Notes on the Hwame, Warrhameh, Kwiraxame, & Kwe'rhame
Male and female homosexuality was reported among the Mohave and certain nearby tribes, namely the Cocopa, Maricopa, Quechan (Yuma). A mythological figure called "Warharmi" is also described in the folk lore of the Kamia. Additionally, Drucker's (1941:163) informants affirmed the presence of "Female berdaches" among the Papago, but I was unable to confirm whether they were homosexual. It is possible that other nearby tribes had similar terminology, but I was unable to locate a record of these.
As the data below confirms, these terms did not refer to all homosexual attraction or behavior. These were institutionalized roles for homosexuals with the classic childhood onset presentation, producing male-bodied "wives" and female-bodied "husbands". The alyha were passive (anal sex role bottoms) while the hwame were active ("tops" or "kings") during sex. Similar to Thomas's (1997) description of the Diné (Navajo) gender/sexuality system, they were not considered homosexual from the indigenous perspeective. Homosexuality outside of this context was reported among the Mohave, but this was not socially sanctioned. The alyha, hwame, etc. can be categorized as cultural analogues to the fa'afafine and fa'atama of Samoa. Indeed, there were several cultural similarities between these tribes and the Samoans, with both being warrior-like people.
As a brief comment on language choice, it is debatable whether these individuals should be referred to as "homosexuals". Within the indigenous cultural context, it would be inappropriate to do so. However, researchers "need frameworks for objectively understanding characteristics of individuals who feel sexual attractions, as well as the objects of their sexual desire" (Semenyna et al., 2022). To avoid confusion, I have chosen to refer to them as "homosexuals" as this is how they are described by Devereux (1937). An alternative would be to refer to them as "sexual inverts", as they were not simply same-sex attracted but individuals who bore congenital similarities to the opposite sex. This is only intended to be a set of informal notes, and I would think more carefully about this issue if I were writing a more formal article.
My decision also has political motivations, as one would be hard-pressed not to apply feminist analysis to the denigration of the hwame. Female homosexuals clearly suffered under this system, which was not designed for their benefit or liberation. Instead, it reinforced the subjugation of women, especially lesbians, in a manner that eerily parallels modern trans activism. That being said, what survives of the hwame, warrhameh, kwiraxame, and kwe'rhame are records produced by European colonists, and could contain biases. My intent is not to perpetuate cultural misconceptions, but to avoid the romanticization of indigenous history. To do so would be a disservice to indigenous women, as it would interfere with an accurate reconstruction of their history.
Below is the information I could find about the female homosexuals.
Hwame (Mohave)
Information about the hwame can be found in: Kroeber (1925) Gifford (1931) Drucker (1941) Devereux (1937) Pruden & Edmo (2016)
Kroeber's (1925) lone reference to the hwame reads: "Sometimes, but more rarely, a girl took on a man's estate, among both Yuma and Mohave, and was then known as hwami, and might marry women. There was no ceremony to mark her new status." He refers to them as "hwami", and states that they "might marry women."
Gifford's (1931:79) lone reference to the hwame reads: "They were a hermaphrodite [de- scribed by the informant as half man, half woman] called Warharmi [cf. Mohave hwami] and her twin “sons” [not really her sons, Narpai said], both called Madkwahomai." He refers to them as "hwami".
Drucker's (1941:163) informants affirmed the presence of "Female berdaches" and "Female berdache marries woman" among the Mohave.
Devereux (1937) provides the the most thorough account, which is covered in the next section. Pruden & Edmo (2016) spell it as hwame.
Information about the hwame can be found in: Kroeber (1925) Gifford (1931) Drucker (1941) Devereux (1937) Pruden & Edmo (2016)
Kroeber's (1925) lone reference to the hwame reads: "Sometimes, but more rarely, a girl took on a man's estate, among both Yuma and Mohave, and was then known as hwami, and might marry women. There was no ceremony to mark her new status." He refers to them as "hwami", and states that they "might marry women."
