From The Spirit and the Flesh, Walter L. Williams, 1986

 p. 88 "THE CHARACTER OF THE BERDACHE"

...wondering why the European men were strangely restricted in their

sexual

behavior to women only. On La Salle's exploration in the upper

Mississippi

Valley in the 1690s, Henri de Tonti described Illinois men as being

sexual

toward women "with excess, and boys above women, so that [those boys]

become by that horrid vice, very effeminate."5

Likewise, a priest with La Salle characterized the Indian men

as "lewd,

even

unnaturally so, having boys dressed as women, destined for infamous

purposes." Berdaches, he said, were numerous.6 The French explorer

Pierre

Liette, after four years living among the Illinois Indians, concluded

in

1702 that "The sin of sodomy prevails more among them than in any

other

nation." Since the young men were not satisfied in their passions by

women

alone, Liette wrote, "There are men who are bred for this purpose from

their

childhood. . . . There are men sufficiently embruted to have dealings

with

them."7

Two decades later, a Jesuit missionary wrote that berdaches among the

Indians of the Mississippi Valley "abandon themselves to the most

infamous

passions." He declared: "Effeminacy and lewdness were carried to the

greatest excess in those parts; men were seen to wear the dress of

women

without a blush, and to debase themselves so as to perform those

occupations

which are most peculiar to the [female] sex, from whence followed a

corruption of morals past all expression; it was pretended that this

custom

comes from . . . religion. If the custom I speak of had its beginning

in

the

spirit, it has ended in the flesh."8 Native Americans, of course, saw

no

opposition between matters of the spirit and of the flesh.

While there is much variation in sexuality across Indian cultures, we

can

draw certain conclusions. First, berdaches usually participate in sex

with

men, but homosexual acts are not limited to berdaches. Second,

sexuality

in

many Native American societies is not seen as solely for the purpose

of

reproduction, and is not restricted by the institution of marriage.

It is

instead conceived as a gift from the spirit world, to be enjoyed and

appreciated. In a society without many cultural proscriptions

repressing

human sexual variations, there is an attitude of comparative

casualness

regarding sexuality. What Ruth Underhill wrote about Papago sexual

attitudes

applies to many groups: "There

THE SPIRIT AND THE FLESH 89

was considerably less scope for sexual offenses than in modern society

and a

man, particularly, had a great deal of freedom."9 Stigmatizing people

because of their sexual behavior, or restricting people's choices

generally,

is not seen as a valid function of society. Personal freedom is too

highly

regarded for such an approach to exist.

How such a society operates is best seen by looking at

traditional

Mohave

culture as an example. This Colorado River people's aboriginal

heritage

was

explored by ethnographer George Devereux, who lived among them in the

1930's. While Devereux's writings are controversial to some

anthropologists,

contemporary Mohaves who know their traditions tell me that what he

had

to

say about sexuality is accurate.10 Devereux concluded that the Mohave

have

an "easy" culture, providing "a rational, supportive, lenient and

flexible

upbringing" for children. This easygoing pattern of child rearing does

not

of course entirely eliminate domestic conflicts or psychological

stress,

but

Devereux found that it does diminish the incidence and severity of

mental

illness.11

The Mohave attitude toward sexuality fits in with this carefree way of

life.

Devereux noted that "Mohave sex-life is entirely untrammelled by

social

restraint." The people felt that sexual activity was an enjoyable and

humorous sport, a gift from nature to be freely indulged. Without

social

restrictions, and hearing the incessant sexual talk of adults, Mohave

children grew up with an adventuresome attitude toward sex. Young

children

remained completely naked, and boys did not begin to wear clothing

until

puberty. Among boys, urinating competitions were a favorite game, as

were

contests to see who could reach orgasm most quickly by masturbating.

