Persistence and change in the berdache tradition among contemporary Lakota Indians

This article explores the gender non-conformity role of berdache, which ethnographers have often assumed has died out among contemporary American Indians. Ethnohistorical sources indicate intense suppression of berdaches by missionaries and government officials. The authors fieldwork in 1982 on Lakota reservations in South Dakota reveals that individuals recognized as berdaches continue to hold a social and ceremonial role. A gender-mixing status seldom talked about with outsiders (including heterosexual ethnographers) was observed. This role involves more emphasis on sexual contact with men that has been noted in recent anthropological writings.