Gifford's (1931:79) lone reference to the hwame reads: "They were a hermaphrodite [de- scribed by the informant as half man, half woman] called Warharmi [cf. Mohave hwami] and her twin “sons” [not really her sons, Narpai said], both called Madkwahomai." He refers to them as "hwami".
Drucker's (1941:163) informants affirmed the presence of "Female berdaches" and "Female berdache marries woman" among the Mohave.
Devereux (1937) provides the the most thorough account, which is covered in the next section. Pruden & Edmo (2016) spell it as hwame.
Georges Devereux's Description of the Hwame (Mohave)
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| Georges Devereux |
Note 2 cites Kroeber (1925).
Age of Onset
Devereux (1937:502-3) describes how the alyha and hwame were believed as they were from birth: "The Mohave believe in temperamental compulsions and consider that "they cannot help it"" (1937:518).
According to Devereux (1937:502-3) the alyha and hwame displayed childhood gender nonconformity:
"A boy may begin to act strangely just as he is about to reach puberty...Girls will act just the opposite. They like to chum with boys and adopt boys' ways. They throw away their dolls and metates, and refuse to shred bark or perform other feminine tasks. They turn away from the skirt and long for the breech-clout."
"Their parents will eventually notice this strange behavior and comment upon it. 'Well, he may be a boy, but he seems more interested in the ways of women.' Corresponding comments are made about boyish girls. Parents and relatives will sometimes try to bully them into normal behavior—especially the girls, but they soon realize that nothing can be done about it. 'If our child wishes to go that way, the only thing we can do is make it adopt the status of a transvestite.' They are not proud of having a transvestite in the family, because transvestites are considered somewhat crazy."
However, Devereux (1937:508) also notes that "it was said that some women become hwame after having borne a child." He later elaborates "Some women however turned hwame after they had a child. It was hinted that painful childbirth may not have been foreign to this decision."
As Described in Myth
Citing Gifford (1931), Devereux (1937) notes that the Mohave do not have a mythological culture-hero comparable to Warharmi of the Kamia. However, both alyha and hwame are described in the Mohave creation myth.
This first account was provided to Devereux by Nahwera, described as "an almost senile singer, said to be the last person to know the transvestite initiation songs":
"From the very beginning of the world it was meant that there should be homosexuals, just as it was instituted that there should be shamans. They were intended for that purpose. While their mothers are pregnant, they will have the usual dreams forecasting the anatomic sex of their child. Thus the mothers of alyha dream of arrow-feathers and other male appurtenances, while the mothers of hwame dream of feminine regalia such as beads, etc." (This is curious in view of the fact that beginning with the sixth (lunar) month of elapsed pregnancy the foeti are said to be conscious and dream of their future destinies, sharing to a certain extent their dreams with their mothers, and vice versa.) "At the same time the dreams of their mothers will also contain hints of the future homosexual proclivities of the child about to be born." (No data as to the nature of these "hints" could be obtained.) "For several years following birth these homosexual tendencies will remain hidden. They will come to the fore, however, previous to puberty: that is, the time when young persons become initiated into the functions of their sex, such as hunting or cooking, respectively. None but young people will become berdaches as a rule. Their tendencies will become apparent early enough to cause them to be tattooed in accordance with the tattooing pattern pertaining to their adopted sex. Once a young person started off 'right' there is no danger of his or her becoming homosexual (alyha or hwame) even if occasional unions with homosexuals should occur. They will feel toward their possible transvestite mate as they would feel toward a true woman, respectively man." (1937:501)
A separate account is recorded by Devereux, described to him by informants from Needles, California:
"Ever since the world began at the magic mountain Avi-kwame it was said that there would be transvestites. In the beginning, if they were to become transvestites, the process started during their intra-uterine life. When they grew up they were given toys according to their sex. They did not like these toys however...When there is a desire in a child's heart to become a transvestite that child will act different. It will let people become aware of that desire. They may insist on giving the child the toys and garments of its true sex, but the child will throw them away and do this every time there is a big gathering. Then people prepare a skirt of shredded bark for the boy or a breech-clout for the girl. If they give them the garments worn by other members of their sex they will turn away from them. They do all they can to dissuade the girls who show such inclinations. But if they fail to convince her they will realize it cannot be helped. She will be chumming with men and be one of them. Then all those who have tried to change her conduct will gather and agree that they had done all that could be done and that the only thing for them to do was to give her the status of transvestite. These female transvestites (hwame) are like lewd women who also throw away their house-keeping implements, and run wild..." (1937:503-4)
As Described in Song
The Mohave had several songs which described the alyha. Devereux (1937:504) records the following song, which might describe a hwame:
Pamekwa / ñiha / lakuye / ñivatce / iδoma / ñivatce / nalye / ava / hiδaua / mataramkutcatc / hatciñe / kopama / kwi-yahve / tcinvakwa / ava / hevatce / nalya / .
