Before colonialism took over the globe, before the Abrahamic/patriarchal Religions took hold, there were trans people. In fact, EVERY pre-colonized culture had a version of trans people, and in EVERY culture, the same belief cropped up again and again: people who were cross-gender or 'between' genders were the people with supernatural abilities, capable of communing with the spirit realm, heal sickness and disease, sense evil, befriend animals, see the future, and more...

In PART THREE of our exploration of gender variance in pre-colonial cultures, we explore 1) slaves who were FORCED to be trans, 2) how terminology has evolved and been co-opted to fit into larger colonial societies, 3) alternate possible causes for alternative gender identities, and most importantly... 4) the spiritual connections / superpowers that trans people were believed to hold. Some of these cultures are still holding it down in the fight against colonizers, and to them we say: KEEP IT UP.

Today, we're covering another SIX cultures (although it's secretly a lot more), and the history of the gender-differing people within them. Namely: The various Two Spirit identies of Indigenous North America, the Köçek (or 'forcibly transed slaves') of the Ottoman Empire, the Sworn Virgins (trans men) of the Balkans, the HIGHLY spiritually connected Machi of Mapuche culture in Chile and Argentina (and their FIGHT against colonizers), the Chibados of Ndongo and Matamba, and the Femminiello, who may have evolved from the Galli, in Italy. Join us on this vision quest deep into the past to learn more about our present, what could have been, and what may still be to come!

00:00:00 Intro/Welcome!
00:01:23 Two Spirit of North America
00:15:57 The Köçek of the Ottoman Empire
00:30:43 The Machi of Chile and Argentina
00:48:05 The Chibados of Ndongo & Matamba
00:52:14 The Femminiello of Italy

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