Niizh manidoowag < niizh ("two") + manidoo ("spirit")

"Two-Spirit" refers to a collection of countless Native traditions that allow for gender-diverse expression and sexuality, covering the full range of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons, as well as intersex and other gender-variant people

The term Two-Spirited is being reclaimed by many gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Aboriginal people to identify themselves; it is a term that can be used with pride because it is something that has been picked by the ones it serves to identify. (Is also used by heterosexual individuals who identify as Two-Spirited within Aboriginal culture). 

Two-Spirit people were highly valued in many pre-colonial Aboriginal cultures because they brought harmony and balance and were honored to be able to sit in both the male and female camps.

Through hundreds of years of European American's trying to suppress Indigenous American cultural and religious practices, two-spirits are trying to create a positive identity for themselves that better describes their position in society. 

Our Elders tell us of people who were gifted among all beings because they carried two spirits - that of male and female and that humans are dependent for many good things on the inventiveness of the nadle [the Navajo term for the two-spirit]. Such individuals were present from the earliest era of human existence, and "they were part of the natural order of the universe, with a special contribution to make."

In our culture (sexuality, gender, culture, community and spirituality) are all interconnected, the inherent relationship between sexuality and cultural identity cannot be separated.