People / by being looked at / proud / traipse or waddle / turning to / that side / they / all hear / a flat stretch of ground which is still damp / unmenstruated girl / dancing back and forth / dances stooping / even if girl (unmenstruated) / feels / she dances / that side / .
This describes the hwame (?) who, proud of being stared at, traipses and dances back and forth in a stooped posture over a flat stretch of damp land. That is how she acts if she is to be a true hwame (?)
Sexual Orientation
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| Sexual Relationships and Classifications: Mohave vs. Western (cf. Thomas 1997) |
"Intercourse between the hwame and her wife was varied in scope, ranging from digital intromission and fake intercourse with the wife in supine posture and the hwame on top, to a special posture referred to as hiθpan kuδape (vaginae split). The wife was stretched out in the supine posture. The hwame lies with her head in the opposite direction, one of her legs under the wife's body, the other on top of it. In this posture of interlocking scissors the vulvae touched. Sometimes the posture was modified and the torsoes brought close together. No cunnilinctus (hiθpan atauk) was ever practiced among the Mohave, although they know that it occurs among the Whites. This absence is due to the horror of the vaginal odor. Kuwal often got into trouble by exclaiming, "Phew, you women smell like fish"..." (Devereux, 1937:515)
"The hwame got their wives usually at dances or by visiting girls and married women during the day. They never dared to try the ordinary courtship, because of the girl's parents." (Devereux, 1937:515)
Kroeber (1925) and Drucker (1941) attest that the hwame married women.
Male homosexuals underwent initiation ceremonies to become alyha, and there is inconsistent information about whether female homosexuals also had to be initiated. Homosexual relations were not socially sanctioned when they involved men who were not alyha, or women who were not hwame. "For a normal person to dream of homosexual relations also causes weylak [a disease] which is usually fatal. Our woman informant's daughter, aged about 40, died of this disease shortly after she reported the following dream to the present writer: "I dreamt women wanted to have intercourse with me. They were close relatives or friends. I knew they were women, but they acted like men. They pulled my skirt up, threw me and tried to get on top of me. I fought them off and intercourse was never performed on me. I expect to get very sick, because the fact that they were relatives made the dream doubly bad."" (Devereux, 1937:516-7)
Initiation Ceremonies
Initiation ceremonies were held for the alyha. There is conflicting information about whether ceremonies were also held for the hwame.
In his lone reference to the hwame, Kroeber (1925) denies that initiation ceremonies were held for them: "Sometimes, but more rarely, a girl took on a man's estate, among both Yuma and Mohave, and was then known as hwami, and might marry women. There was no ceremony to mark her new status."
