Tremendous respect to Roscoe for frequently deferring to a Zuni perspective this book was one of the most sympathetic accounts of a culture I've read.

Also, it should go without saying that any book about American indigenous peoples and the injustices they've encountered is going to be very upsetting to anyone with a moral compass. Some sections were denser and more academic than I'm used to, particularly Chapter 6 ('Two-fold One-kind,' which is a Jungian interpretation of the 'meaning' of Zuni rites), but that's not a criticism those parts were fascinating. Through Wewhas exceptional life, historian Will Roscoe creates a vivid picture of an alternative gender role whose history has been hidden and almost forgotten.This short book is at once a brief history and anthropology of the Zuni people, a biography of We'wha, who fulfilled the lhamana (third gender) role, a meditation on the nature of gender as a cultural construct (specifically how the lhamana identity fulfills a social need that Western/European culture fails to address), a critique of Western gender, an overview of Zuni rites as they relate to the construction of a gender identity, a (heartbreaking) account of the dismantling of the lhamana and similar 'two-spirit' identities by government mandate (as well as the Victorian cultural forces that created those mandates), and a small beacon of hope in the (then in its early stages) reburgeoning of the two-spirit identity within intertribal cultures. An important book that will bring to the field a better understanding of the role of the berdache in Pueblo culture.-John Adair, San Francisco State University From the Back Cover This book focuses on the life of Wewha, perhaps the most famous berdache (an individual who combined the work and traits of both men and women) in American history.

Through Wewhas exceptional life, Will Roscoe creates a vivid picture of an alternative gender role whose history has been hidden and almost forgotten.

Book Synopsis The Zuni Man-Woman focuses on the life of Wewha (1849-96), the Zuni who was perhaps the most famous berdache (an individual who combined the work and traits of both men and women) in American Indian history. About the Book The life of Wewha (1849-96), the Zuni who was perhaps the most famous berdache (an individual who combined the work and traits of both men and women) in American Indian history.

The zuni man woman by will roscoe