Winkte

Winkte(also spelledwíŋkte) is the contraction of an oldLakotaword,winyanktehca,meaning 'wants to be like a woman'.Historically, thewinktehave in some cases been considered a social category of male-bodied individuals who adopt the clothing, work, and mannerisms that Lakota culture usually considers feminine.However, in contemporary Lakota culture,winkteis usually used to refer to ahomosexualman, whether or not that man is in other ways gender non-conforming. Contemporarywinktemay or may not consider themselves part of the more mainstreamgay,LGBT,orpan-Indiantwo-spiritcommunities.Historically, sometimes the direction to adopt the social and spiritual aspects of this role has come in a series of dreams.

While historical accounts of their status vary, most accounts treated thewinkteas regular members of the community, and not in any way marginalized for their status. Other accounts held thewinkteas sacred, occupying aliminal,third-genderrole in the culture, and born to fulfill ceremonial roles that could not be filled by either men or women.In contemporary Lakota communities, attitudes toward thewinktevary from accepting to homophobic.

Etymology

Beatrice Medicinewrites:

In my childhood, we were aware of this social category, which was referred to aswinkte.Linguistic analysis of this Lakota word is:

win– "woman"

kte– "to be like"

kte– "to kill" (a deeper structural form)

"The common vernacular usage waswinkte"wants to be like a woman."

We, as children, were instructed, "There are these individuals – in all cases males (wicasa). They are different. They arewinkte.Don't make fun of them. They are also Lakota, "said our parents and grandparents.