Devereux obtained the following statement from a Mohave octogenarian woman, who was not a hwame: "I don't know whether or not they held ceremonies for the hwame." (1937:507) A different informant, described as a ""normal" male shaman" who was "unusually well informed and willing" provided a detailed description of an alyha initiation ceremony, noting that "The same ceremony is enacted for the hwame who then dons the breech-clout." (1937:508)
According to Devereux (1937:509) "It is emphatically stated by the Mohave that the ceremony did not operate the change in the initiate's personal habits. It was merely a test and public acknowledgement of the shift from one sex to the other. I pointed out elsewhere that the Mohave believe that at creation and during the early periods of the mythical era there existed sexually undifferentiated stages. Thus it was not too great an effort for them to believe in the reality of such a shift."
Transvestism
There is conflicting information about whether the hwame dressed as males. Devereux claims that "Nowadays homosexuals do not don the garb of the opposite sex" (1937:509), but that "In ancient times the hwame wore male garments." (1937:507) The previous octogenarian informant noted that hwame did not always dress like men: "I knew a hwame once. She was dressed like a woman but she was married to other women." (1937:507). A different informant provided contradictory statements "One of my relatives was a hwame. She had small breasts and wore a breech-clout." (She had stated that no hwame wore a breech-clout. Cf. above) Since the hwame rode and hunted, she had to wear male garb..." (1937:509)
Occupational Role
According to Devereux (1937:501) alyha and hwame "attend to the occupational pattern of their adopted sex, except that female transvestites [hwame] may not be tribal or war-leaders...One female informant, herself a member of a chiefly family, stated that only persons classified as ipa tahana (person really, i.e. member of a prominent family) became transvestites, as a rule."
Devereux (1937:518) states that "The alyha and hwame never went to war, although on occasion women insisted on accompanying a beloved husband or brother on the raid."
Pronoun Use
According to Devereux (1937) "It is noteworthy that in English all Mohave refer to an alyha as she and to a hwame as he. This becomes quite confusing to the fieldworker, at times, but also proves the highly institutionalized character of this cultural complex."
Sexual Practices
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| Kuwal, as photographed in Plate 65 of Kroeber (1967:727) Kuwal was a Mohave man who had several alyha wives. Extensive information about the alyha can be gleaned from Devereux's (1937) case history of Kuwal. |
Devereux describes the sexual practices of the hwame: "Both vaginal and clitoridal masturbation was practiced by both normal and homosexual women..." (1937:509). According to him, the hwame performed the active sexual role by inserting their fingers into their wives' vaginas (1937:523-4). Devereux also describes the derogatory term Hiθpan kuδape, which meant "split vulvae" and referred to "one of the postures female homosexuals assume during coitus" (1937:523).
According to Devereux, both alyha and hwame allegedly "resented any normal nomenclature applied to their genitalia. Alyha insisted that their penis (moδar) be called a clitoris (havalik), their testes (hama), labia maiora (havakwit), and their anus (hivey), vagina (hiθpan). The hwame equally resented any reference to the fact that they had vulvae, but it was not stated that they insisted on a corresponding male terminology. It is interesting to note that according to anatomic and embryologic observations the penis and clitoris, the rectum and the vagina, the scrotum and the labia are histologically of the same origin, the rectum and the vagina being formed from the hind gut of the embryo." (1937:510)
Both alyha and hwame were often ridiculed for this peculiarity, with the hwame receiving worse treatment: "Just as a man would not like to be told he had a cunnus...an alyha resented references to his penis and a hwame remarks upon her vagina..."You can tease an hwame, because she is just a woman, but if you tease an alyha, who has the strength of a man, he will run after you and beat you up."" (1937:510)
