first century. One of the most eagerly anticipated speakers was neither a “scholar” nor a “scientist” in the conventional sense. Native American storyteller Larry Littlebird, a member of the Keres nations of New Mexico, was invited to give an indigenous perspective on the natural world. As the audience sat in hushed attention on the final day of the conference, Littlebird treated the biologists to an enigmatic tale of Lizard, who summons forth rain clouds with a song that most ordinary humans can’t hear.129
Although this unprecedented event is an encouraging sign of a new direction in science, something crucial was missing—the centrality of homosexuality/transgender to indigenous belief systems. How many of the participants at that conference knew that Littlebird’s Pueblo tribe, one of the Keresan peoples, recognizes the sacredness of the two-spirit or
A contemporary Yup‘ik two-spirit, Anguksuar (Richard LaFortune), has drawn attention to the recent convergence of Western scientific thought with indigenous perspectives, and the relevance of notions of gender and sexual fluidity: “Modern science emerged [and] linear flight from disorder led directly to quantum theory. This scrambling toward something orderly and manageable has landed right back in the lap of the Great Mystery: chaos, the unknown, and imagination … . This is a region of the cosmos familiar to many indigenous taxonomies and to which the Western mind is finally returning … . When I read [Fritjof] Capra’s description of the ‘Crisis of Perception’ that appears to be afflicting Western societies, it seemed to make perfect sense that culture, identity, gender, and human sexuality would figure prominently in such a crisis.”132 The fact is that two-spiritedness, homosexuality, bisexuality, and transgender are at the forefront of some of the most significant scientific re- visionings of our time—in which the gap between indigenous and Western perspectives is finally being bridged—yet their contribution is rarely, if ever, acknowledged by Western scientists. When prominent chaos theoreticians, biodiversity experts, and post-Darwinian evolutionists invoke the teachings of tribal peoples, they are usually unaware of the pivotal role played by homosexuality and transgender in these indigenous belief systems, or in the lives of the writers, storytellers, and visionaries who give poetic voice to their scientific concepts.
In the book
“From Wakan Tanka, the Great Spirit, there came a great unifying life force that flowed in and through all things—the flowers of the plains, blowing winds, rocks, trees, birds, animals—and was the same force that had been breathed into the first man. Thus all things were kindred, and were brought together by the same Great Mystery.” So spoke the Oglala (Sioux) chief Luther Standing Bear, whose words grace the pages of
The importance of this missing link cannot be overemphasized. If Western science is to embrace indigenous perspectives—as it should—then it must do so fully, including views on homosexuality/transgender. It cannot pick and choose among aboriginal “beliefs,” salvaging only those that it is most comfortable with while rejecting those that challenge its prejudices. All of us (scientists included) must acknowledge that heeding “aboriginal wisdom” means listening even when—or perhaps,
It is believed that homosexual activities promote growth throughout nature … while excessive heterosexual activities lead to decay in nature … . The balance of these forces is dependent on human action … . The Bedamini do not … experience any inconsistency in the cosmic equation of homosexuality with growth and heterosexuality with decay.
—ARVE SORUM, “Growth and Decay:
Bedamini Notions of Sexuality”137
Nor is the association of homosexuality with fecundity unique to this example. As we saw earlier, the renewal and abundance of nature is ensured during Mandan, Yup’ik, and many other cultures’ ceremonies by the symbolic reenactment of animal homosexuality and ritual displays of gender mixing. The Bimin-Kuskusmin human-animal androgynes (who are themselves celibate or postreproductive) are seen as embodiments of fertility, life essence, and earth’s creative powers, while the presence of transgendered and nonreproductive animals is regarded as vital for the productivity of domesticated herds among the Navajo and Chukchi. Rather than being seen as “barren” or counterproductive, then, homosexuality, transgender, and nonbreeding are considered essential for the continuity of life. This is the fundamental “paradox” at the heart of indigenous thinking on alternate genders and sexualities— something that is not, of course, really considered paradoxical at all in these worldviews. It is important that scientists working in chaos theory, biodiversity /Gaia studies, and post-Darwinian evolution acknowledge their genuine affinities with indigenous perspectives. But this process will be complete only when scientists themselves understand this “paradox” and no longer see any inconsistency in the equation of homosexuality/transgender with the vitality of the natural world.
In his study of the 12,000-year-old shamanic worldview of the Tsistsistas (Cheyenne) people and their