Native American LGBTQ+ People, 1528-1976, by Jonathan Ned Katz

These documents about LGBTQ+ Native Americans present years of testimony from a wide variety of observers: military men, missionaries, explorers, trappers, traders, settlers, and later, medical doctors, anthropologists, homosexual emancipationists, and LGBTQ+ activists.

In a few rare instances, the voices of LGBTQ+ Native Americans are heard.

This is adapted from Jonathan Ned Katz, Gay American History: Lesbians and Gay Men in the U.S.A. (NY: Crowell, 1976). The notes to these documents contain numbers of additional sources.

Published originally on OutHistory in 2011; last edited June 21, 2024.

McCoy's "His presence was so disgusting," 1828

McCoy, author of a History of the Baptist Indian Missions, visited the Osage in about 1828, and writes:

Among some of the uncultivated tribes to the north, there are instances, though rare, of men assuming the office of women. They put on women's apparel, and mingle with them, and affect the manner and appearance of females as much as possible, and continue this folly during life. While I was at the Osage villages, one of these wretches was pointed out to me. He appeared to be about twenty-five years of age, was tall, lean, and of a ghost-like appearance. His presence was so disgusting, and the circumstances of the case so unpleasant, that I spoke not a word to him, and made few inquiries about him. He was said to be in a declining state of health, and certainly his death would not have been lamented.[1]

References

Jonathan Ned Katz, Gay American History: Lesbians and Gay Men in the U.S.A. (NY: Crowell, 1976) pg. 300.

Isaac McCoy, History of Baptist Indian Missions ... (N.Y.: H. & S. Raynor, 1840) p. 36-61.