Devereux claims that it was common for Mohave men to have anal sex with women due to the cultural belief that it was "the proper way to prepare immature girls for marriage" (1937:514) For this reason, men also sought alyha as sexual partners, and these relations were not stigmatized as "abnormal". In comparison, the hwame "had no possibility of duplicating the male physiological pattern except in a single instance. The Mohave believe that by intercourse with an already pregnant woman the paternity of the child changes. Whenever a hwame succeeded in getting a pregnant woman, she claimed the paternity of the child and took care of it with pride and loved it very sincerely. However, the tribe did not recognize the change in genital affiliation in that case, as it did in the case when a pregnant woman left her husband for another man." (1937:514)
Hwame were Not Intersex
According to Devereux the hwame were not intersex: "No mention is made of any physiological deformity in homosexuals. The "small breasts" referred to above were bigger than those of an immature girl, and were probably termed small in comparison with the big pendulous breasts of the average Mohave woman. The woman informant and others stated that the hwame menstruated only sporadically, but were not certain about it. No hwame ever bore a child after assuming that status...There is no mention of an abnormal clitoris..." (1937:509)
Stigma & Mistreatment
Similar to the Samoan fa'afafine, the alyha were better socially integrated than the hwame. According to Devereux, both alyha and hwame were considered inadequate spouses, but the stigma was worse for hwame"...alyha had no difficulty in obtaining husbands...Not so for the hwame. Even though women are more flighty and loose, according to the testimony of the Mohave, they were less willing to live with a hwame. This may not be entirely due to the fact that they did not derive complete satisfaction from digital manipulations. Men not seldom shunned them afterwards, especially because these hwame were not always young and old women are supposed to have a sui generis odor. Even when a young man married an old woman people said to him, "Now no young woman will want you again. You will have the smell of an old woman about your person." Furthermore the physically weak hwame could not protect her by physical violence against the jests of the community. The lack of sexual satisfaction from sexual relations without children, of whom the Mohave are inordinately fond, may have been an additional factor in the brittleness of this relationship." (1937:518-9)
Devereux describes how the hwame were mistreated by Mohave men: "Occasionally a hwame was raped or even prostituted..." (1937:515) "...the hwame is not safe from being raped by a practical jester, especially when she is drunk, while drunken men are seldom raped by women. Altogether it will become apparent from the two detailed case histories about to be quoted, that the lot of the hwame is infinitely harder than that of the alyha." (1937:519)
The case of Sahaykwisa
Devereux (1937) reported a case history of Sahaykwisa, a full-blooded Mohave hwame who was born around the middle of the 19th Century. He obtained his information from the Mohave shaman named Hivsu Tupoma, and another Mohave informant named Tcatc. As was customary for the Mohave, Sahaykwisa was referred to as "he", and regarded as a husband. To avoid confusion, I have chosen to refer to Sahaykwisa as "she", as this is how Devereux (1937) refers to her in his description.
Sahaykwisa was a homosexual, described as being a "good provider" to a series of three wives. Sahaykwisa differed from the classic description of a hwame, in that she lacked a masculine appearance and did not refrain from sexual activity with men. "She was said never to have menstruated, but was feminine in appearance and had large breasts." (1937:523). Sahaykwisa was able to make a living through shamanism and prostitution to Whites, and was the object of ridicule among the Mohave. Each of the three wives eventually abandoned Sahaykwisa, mostly due to the constant derision they received.
Sahaykwisa practiced shamanism. After being abandoned by the third wife, Sahaykwisa plotted to exact revenge through witchcraft. This resulted to Sahaykwisa being raped by her ex-wife's husband. "Never again did Sahaykwisa take a wife", although she is said to have had sex with the ghosts of women through Mohave witchcraft. "After her rape by Haqau she became a drunkard and began craving men." She was frequently gangraped while drunk by Mohave and White men. She fell in love with an older man, but he rejected her by saying that, "You are a man". Sahaykwisa bewitched him, wanting to have sex with his ghost. After he died, she had an affair with his son. Some time later, she became suicidal, wanting to join the ghosts of the people she had bewitched. While drunk, she confessed to bewitching her lover's father. He and an acquaintance proceeded to drown her in the Colorado River. She was around 45 years old when she died, at around thee turn of the Century.
