Lhamana is the traditional Zuni gender role

Gender role

Gender roles refer to the set of social and behavioral norms that are considered to be socially appropriate for individuals of a specific sex in the context of a specific culture, which differ widely between cultures and over time...

, now described variously as mixed-gender or Two-Spirit

Two-Spirit

Two-Spirit People , is an English term that emerged in 1990 out of the third annual inter-tribal Native American/First Nations gay/lesbian American conference in Winnipeg. It describes Indigenous North Americans who fulfill one of many mixed gender roles found traditionally among many Native...

, for men who lived in part as women, wearing a mixture of women's and men's clothing and doing a great deal of women's work as well as serving as mediators

Mediation

Mediation, as used in law, is a form of alternative dispute resolution , a way of resolving disputes between two or more parties. A third party, the mediator, assists the parties to negotiate their own settlement...

. The most famous lhamana was We'wha.

Gilley (2006, p.8), as is common after Roscoe (1991, p.22–28), describes lhamana as a third gender, "occupied by a male-bodied person" who "dressed as women and performed women's crafts in Zuni culture. In contrast with European culture knitting, for example, was a male craft. such as weaving

Weaving

Weaving is a method of fabric production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. The other methods are knitting, lace making and felting. The longitudinal threads are called the warp and the lateral threads are the weft or filling...

 and potting

Pottery

Pottery is the material from which the potteryware is made, of which major types include earthenware, stoneware and porcelain. The place where such wares are made is also called a pottery . Pottery also refers to the art or craft of the potter or the manufacture of pottery...

, but also had the physical strength to fulfill certain male-orientated pursuits such as hunting big game and cutting firewood."

Though seen by European colonialists as gay

Gay

Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....

 or transgender

Transgender

Transgender is a general term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies to vary from culturally conventional gender roles....

, the Zuni lhamana played a significant role in the community that cannot be reduced to same-sex desire or cross-dressing

Cross-dressing

Cross-dressing is the wearing of clothing and other accoutrement commonly associated with a gender within a particular society that is seen as different than the one usually presented by the dresser...

. Functions fulfilled by lhamana individuals in Zuni society include mediation, skill in crafts, and the knowledge necessary for instructing others. The lack of homophobia in traditional Zuni culture marks a further difference between the lhamana role and contemporary Euro-American gender and sexual identities. European terms used to describe lhamana include berdache, third gender, mixed gender, and man-woman.

Sources

• Gilley, Brian Joseph (2006). Becoming Two-Spirit: Gay Identity and Social Acceptance in Indian Country. ISBN 0803271263.
• Roscoe, Will (1991). The Zuni Man-Woman. ISBN 0826312535.