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| Eskaleut languages |
Two Arctic indigenous languages have words that bear similar meaning: arnaasaq/angutaasaq (Kalaallisut), arnaasiaq/angutaasiaq (Kalaallisut), arnaasaarluni/angutaasaarluni (Kalaallisut), aranaruaq/angutnguaq (Central Alaskan Yup'ik)
Arnaasaq/Angutaasaq (Kalaallisut)
According to
Wiktionary,
arnaasaq is derived from
arnaq ("woman") +
-usaq (-"like"). Its counterpart is
angutaasaq, derived from
angut ("man") +
-usaq (-"like").
Wiktionary provides the following example usage of
arnaasaq:
2019, I. Kristiansen, KNR - Eino Taunajik nersornaaserneqartoq: Maajunnartutut taaneqartarpunga[1], archived from the original on 2 February 2021
Uanga imaariarama nukappiaraq niviarsiaqqat pigisaannik nuannaartorisaqartoq niviarsiaqqanik kammaqartoq, Eino Taunajik oqarpoq. Tamannalu allanit malugineqartarsimavoq akerartuisoqartarsimallunilu. Ilaanni aqqusinermi pisullunga arlaanit oqarfigineqariataartarpunga soorlu arnaasaq assigisaannilluunniit, maajunnartutut taaneqarlunga.
I was a boy who loved girl things and had girlfriends, says Eino Taunajik. This was noticed, and there were some who did not hesitate to remind him that he was different. When I walked down the street, some said I was feminine or the like, that I was disgusting, he says.
And its Declension:
There are a number of linguistic similarities between the Kalaallisut terms
arnaasaq/angutaasaq and
the Samoan terms fa'afafine/fa'atama. Although its literal meaning is "woman-like",
arnaasaq is used to describe feminine men. It would be used to describe the category of person that
fa'afafine belong to (feminine androphilic males). Like in Samoa,
arnaasaq face mistreatment, which has been heightened by the effects of colonization. As with the
fa'atama, there is less information about the historical usage of
angutaasaq. It is unclear whether it necessarily implied sexual attraction to girls, or if it had the more literal meaning of "man-like".
Jens Rydström describes the history behind the terms arnaasaq and angutaasaq:
"The concepts of unmanly men and mannish women are common enough in Greenlandic society to be expressed by words in common usage. An arnaasaq is an effeminate man, and an angutaasaq is a woman who acts like a man. Though these concepts do not necessarily carry any sexual meaning, for those who in 2002 founded Greenland’s first association for gays and lesbians, it was natural to translate “gay” as arnaasaq and “lesbian” as angutaasaq." "The concepts of arnaasaq and angutaasaq show that gender-transgressive women and men are present in Greenlandic tradition, and the modern gay and lesbian movement harkens back to these concepts. More research is needed, however, to investigate how gender and sexuality are interconnected in these words." (Rydström & Mustola, 2007)
"En angutaasaq är en maskulin kvinna och en arnaasaq är en feminin man. När den grönländska organisationen för bögar} lesbiska och bisexuella bildades 2003 så använde de spontant orden angutaasaq och arnaasaq för att översätta de danska orden bosse och lesbisk. Men de var tvungna att hitta på ett nytt ord för bisexuell och fastnade för tamanoortut som betyder »åt två håll«. Det är ett exempel på hur den moderna gayideologin »tar över« transbegreppen som har funnits länge i språket och kulturen." (Rydström, 2008)
In addition to the aforementioned case described by
Wiktionary,
Sonnesbase has archived the Greenlandic myth "Tale of Arnaussâq", which describes a historical case (19th century) of a feminine androphilic male:
M. Denne mand opførte sig fulstændig som en kvinde, og når de unge kvinder havde brug for hjælp med noget, som for eksempel med syning, henvendte de sig til ham, fordi han kunne hjælpe dem ved at forklare, hvad de skulle gøre ved tilskæring af skind til kvindepelse eller kvindeanorakker af sælskind. Og når de manglede skind til skindbroderi eller flettet senetråd, henvendte de sig bare til Arnaasaq.
Det fortælles, at når Arnaasaq tog sin pose op og ledte efter det, som de manglede, kunne han altid finde det til dem, fordi han altid sørgede for at have noget i reserve.
Og når han sov om natten, rørte han aldrig de unge kvinder, selv om de sov lige ved siden af ham. Men han kunne ikke altid lade de unge mænd være i fred, hvis de sov i nærheden af ham. Efter at han var død, blev det efter et godt stykke tid skik blandt især de yngre fangere, at de, når de var på vej på fangst og gerne ville have et godt udbytte, vendte sig i retning mod hans grav og gjorde samlejebevægelser og råbte til ham: Arnaasaq, vi kommer for at have samleje med dig! Og så hændte det at de fik held med jagten.
