Beyond the Binary: Paiute Traditions on Gender and Spirituality

Diverse cultures have always held unique and enlightening perspectives. This past July, a few of us got together, and our good friend Dean Barlese, a pillar in the Paiute community, opened up about the Paiute take on gender and spiritual duties. It was one of those heartwarming evenings where stories flow, and learning happens almost effortlessly.

Genders Beyond the Binary

We’ve often heard about the male and female gender binaries, but Dean introduced us to the Paiute’s recognition of five genders: straight male, straight female, two-spirit male, two-spirit female, and transgender. It’s an age-old understanding, pointing towards the community’s inclusive grasp of human identity.

Two Spirits: The Special Roles

Dean spoke about ‘two spirits’ with a sense of reverence. Individuals with both male and female spirits, they play an array of roles within the Paiute community, from healers and teachers to custodians of art and knowledge. Their significance is beautifully multidimensional.

Stewards of the Departed

One of the stories that really hit home was about the responsibilities of the two-spirit males in caring for those who’ve passed on. They have this innate sense of respect and understanding for the spiritual essence of the departed, be it preparing bodies for funerals or handling ancient bones. Their tasks are wrapped in layers of spirituality and reverence.

The Cycle of Life and Beyond

Dean’s words painted a vivid picture of the Paiute’s perception of life’s cyclical nature. Everything, in the end, returns to the dust, the origin of life. The bones of ancestors blend with the earth, and every step we take reconnects us with our roots and the past.

A Friendly Reminder

Sitting with Dean and soaking in his teachings felt like a journey. It was a reminder of the beauty and wisdom indigenous cultures hold. As friends, we felt privileged to have such insights shared with us, and it’s a story that’s worth passing on to many more.

Transcript of Video:

In our way there are five genders: straight male, straight female, two-spirit male, two-spirit female, and transgender. Five.

We’ve always been here. We were created as male and female. From there went to two spirit women, two spirit male and transgender. Even back then there were people born with male and female parts. There are five genders that we know.

The ones with two spirits are special. They become the healers, they become the teachers, the keepers of knowledge, the keepers of art.

And we as a male side of two spirit, we were the ones that took care of when a person died, we took care of them, dress them, prepare them for burial. We’re able to handle human remains. Even now we go into the mortuaries and dress body, getting it ready for funeral.

[For reburials] When they bring the bones home I’m the one that usually has to touch the bones getting ready to scrape all the little marks that archaeologists put on them, the number. We call them their prison numbers. We make sure we scrape all those off. I’m the one that can wrap them up and get them ready.

Other people don’t want to do that. It’s spiritual thing. They’re scared of working with them. We have what we call Indian Sickness that can come from handling the bones. You have to know what you’re doing when you handle the bones. You have to know how to protect yourself, how to keep yourself from getting that. You also communicate with their spirits from thousands of years ago. You can talk to them and tell them you’re trying to do this in a good way to take care of these bones.

The way we’re seeing it is the bones are returning to the dust, because that’s where we were created, from the dust. That was a creation of life. Dust created human. So everything turns back to the dust, the bones turn back to dust. We’re always walking on the shoulders of our ancestors, like he did carrying me. So every time we walk on the dirt, we’re walking on our ancestors, where their bones turned back to dust.

• To learn more about Dean Barlese and his Spiritual Healing work, check out the Pyramid Lake Spiritual Healing Center.
• To learn more about how you can help Dean and make a difference, click here.
• If you would like to make a tax-free donation to the Healing Center, click here.

Originally posted on Medium here.