Quo-li Driskill’s piece “Shaking out shells: Cherokee two-spirits rebalancing the World” discusses the consequences that colonization has played on Cherokee gender systems through European colonization and invasion.
Driskell explains that since Cherokee land was invaded, “unbalanced power relationships between men and women” have formed (Driskell 123). A word used frequently in this writing to describe this relationship between genders before colonization is duyuktv, meaning “balance, truth, justice”, and overall peace (121). Duyuktu included both men and women having jurisdiction, and gender as something not to be suppressed and controlled. After European invasion, however, duyuktu has been disrupted because of patriarchal ideas being enforced.
The term “Two Spirit” is introduced as a Cherokee person who identifies with both male and female gender roles, creating a third gender. Two Spirits’ goals are to change these patriarchal patterns back into what was an equal community with no suppressed gender. They feel as if they have an obligation to try to restore traditional gender roles because of their combination of their own gender. Two Spirits try to prevent the suggestion that gender can “be [a] site of violence and tool of oppression” (128). …show more content…
It is of equal importance and responsibility that both men and women participate in Stomp Dances, because Two Spirits realize that it would not be complete without the other gender. Men are essential to the tradition because they sing, and women are essential because they shake shells. In Stomp Dances, both genders “have a place in the circle”, and are dependent on the other (126), similar to Cherokee traditional gender roles. The dances keep tradition going strong, so Cherokee people won’t forget their preexisting values before European
Driskell explains that since Cherokee land was invaded, “unbalanced power relationships between men and women” have formed (Driskell 123). A word used frequently in this writing to describe this relationship between genders before colonization is duyuktv, meaning “balance, truth, justice”, and overall peace (121). Duyuktu included both men and women having jurisdiction, and gender as something not to be suppressed and controlled. After European invasion, however, duyuktu has been disrupted because of patriarchal ideas being enforced.
The term “Two Spirit” is introduced as a Cherokee person who identifies with both male and female gender roles, creating a third gender. Two Spirits’ goals are to change these patriarchal patterns back into what was an equal community with no suppressed gender. They feel as if they have an obligation to try to restore traditional gender roles because of their combination of their own gender. Two Spirits try to prevent the suggestion that gender can “be [a] site of violence and tool of oppression” (128). …show more content…
It is of equal importance and responsibility that both men and women participate in Stomp Dances, because Two Spirits realize that it would not be complete without the other gender. Men are essential to the tradition because they sing, and women are essential because they shake shells. In Stomp Dances, both genders “have a place in the circle”, and are dependent on the other (126), similar to Cherokee traditional gender roles. The dances keep tradition going strong, so Cherokee people won’t forget their preexisting values before European