Det siges, at Arnaasaqs grav befinder sig i Ueerteq, nord for Tasiusaq.
There is no mythological Angutaasaq to serve as a counterpart. According to Iserasuaat, angutaasaq simply means "én der ligner en mand" ("someone who looks like a man").
In "Kønsidentitetens kompleksitet" Nivi Jensen Nielsen (2015) employed arnaasaq and angutaasaq in their modern usage to describe transgender individuals: "Jeg ar opdaget at man nemt seksualiserer kon. Man associerer ofte kon med konsorganerne og ikke at taenke pa andre aspekter af kon. Jeg har laert at kon ikke r det samme som biologisk kon. Saledes finds der ingen "arnaasaq" (falsk kvinde) eller "angutaasaq" (falsk mand.) Drengen fra min klasse var "anderledes", fordi han ikke er cis-konnet. Jeg opadager, at jeg er blevet mobbet og blev kaldt for lesbik, fordi andre born ikke forstod min konsidentitet som ikke ligner de fleste pigs. Man havde fordomme om mig som seksualiserede min konsidentitet. Men opgaven har pavist at konsidentitet ikke handler om seksualitet. Jeg er blevet meget bevidst om kon og hvordan jeg opfatter kvinder eller maend. Jeg har laert hvor meget konsidentitet egentlig fylder i min hverdag og at Gronland er et meget kon konform land." (p. 30)
Arnaasiaq/Angutaasiaq (Kalaallisut)
Williamson (2005) describes how this term was taught to her by her Inuk grandmother to describe "a man who should have been a woman". The man in question was a male who was always effeminate and would "in the present-day context, be considered a homosexual":
When I was growing up as a little girl in Kalaallit Nunaat, or Greenland, my maternal grandmother lived in a smaller community - Kangaamiut - north of where I was growing up in Maniitsoq. She was the person from whom I was introduced to Inuit silarsuangat, the Inuit world view.
My grandmother was a typical Inuk woman, small and petite in stature and never asserting an authoritarian voice. She taught me to look at my own values in relation to others around me rather than judging other people. Aanaga was a widow - she lost her husband while she was expecting another child.
Her best friend was Aada, a male, and even though he was broad and hefty, his movements were always effeminate. He and my grandmother could talk for hours when they met and much of it full of good laughter. At one time my grandmother told me that Aada was "arnaasiaq" - a man who should have been a woman.
There was no drama involved in this statement, no rejection, no condemnation - just a fact. I loved him as he provided much love and assurance to my grandmother when she needed good company. Now, Aada in his state of "arnaasiaq" would, in the present-day context, be considered a homosexual, a person who, according to the present day social unrest, is to be hated and condemned.
She goes on to describe how the influence of Christianity promotes intolerance towards arnaasiaq, and angutaasiaq. Williamson (2005) mentions the term angutaasiaq as a counterpart to arnaasiaq, meaning "women who should have been men", but does not provide specific examples. Further research is needed to determine this would have described masculine female gynephiles or mannish women irrespective of sexual orientation. The plural form of the word is "angutaasiat". "Arnanoortoq" is also used to refer to lesbians, but is nothing more than a modern translation of a Western term.
Arnaasaarluni/Angutaasaarluni (Kalaallisut)
 |
| The mother who wanted to be a man wears her hair down in a masculine way. She dances and
sings a lampoon to mock her effeminate son whose wife she has kidnapped. The son is hidden
under a pile of sealskins and his presence is marked by a dot and a written notice on the pile. Wa
tercolor painting by Jens Kreutzmann who wrote down the tale in 1860. Courtesy, Museum of Cul
tural History, University of Oslo. (Rydström & Mustola, 2007) |
According to Wiktionary,
arna means "woman",
angut means "man", and
-usaar means "pretends to be". It appears that these terms have been used to describe transvestites and those who disguise themselves as the opposite sex.
Hauser & Petersen (1985) provide an example usage of arnaasaarluni (p. 18):
Uaajeerneq, angut arnaasaarluni "aakasingaartoq".
Uaarjeerneq. A man performes dressed up as a woman while singing: "How scandalous!"
The term angutaasaarluni is used in reference to the Greenlandic myth "The woman who wanted to be a man". According to Rydström & Mustola (2007) "It was written down in 1860 by Jens Kreutzmann, who was the son of a Danish colonist and a Greenlandic mother. His first language was Greenlandic and he was known as a great seal hunter."
