Acceptance and Oppression

Of Two Spirits and Hijras

Marla Houston

Ashford University

Anthropology 101

Instructor Michelle Loose

Celebration and Oppression

Of Two Spirits and Hijras

We see a number of cultures that have an identified third gender. "The baku in the Philippines, xaniths in Oman, serrers among the Pokot people of Kenya" (Khan, S et al., 2009). Throughout these cultures people are being revered, oppressed, celebrated, and mocked. Specifically, this will be a discussion of the differences between the Two Spirits of the Lakota Nation and the Hijra of South Asia, and how both cultures have changed throughout the years from cultural evolution and colonization.

An example from Lakota Nation is "an old Lakota word, "Winyanktehca" has today been...