Abstract taken from the back cover of the book (1992 revised edition).<
Winner of the Gay Book of the Year Award from the American Library Association; the Ruth Benedict Award from the Society of Lesbian and Gay Anthropologists and the Award for Outstanding Scholarship presented at the World Congress for Sexology, this landmark study documents Native American cultures that venerate Two-Spirit People (androgynous persons who are classified as neither men nor women).
Walter L. Williams combines historical research with his own important and controversial fieldwork to explore the religious, social, gender, and sexual aspects of the Two-Spirit tradition. An acclaimed authority on the subject, Williams is the first outside observer to participate in both the public rituals and private lives of Two-Spirit persons in various tribes.
“A major contribution to our understanding of Native American cultures as well as to the burgeoning history of sexuality.”
—Martin Bauml Duberman, distinguished professor of history, City University of New York.
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