Rink (1875) provides a very brief summary:
92. THE WOMAN WHO WANTED TO BE A MAN.—A woman named Arnarkuak would not give up scolding her son on account of his want of skill in hunting and other manly pursuits. Once in his absence, when he had gone out kayaking, she forced her daughter-in-law, by threatening her with death, to flee with her to the interior of the country, where she disguised herself like a man, and had her daghter-in-law, Ukuamak, for a wife. But the son found out their place of refuge, and killed his despicable mother.
Rydström & Mustola (2007) elaborate:
Arnaqquaq, a
woman who again and again scorns her son, saying that he is a bad hunter, likes
her daughter-in-law, Ukuamaaq, better than her son. One day both women are
gone, and the son follows their tracks to a hut by a lake. There he finds his wife,
who complains that Arnaqquaq keeps her there against her will and calls her
her wife. The mother even uses a pointed kayak prow as a penis “and plays the
man.” Hearing this, the son is furious and hides under a pile of furs waiting for
his mother to come home. When she returns, he sees that she wears her hair let
down like a man. She takes a drum and sings and dances for her daughter-in
law. She sings a vicious song about her son’s lack of manhood:
When I was about to give birth,
When I finally begat him,
Then he was a poor hunter,
And because he cannot support her,
I take his wife from him!
Haaya - ya-haayaay!
The son is so enraged that he can’t keep still and rushes out from under the pile
of furs and chases his mother out of the cabin and over the snow. He cannot
catch up with her, but then she drops the kayak prow from inside her pants and
slows down. When he gets hold of her, he beats her to death and breaks her
big “penis” in two. Then he goes back to the hut, where he and his wife live well
through the winter on the mother’s provisions.
According to Kirsten Thisted, the story focuses on the son’s lack of manliness. The joke is on him since he can’t keep his wife and is even cuckolded by his
own mother. Even if he kills his mother, the fact that he lives off her provisions
is further proof of his unmanliness.
This myth ("Kvinden som ville være mand") is also described in
Sonnesbase:
En mor er utilfreds med sin eneste søns fangstevner, og hendes udskældninger bliver endnu værre, da han har giftet sig med Ukuamaaq og tilmed fået en datter yderligere at forsørge. Moderen stikker til indlandet med svigerdatteren. Sønnen finder efter lang tids venten og søgen sin kone ene hjemme i et lille hus tykt tapetseret med renskind. Uk. fortæller, at hendes svigermor har lokket hende med og hindret hende i at flygte hjem. Manden kryber i skjul, hans mor ankommer i mandetøj, taler med dyb stemme, spiser og brokker sig, da Uk. ikke er villig til samleje bagefter. Hun har en kajakspids som penis og synger bagefter vrængende om hvor uduelig en søn hun har følt sig berettiget til at erstatte. Sønnen dukker frem, moderen flygter med sønnen efter sig, og hun magter at løbe hurtigst, indtil hendes kunstige penis falder ned og knækker. Han slår hende ihjel og sammen med sin kone lever de højt og flot hele vinteren på det store forråd af renkød, som denne lesbiske svigermor har skaffet.
Var.: Ukuamaaq. Talrige, allevegne fra.
Kommentar: Der er tydeligvis en direkte sammenhæng mellem fangstevner og seksuel ejendomsret.
In note 54, Rydström & Mustola (2007) describe a similar myth told among the Inughuit (formerly called "Polar Eskimos"):
54 Thisted 1997, 27. Knud Rasmussen wrote down a similar story that he heard among the Polar Eskimos in the beginning of the twentieth century. The storyteller Taterark, “a middle-aged man,” who seemed to have specialized in grotesque stories, told Rasmussen about “The mother-in-law who married her daughter-in-law.” A man treated his wife so bad that she fled and took up living alone, but her mother-in-law went after her and took her as a wife, “in that she behaved like a man and used a reindeer’s penis.” As in the other story, the mother-in-law was a good hunter, and when the man found his wife he asked her about the provisions. As the old woman came home, she dropped her penis from her pants and her son broke out in laughter. He chased her, but before he could catch her, she “lept out in the big waterfall from shame” (midaldrende Mand . . . Svigermoderen som giftede sig med sin svigerdatter . . . idet hun opførte sig som en Mand og anvendte en Rens penis . . . sprang ud i det store Vandfald af Skam”). Rasmussen 1905, 183, 202-3, quoted in Bertelsen 1940, 191, and Goldschmidt 1957a, 105, n. 2
Rydström & Mustola (2007) also describe how Alfred Bertelsen noticed same-sex sexual behavior, in females and in males, among the indigenous people of Greenland. These are characterized as transient behaviors akin to "situational bisexuality", rather than true cases of congenital sexual inversion:
These and other observations are quoted by Alfred Bertelsen, the Danish physician who was a member of the Literary Expedition in 1902-4, but left it and opened a medical practice in Uummannaq, in North Greenland. He reports about Greenlandic sexual habits without the condemning tone of some Christian missionaries, but his outsider’s gaze is sometimes condescending...Bertelsen reported in 1940 that he personally knew of cases of both male and female homosexuality, but that those persons later entered into “normal marital relations.” The sexual anomalies that he mentions are hardly the result of abnormality in any deeper sense, he explains, preferring to see them as the result of “the usual Eskimo impressionability and lack of restraint.”50
50 “normale ægteskabelige forbindelser . . . den almindelige eskimoiske Letpaavirkelighed og Hæmningsløshed.” Bertelsen 1940, 192, 193.