Limitations
Most known information about the hwame is derived from Georges Devereux. In some places his descriptions cannot be corroborated by another source. It is therefore possible that his description is biased. See d'Anglure (2018) and Goulet (1996) for descriptions of biases in other reports of alleged homosexuality among the Native Americans.
Devereux was unable to directly interview male or female homosexuals, stating that: "Although there is little or no objection to homosexuality among the Mohave at present there is no avowed homosexual living on the reservation. This is not surprising in view of the fact that the Mohave at present number less than 500, according to information obtained from the Superintendent of the Colorado River Indian Agency. Nevertheless gossip will have it that certain persons indulge in secret homosexuality..." (1937:498)
Devereux makes a small error. Citing Forde (1931), he notes that "Homosexuality among the Mohave has been reported by the earliest travellers in that region." (1937:498) However, Forde (1931) reported homosexuality among the Quechan (Yuma), not the Mohave.
Warharmi (Kamia)
Gifford (1931) contains a handful of references to a culture-hero named "Warharmi" who appears in the Kamia origin tale as one of the bringers of agriculture. The term is phonetically similar to warrharmeh, the Cocopa term for "female transvestites" (viragos). However, Warharmi is inconsistently referred to as "hermaphrodite" "half man, half woman" and "female transvestite". As such, it is unclear whether Warharmi was an intersex person with ambiguous genitalia, or a virago. Warharmi is said to have two adoptive sons, which could imply infertility.
Gifford (1931:12): "According to the Kamia origin story the ancestors of the lineages were created at and came from the sacred mountain Wikami, which is located by the Kamia in the north, and which is also the sacred mountain of the Diegueno...The dispersal of the people from their camping place at Salton Sea was due to fear created by the appearance from the north of a female transvestite (Warharmi) and two male twins called Madkwahomai. These were the introducers of Kamia culture. This scattering of the original Kamia accounts for lineages such as kwaxa and paipa being found among the Diegueno as well as the Kamia, informants said. The absence of agriculture among the Diegueno was due to their having entered their habitat before the arrival of the transvestite and the twins, who were the bearers of the seeds of cultivated plants."
Gifford (1931:56): "Transvestites of both sexes occurred among the Kamia, but none are living now. Mythology describes a culture hero or heroine who was a hermaphrodite. Charles Beans knew of a Yuma female transvestite who married another woman; also he knew of Yuma berdaches. He did not know if sucking or sodomy was practiced. No instances of prostitution were known."
Gifford (1931:9) describes Charles Beans as "full-blooded Kamia" and "a middle-aged man...perhaps 60." Gifford (1931:15) also says that Beans "belongs to the kwaxa."
Gifford (1931:79-81) records the Kamia origin tale, as described to him by the informant Narpai:
"...Later there came from the mountain Wikami three persons who were to be the Kamia leaders. They were a hermaphrodite [described by the informant as half man, half woman] called Warharmi [cf. Mohave hwami] and her twin "sons" [not really her sons, Narpai said], both called Madkwahomai. These three had learned much at Wikami. They came south along the Colorado River. They found the feathers of birds which had died, as they traveled along day after day. The feathers were of the birds kak (crow), tokwil, and kusaul. The three travelers made headdresses of these feathers and painted their faces as for war. They brought bows, arrows, and clubs.
From the Colorado River at Yuma they crossed over to Imperial Valley. Their appearance so frightened the Kamia that they fled in all directions. One Kamia woman did not flee before the three. She was married by one of the Madkwahomai twins. Then the three newcomers and the woman settled at Saxnuwai.
The seeds of maize and beans80 had been given to them by Mastamho. These the three travelers brought from Wikami and planted at Saxnuwai, thus introducing cultivation in the Imperial Valley. Those Diegueno who had gone to the mountains to live failed to receive the seeds. The three travelers brought the seeds of certain wild plants as well.
