleehf: a critique of berdache, "gay," "alternate gender," and "two... more coming to terms with Navajo n^dleehf: a critique of berdache, "gay," "alternate gender," and "two-spirit" CAROLYN EPPLE-Dine College In the course of the last seven years, I have been learning from and about Navajo persons known as nadleehi, or, asHilldescribesthem, "hermaphrodites.. .orthose who pretend to be" (1935:275). ] Traditionally, 2 nadleehi have practiced certain behaviors-such as attire, occupation, and, on occasion, sexual partner preference-in a manner associated with the gender of the opposite sex. Thus, a male nadleehi may (to varying degrees) wear women's clothing; participate in activities associated with women, such as cooking and washing; and have sexual relations with other men. In general this configuration of "other-gender" behaviors has been treated as a single phenomenon across cultures and such individuals have been termed berdache. But with the greater focus on gender and sexuality in anthropology and heightened sensitivity to Native American voices and categories, the term berdache has been criticized (e.g., Jacobs and Thomas 1994:7). As a result alternate terms and categories such as gay, alternate gender, and two-spirit have arisen. Most agree that berdache, with its French meaning of "male prostitute," is problematic; but in creating new categories, many rely on berdache's emphasis on other-gender behaviors, same-sex sexual practices, and unique roles, thereby creating slight variations on the same themes. The use of alternate gender suggests that in mixed-gender behaviors there is evidence for an altogether different gender (Jacobs 1983; Jacobs and Cromwell 1992); gay emphasizes the "multi-dimensional social role," and, less overtly, sexual practices of nadleehi' and others (Roscoe 1988); and two-spirit describes those with "both a male and a female spirit" in terms of gender and sexual practices (Tafoya 1992:256; Jacobs and Thomas 1994:7). 3 As I argue, however, none of these categories is adequate. I follow instead Halperin's approach, developed from the historical study of sexual practices. He redirects attention away from the cultural uses of terms (e.g., do the Iroquois have berdache?) toward their cultural meanings. He describes "the real issue" as twofold: "First of all [it is] how to recover the terms in which the experiences of individuals belonging to past societies were actually constituted, and second, [it is] how to measure and assess the ones we currently employ" (1990:28-29). Tothese points I respond with twoquestions of my own: First, what are the premises or epistemological assumptions of the four categories? And second, are the premises of the categories consistent with a Navajo worldview (at least with the version I am beginning to learn) and thus with how many Navajos understand nadleehi'? Unlike other studies, then, my inquiry extends beyond determining the absence or presence of alternate In this article I assess what premises underlie the categories berdache, "alternate gender," "gay," and "two-spirit"; and whether these premises are relevant to the ways in which many Navajos construct the "alternate gender" of those known as nadleehi. Proponents of these categories often extricate traits from their contexts and perceive male and female as mutually opposed, absolute values. Many Navajos, however, describe traits as inseparable from the universe and view male and female as situational values. [Native American, Navajo, gender, sexuality, worldview]
... as Naipaul and Walcott that "colonial education had effectively wiped out the type of hi... more ... as Naipaul and Walcott that "colonial education had effectively wiped out the type of histoncal memory that gives a people the proud and strong sense of self [Price] had found among the Saramaka," the descendents of escaped slaves ... CAROLYN EPPLE Arizona State University ...
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