Aranaruaq/Angutnuaq (Central Alaskan Yup'ik)
Pruden & Edmo (2016) describe usage of the terms
aranaruaq and
angutnuaq among the Kusquqvagmiut, which mean "woman-like" and "man-like" respectively. These terms are linguistically related to
arnaasaq/angutaasaq.
In Central Alaskan Yup'ik, arnaq means "woman", angun means "man", -nguaq means "imitation N; inauthentic N; thing similar to or reminiscent of N; device for inauthentic V-ing" (Jacobson, 2012). Here, "N" describes a noun placed in front of the suffix -nguaq, while "V" describes a verb placed in front of the suffix -nguaq.
Rearden (2011) records the use of angutnuaq the following story:
"Tua-ll' tan'gaurluq una tan'gaurluq una taikan tauna angutnguaq ayautelluku uuqnarrsurluni wall'u tekcitayaarrssurluni. [ngel'artuq]"
"And when a boy came over, we'd have him take that male doll with him to go hunt mice or small birds. [laughing]" (pp. 58-59)
As such, it is unclear whether Pruden & Edmo (2016) are correct in asserting that angutnuaq describes female-bodied "two-spirit" individuals, or if it simply means "man-like". If it does connote "two-spirit" individuals, it is unclear whether this was the case historically, and it is also unclear if there was an association with female gynephilia.
Related Blog Posts
References
Bertelsen, Alfred. 1940. “Grønlandsk medicinsk Statistik og Nosografi.” Meddelelser om Grønland 117:3.
Gjørv, G. H., Hayfield, E. A., Kendall, S. S., Petrov, A. N., Prior, T. L., Smieszek, M. G., Rozanova-Smith, M. S., Svensson, E., Williams, V. K., & Williamson, K. J. (2021). Gender Equality in the Arctic, Phase 3. https://uk.uni.gl/media/5krb0oyx/pan-arctic_report-gea3-2021.pdf
Goldschmidt, Verner. 1957a. “Retlig adfærd: En analyse af retsmyndighedernes adfærd
med eksempler særlig fra den kriminelle retspleje i Grønland. Bind I.” Meddelel
ser om Grønland 90:3.
Hauser, M. & Petersen. H. C. (1985). Classification of Traditional Greenland Music. Museum Tusculanum Press.
Rasmussen, Knud. 1905. Nye mennesker. Copenhagen and Kristiania: Gyldendalske Bog handel Nordisk Forlag.
Rearden, A. (2011) Qaluyaarmiuni Nunamtenek Qanemciput / Our Nelson Island Stories. United States: University of Washington Press.
Rink, H. (1875) Tales and Traditions of the Eskimo, Edinburgh, London: W. Blackwood and Sons, no. 92, pp. 442 - 443: The Woman who wanted to be a man. [Reprinted 1975, New York: AMS Press Inc.]
Rydström, J. (2008). Varför behövs transhistoria?. lambda nordica, 13(1-2), 63-77.
Rydström, J., Mustola, K. (2007). Criminally Queer: Homosexuality and Criminal Law in Scandinavia, 1842-1999. Netherlands: Aksant.
Tcherkézoff, S. (2014). Transgender in Sāmoa: The cultural production of gender inequality. In N. Besnier & K. Alexeyeff (Eds.), Gender on the edge: Transgender, gay, and other Pacific Islanders (pp.115-134). University of Hawai‘i Press.
Xu, Y., Norton, S., & Rahman, Q. (2021). Childhood gender nonconformity and the stability of self-reported sexual orientation from adolescence to young adulthood in a birth cohort. Developmental Psychology, 57(4), 557–569. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0001164
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