Winkte is an old Lakota word, “Winyanktehca,” that has been contracted through long use. Its meaning is ‘two-souls-person,’ or more directly, ‘to be as a woman’ and applies to male-bodied individuals. It generally refers to someone who is either queer or transgender (i.e., male-bodied humans who do not conform to the ordinary man’s gender role). The winkte are not marginalised, but rather, they are considered to be people with special spiritual and other talents that fulfil some needs of the community that other people could not fill.
NB: Some people are spelling the word ‘winkte‘ others ‘wintke‘.
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