Determination: Three Paths to the Evolution of Female Intersexuality in a Mammal,” Journal of Theoretical Biology 179:199-211); mole voles (Fredga, “Bizarre Mammalian Sex-Determining Mechanisms”); Orang-utan (Dutrillaux et al. 1975; Turleau et al. 1975); Hanuman Langur (Egozcue 1972).
55
Johnsgard, Arena Birds, p. 242.
56
On the cassowary mating system, see Crome, F. H. J. (1976) “Some Observations on the Biology of the Cassowary in Northern Queensland,” Emu 76:8-14.
57
There are actually three distinct, but closely related, species of cassowaries; this genital configuration is based on descriptions of the moruk or Bennett’s cassowary (Casuarius bennettii) in King, A. S. (1981) “Phallus,” in A. S. King and J. McLelland, eds., Form and Function in Birds, vol. 2, pp. 107-47 (London: Academic Press). Males and females of a number of other birds, including related flightless species such as Ostriches and Rheas, as well as ducks and geese, also possess a similar genital/anal configuration. Incidentally, the phallus /clitoris of the cassowary (as well as of these other birds) consistently bends to the left when erect (owing to the asymmetrical arrangement of its internal tissues), and males are said to mount females from the left side because of the curvature of their organs. These anatomical and behavioral facts suggest an interesting parallel to Native American beliefs about the left-handedness of (gender-mixing) Bears. Although there are no reports of indigenous New Guinean beliefs about “left-sidedness” in cassowaries, the Arapesh people do represent the cassowary mother figure as the left foot of an ancestral spirit (Tuzin, The Cassowary’s Revenge, p. 115); the existence of other such connections is worth investigating.
58
Callender and Kochems, “The North American Berdache,” pp. 448-49; Roscoe, Changing Ones, p. 9; Allen, “Ritualized Homosexuality, Male Power, and Political Organization in North Vanuatu,” p. 117; American Bison (Roe 1970:63-64); Savanna (Chacma) Baboon (Marais 1922/1969:205-6; Bielert et al. 1980:4-5); Hooded Warbler (Niven 1993:191 [cf. Lynch et al. 1985:718]); Northern Elephant Seal (Le Boeuf 1974:173); Red Deer (Darling 1937:170); Black-headed Gull (van Rhijn 1985:87, 100); Common Garter Snake (Mason and Crews 1985:59; Mason 1993:264); Bighorn Sheep (Berger 1985:334). “Hypermasculinity” also characterizes (some forms of) male homosexuality in other cultures, most notably contemporary North America. As one recent observer of the gay scene comments, “It’s like a very intense male bonding thing … it’s the ultimate in masculinity. People think faggots are queers; they’re fairies. No way. They’re more men than anybody, ‘cause they’re totally homoerotic. How much more masculine can you get?” (“Walter,” quoted in Devor, H. [1997] FTM: Female-to-Male Transsexuals in Society, p. 504 [Bloomington: Indiana University Press]).
59
Wilson, E. O. (1992) The Diversity of Life (Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap/Harvard University Press). For another example of a New Guinean (Fore) indigenous bird taxonomy that nearly matches that of western ornithologists, see Diamond, J. (1966) “Zoological Classification System of a Primitive People,” Science 151:1102-4.
60
Milton M.R. Freeman, quoted in Mander, J. (1991) In the Absence of the Sacred: The Failure of Technology and the Survival of the Indian Nations, p. 259 (San Francisco: Sierra Club Books).
61
Walrus: throat pouches (Fay 1960; Schevill et al. 1966); adoption (Fay 1982; Eley 1978); all-male herds (Miller 1975; 1976); stampedes (Fay and Kelly 1980).
62
Musk-ox (Smith 1976:126-27; Tener 1965:89-90). See also discussion in Freeman, M. M. R. (1984) “New/Old Approaches to Renewable Resource Management in the North,” in Northern Frontier Development —Alaska/Canada Perspectives (Twenty-Third Annual Meeting of the Western Regional Science Association, Monterey, Calif., February 1984); Freeman, M. M. R. (1986) “Renewable Resources, Economics, and Native Communities,” in Native People and Renewable Resource Management, 1986 Symposium of the Alberta Society of Professional Biologists (Edmonton: Alberta Society of Professional Biologists); Mander, In the Absence of the Sacred, pp. 257-60.
