t'winiːq
Klamath-Modoc
Alternative forms
- ṫwini·qs[1]
- twǃǐnnă´ĕk[2]
- tuiniχátko[3]
- t'i-t'on:q-atk[4]
Noun
t'winiːq
- a two-spirit (of either sex); a transgender or third-gender person (of any sexual orientation)
References
- Handbook of North American Indians, volume 12 (1983): Somewhat outside the pale of respectable Klamath society (Modocs deny having had them at all) was the berdache (ṫwini·qs) of either sex. Berdaches usually took the role after puberty, wearing women's garb, taking a spouse, and performing work appropriate to the opposite sex.
- Encyclopedia of Lesbian Histories and Cultures
- Albert Samuel Gatschet, Dictionary of the Klamath Language (1890)
- Barker (1963)
- The Phonology of Campidanian Sardinian (sic, mentions this word in a discussion of known onset reduplication phenomena)
- Culture and human sexuality: a reader (1993), page 381: "Spier (1930:50-53) described a bisexual female Klamath berdache."