People, Berdaches, and Left-Handed Bears: Human Variation in Native America
- 1 October 1982
- journal article
- research article
- Published by University of Chicago Press in Journal of Anthropological Research
- Vol. 38 (3) , 274-287
- https://doi.org/10.1086/jar.38.3.3629849
Abstract
The Native cultures of North America recognize a bewilderingly large range of people, only some of whom are human. Focusing on four widely scattered tribes (Nootka, Keres, Kootenay, Winnebago) with examples from several others (Blackfeet, Pomo, Ojibwa, Tsimshian, Lenape Delaware), this paper examines the mediating role played by berdaches, bears, and others in these cultures. Consideration is also given to variations in the psychological, categorical, and symbolic aspects of gender and of the culture/nature continuum.This publication has 1 reference indexed in Scilit:
- Is Female to Male as Nature Is to Culture?Feminist Studies, 1972