by Evelyn Bailey
Over the course of this year, Shoulders To Stand On would like to focus on the early roots of “gay liberation” in the Rochester area of Upstate New York.
It is difficult to capture the spirit of Rochester’s earliest pioneers in the pursuit of individual freedom and societal acceptance of diversity. Today Rochester is very different from its pre-Stonewall, pre-revolutionary times. The journey begins at the beginning of time with an unquenchable desire for freedom, acceptance, and a better life for all.
Here in the beginning – thousands of years ago — were the Native American Upstate NY nations. The first idea of “liberation” comes out of the matriarchal society of the Iroquois (Haudenosaunee), indigenous to Upstate New York.
The Iroquois were (and are) among the most important groups in North American history. They had a matrilineal social structure — the women owned all property and determined kinship. There were three clans, turtle, bear, and wolf — each headed by the clan mother, which is still the case today. The Seneca (Onondowaga), however, were like the Huron tribes and had eight clans (the five additional being the crane, snipe, hawk, beaver, and deer). After marriage, a man moved into his wife’s longhouse, and their children became members of her clan.
The Iroquois League was formed prior to any contact with European explorers and settlements. Rather than learning political sophistication from Europeans, Europeans learned about liberation and equality from the Iroquois, and the League, with its elaborate system of checks, balances, and supreme law, influenced the American Articles of Confederation and Constitution.
The Iroquois were farmers and hunters whose leaders were chosen by their women. Founded by the Peacemaker and the Mother of Nations to maintain peace and resolve disputes between its members, the League’s primary law was and is the Kainerekowa, the Great Law of Peace, an oral history that describes the political relationship between the Five Nations [six, in 1722, when the Tuscarora from the Carolinas joined as a sort of “junior member” (O'Brien 1989:18)]. The Law simply states Iroquois should not kill each other. A long civil war between the nations was ended when the Peacemaker and Mother of Nations brought the warring groups together to bury their weapons under the White Pine, the sacred Tree of Peace.
The League’s organization was prescribed by a written constitution. The council was composed of 50 male sachems known variously as lords, or peace chiefs. Nominated by the tribal clan mothers (who had almost complete power in their selection), Iroquois sachemships were usually held for life. Sachems who did not do the right thing, however, were “de-horned” by the clan mothers, who had final say.
In terms of liberation, it is not difficult to make the jump from a matriarchal society in which women had power and were equal to if not more important than men, to Susan B. Anthony who would raise the standard for a woman’s right to vote. Rochester is saturated with the energy, spirit and overwhelming history of liberation — women’s rights, civil rights, gay rights – and has deep roots in liberation and equality.
Within Native American matriarchal societies, there have always been men and women who were identified in some traditions as “Two-Spirit.” Before the late twentieth century, the term berdache was widely used by anthropologists as a generic term to indicate “two-spirit” individuals; however, this term has become considered increasingly outdated and offensive
Among many North American groups, berdaches represented a gender intermediate between male and female (Calender and Kochems, 1983; Jacobs, 1968). A berdache is a person who adopts the dress or occupation or behavior (or any combination thereof) of members of the opposite sex, thereby acquiring a distinct gender status. The member of a particular culture “became” a berdache in varying ways, some at a young age and others at a later stage in life, possibly following life as a warrior, “when they were no longer capable of fighting effectively”.
The berdache gender was mostly assumed by males. There were female to male berdaches (“Amazons”) but male to female berdaches seem to have been more common. As many as 113 different tribes recognized the berdache gender for males, and female berdaches were reported in at least 30 tribes. Individual male to female berdaches ran the gamut from occasional crossdressers to people who “lived full time”. There are stories of berdaches who would switch back and forth between male and female. They were accepted and honored but also considered to be somewhat eccentric.
The berdache did not typically adopt all the roles of the opposite sex. The culture of each society in which the berdache was found defined exactly which of the traditional roles of each gender were to be adopted by the berdache. (Davis & Whitten, 1987, p. 84) In some tribes the berdache was expected to behave heterosexually, in others bisexually, homosexually or asexually.
In most Native American cultures berdaches were respected, fully integrated into society, and had a high status. Generally berdaches were associated with good luck, they were considered to be lucky people, not because of their alternate gender but because good things seemed to happen to them. In tribes that had trade and economic activity berdaches were considered to be good in business.
Berdaches were also often associated with shamanism, or contact with the spirit world. Shamans are very common, probably universal, in tribal cultures. They are people who contact or enter the spirit world, usually after going into a trance state, and are involved in healing people, both physically and psychologically. Not all berdaches were shamans and not all shamans were berdaches, but berdaches were regarded as making especially skilled shamans. This is because they were thought to be skillful at crossing boundaries, gender as well as spiritual. In most cultures around the world that accepted transgenderism, transgender persons were often connected with religion and spirituality and were seen as having a special relationship with ancestral and/or elemental spirits. Since berdaches knew what it was like to be both a man and a woman, they were also looked to for advice on relationships.
The roots of homosexuality, transgender and other gender identities are deeply rooted in the archetypal images and psyche of upstate New York Native American men and women. European settlers would have become aware of this “Two Spirit” culture very early in their explorations. Whether accepted or not, homosexuality and transgenderism are identifiable from the beginning of Native American history in New York. This history is not necessarily known by current generations influenced by centuries of Christianity. But these roots of homosexuality in Upstate NY had a significant impact on our culture.
Gay liberation, as a fact if not a “concept,” was accepted in most Native American cultures. With European influence and the growth of a new nation, gay liberation was placed on the back burner as our more basic needs for survival and growth as a nation took precedence, and as patriarchal Christianity increasingly condemned homosexuality.
However, the seeds were planted in the energy, spirit and life of those homosexual and transgender Native Americans who lived in the Rochester area. These were passed down to future generations of all Americans. We cannot discount the influence of Rochester’s ancient Native American culture on the generations to follow. The Rochester community has supported and continues to support diversity, inclusion and an openness to difference that nurtures creativity and innovation.
Shoulders to Stand On asks that you take some time to consider these roots of gay liberation, to understand the norm of life they projected for future generations, and to celebrate the still-vibrant Native American culture that has provided both a profound influence on U.S. democracy and a strong foundation for opening the Closet Door!