The Berdache as shaman: an analysis
Citation
Klieger, P. Christiaan. (1984). The Berdache as shaman: an analysis. -- Lambda Alpha Journal of Man, v.16, no.1, p.35-45.
Abstract
The phenomenon of berdache sexual inversion among the
Northern Plains Indians continues to be both a source of
interest and confusion for anthropologists. Early ethnohistoric
literature and later causal analyses of the role
of the berdache have tended to be biased by either western
morality or western psychological paradigms. This problem
was clearly described by Blakeslee (1979). Yet even recent
interpretations have tended to circumvent the issues of role
transgression in regards to the maintenance of the role in
Plains cultures and the ritualistic importance of the berdache
to those groups. What has been missing in the analysis of
the berdache is the process of native conceptualization of
sex roles and the process by which these cultures accommodate
individuals who do not conform to the norm. A comparative
analysis of belief systems can be useful in demonstrating the
integration of atypical roles into society, for it appears
that the berdache is intimately associated with shamanism.