63
Norris, K. S., and K. Pryor (1991) “Some Thoughts on Grandmothers,” in K. Pryor and K. S. Norris, eds., Dolphin Societies: Discoveries and Puzzles, pp. 287-89 (Berkeley: University of California Press).
64
Feit, H. A. (1986) “James Bay Cree Indian Management and Moral Consideration of Fur-Bearers,” in Native People and Renewable Resource Management, pp. 49-62; Mander, In the Absence of the Sacred, pp. 59-61.
65
Miller, “People, Berdaches, and Left-handed Bears,” p. 286. Whether direct knowledge of animal homosexuality (rather than transgender) has contributed to indigenous belief systems remains an open question, although it seems quite likely that observation of a species’ same-sex activity may also have been a factor in its status as a shamanic “power animal.” Although there are no specific reports of this in the ethnographic literature (which is, however, notoriously incomplete with regard to matters of sexuality, particularly homosexuality), there are several suggestive cases. In a number of Native American cultures, animals are selected as symbolically important for shamanistic practices because their biology and behavior exhibit particularly salient or “unusual” features. In the Pacific Northwest culture region, for example, “animals that shamans relied on as spirit helpers [including shore birds, sea mammals, otters, and Mountain Goats] were those that inhabit border areas of the environment such as the shoreline, the water’s surface, or the tops of trees. Their behavior was thought to represent their supernatural ability to move through the different zones of the cosmos”—echoing the shaman’s ability to traverse different worlds. (This also corresponds to the well-established ecological principle in Western science that the greatest diversity, flexibility, and environmental richness is to be found in the border zones between major ecosystems, such as the region where forest meets grassland.) This is especially true for the (American) oystercatcher, whose preeminent status as a spirit animal in Tlingit shamanism is based not only on its inhabiting border zones, but also its furtive behavior and habit of being among the first creatures to sound alarm at the approach of danger (likened to the shaman’s function as “guardian” for his or her people) (Wardwell, A. [1996] Tangible Visions: Northwest Coast Indian Shamanism and Its Art, pp. 40–43, 96, 239 [New York: Monacelli Press]; for similar observations concerning totemic or shamanic animals in Yup’ik and New Guinean cultures, see Fienup-Riordan, Boundaries and Passages, pp. 124, 130–31, and Jorgensen, “Echidna and Kuyaam,” pp. 374, 378). Homosexuality is also part of the biological repertoires of many of these species (e.g., various shore birds, sea mammals, and Mountain Goats) or else of their close relatives (e.g., the [Eurasian] Oystercatcher). It is possible, therefore, that observed sexual variance in animals—paralleling the shaman’s straddling of sexual boundaries—might also have contributed to the spiritual importance of such creatures. Another interesting example concerns red ants, which feature prominently as shamanic helpers in a number of indigenous cultures of south-central California (all of which, incidentally, recognize two-spirit people). The religious and cultural importance of ants is tied to their powerful medicinal and hallucinogenic properties as well as their use in ritual activities. This includes the extraordinary practice of swallowing large quantities of live ants to induce visions and the acquistion of spirit-animal helpers. Although no homosexual activity has yet been reported for these species (identified as belonging to the genus Pogonomyrmex), nor is human gender or sexual variance directly associated with these ant-related beliefs or practices, there are some intriguing clues. Recently, for example, homosexual activity was discovered in a different species of Red Ant (Formica sub-polita) endemic to the semidesert regions of the western United States (O‘Neill 1994:96). Moreover, among the Kawaiisu people (where shamanic ant practices are especially prominent), unusual habits of animals are singled out as a potent spiritual sign, and two-spirit people (who may occupy positions of power, e.g., as chiefs) are reported to be particularly