Casual

same-sex relations from early childhood were frequent, and "there is

little

or no objection to homosexuality among the Mohave."12

Though the ease of sexual experimentation, with both sexes, was

enjoyed

in a

lighthearted way, Devereux wrote, "Even the most casual coitus

implied,

by

definition, also an involvement of the 'soul': body, cohabiting with

body

and soul with soul. . . . Many children cohabited with each other and

even

with adults long before puberty; the [nonsexual] latency period was

conspicuous by its absence. Children were much loved,

90

brought up permissively, and looked after at once generously and

lackadaisically." Children spent their prepubertal years exploring

their

environment with their age mates, playing, swimming, indulging in

sexual

play and in sex itself. Because the society placed a high value on

kindness

to children, the Mohave child learned to like and trust everyone.

Children

interacted, sexually and otherwise, with a number of people of

different

ages, and did not restrict themselves to an "overintense and exclusive

emotional attachment" to a single person. Devereux wrote, "This

explains

why

the adult Mohave is so highly 'available,' both sexually and for

friendship."'3 Sexual patterns tell much about the shape of the

society

in

general. The Mohaves' casual attitude toward sexual variance reflects

their

general care-free and freedom-loving attitude toward life. In such an

atmosphere, same-sex relations can take place in an open manner

This is especially notable with regard to children, whose sexual play

was

seen as an important element in growing up and learning adult roles.

The

adult attitude toward a child's sexual experimentation was more

likely to

be

one of amusement rather than alarm. Most males in many different

tribes

probably had experience with same-sex behavior beginning in

childhood.14

Richard Grant, an ethnographer among the Hopi Indians in the 1970's,

reports

that even today informants told him, "Everyone considers homosexual

behavior

normal during adolescence and nearly all boys form special bonds which

include sexual behavior. It is expected that all will 'grow out of

it,'

however, so that by adulthood marriage and the production of children

will

occur." But until they reach their twenties, males might participate

in

this

form of homosexuality without social disapproval.15

Among the seventeenth-century Mayas, these homosexual relationships

among

boys and young men were institutionalized. The Franciscan friar Juan

de

Torquemada, in Guatemala before 1615, wrote of the Mayas telling him a

story

of a god who came down to earth and taught the males how to have sex

with

each other: "Convinced therefore that it was not a sin, the custom

started

among parents of giving a boy to their young son, to have him for a

woman

and to use him as a woman; from that also began the law that if anyone

approached the boy [sexually], they were ordered to pay for it,

punishing

them with the same penalties as those breaking the condition of a

marriage."16

THE SPIRIT AND THE FLESH 91

This custom of an adolescent having a younger boy as a "wife" negates

the

idea of homosexuality being "abnormal," simply because it was normal

for

that culture. The norm was for a boy to be a boy-wife in his youth,

then

to

graduate in the teenage years to being a husband of a younger boy, and

then

in his twenties to get married to a woman. This custom also shows that

the

inclination of many if not most males is--in the absence of social

taboos--to interact sexually with both males and females during at

least

part of their lifetime.

Among the Zapotecs of Mexico, homosexual behavior among males is

common

for

all age groups. Since it is so common, the sexual behavior itself is

not

a

means of classifying people. Only the nonmasculine ira' muxe are seen

as

different. A masculine man may have sex with ira' muxe, another

masculine

man, or a boy, and none of this will mark him as deviant. Boys

commonly

become sexually active with men during early puberty if not earlier.

17

Though they have been having sex with other males, when they are

between

ages twenty and thirty, masculine men almost always marry women and

have

children. But gossip suggests that some continue to have sexual

experiences

with males even after they are married. Such a pattern is not too

different

from that of married men who are completely heterosexual, since they

will

often have an illicit relationship with a female. 18

Similarly, among traditionalist Navajos, persons who are married do

not

experience much limitation on their sexual and affectional life with

other

people, of whichever sex. Marriages traditionally are primarily

economic

arrangements, so they are not expected to fill all of one's sexual

desires.

The whole emphasis of Navajo culture is to provide all persons

independence

in making decisions about their own lives. 19

MAN-MAN HOMOSEXUAL BEHAVIOR

A person did not restrict close bonding to her or his marriage

partner.

In

fact, among both women and men, individuals in American Indian

cultures

generally were emotionally closer to those of their own gender than to

the

other. Among men, this commonly took the form of an especially warm

friendship...

From The Spirit and the Flesh, Walter L. Williams, 1986