At Saxnuwai, Warharmi and the twins planted, for they found wet ground there. Before their departure from Wikami Mastamho had explained how everything was to be done. He had said that Warharmi and the two Madkwahomai were to be farmers and that they should go to dwell among the Kamia, whom Mastamho had sent to live on the shores of the Salton Sea.
The two Madkwahomai had brought bows, arrows, and clubs, which had been unknown to the Kamia hitherto. The twins called a conclave of the Kamia at Saxnuwai and there gave bows and arrows to each lineage and instructed the people in their use. One lineage asked what use the weapons would be and one of the twins replied that they would need them for war. The Yuma did not receive the bow and arrow. They had been given the feathered stabbing pike (akwil) by Mastamho at Wikami. He said that they would use that weapon in the mourning (keruuk) ceremony and that he would help them make the ceremony. The two Madkwahomai asked the Yuma to bring the akwil and show the Kamia at Saxnuwai.
The Madkwahomai who married the Kamia woman begot twins. The people were astonished at this dual birth and asked the husband what was wrong. The jealous suspicions of the married brother were aroused against his twin brother. The unmarried brother answered, saying : “You know why you have twins. It is because you are my son (sic). That is why you have boy twins.” The husband believed him. Later, twins were born to other women, until the whole Kamia tribe was made up of twins. [The lineage of these various people was not known to the informants.]"
Note 80 reads: "The informant Narpai included cowpeas as well as teparies." (Gifford 1931:80) Gifford (1931:9) describes Narpai as "full-blooded Kamia" and "an old man...perhaps 80." Gifford (1931:10) also notes "The informant Narpai was born and lived some years at Indian Wells (Xachupai), where, as the name implies, there were dug wells. Then sufficient water came through the adjacent slough to flood the land for planting. However, the Kamia planted at Xatopet if the water was not high enough for planting near Indian Wells. A series of dry years, together with three to five deaths a year, led to the abandonment of Indian Wells."
Warrhameh (Cocopa)
Edward Winslow Gifford's study of "The Cocopa," for the 1933 University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology, reports on both male and female "transvestites." Gifford (1933) describes the warrhameh as viragos with underdeveloped secondary sex characteristics, female genitalia, amenorrhea, childhood onset of masculine behavior, and sexual attraction to women:
"Female transvestites (war'harneh): Male proclivities indicated by desire to play with boys, make bows and arrows, hunt birds and rabbits. Young man might love such girl, but she cared nothing for him; wished only to become man. Hair dressed like man's, nose pierced. Such females not menstruate or develop large breasts."
"Like men in muscular build, but external sexual organs of women. Attempted sexual intercourse with women, married, established households like men. Fought in battle like men."
Drucker's (1941:163) informants affirmed the presence of "Female berdaches" and "Female berdache marries woman" among the Cocopa.
Pruden & Edmo (2016) spell it as warrhameh.
Kwiraxame (Maricopa)
Spier (1933:6) notes that the Maricopa term for "male transvestite" is ilyaxai', while "female transvestite" is kwiraxame'.
Spier's (1933:243) only other reference to the kwiraxame' states: "Women who passed for men (kwiraxame', which cannot be etymologized) dressed like men and married women."
Drucker's (1941:163) informants affirmed the presence of "Female berdaches", but denied "Female berdache marries woman" among Maricopa. However, he also indicates in a note that it was "Reported present by Spier (1933, 243)". As such, there is inconsistent data on their sexual relations.
Pruden & Edmo (2016) spell it as kwiraxame.
Kwe'rhame (Quechan)
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Commenting on the above image, Roscoe (1998:145) notes: "A photograph dating from the 1890s shows a Quechan woman with all the attributes of a kwe'rhame (see fig. 13). Wearing only a man’s breechcloth, the woman stands with one hand on her hip in a characteristically male pose. She wears massive amounts of beaded necklaces, indicative of status and wealth, and bow guards on her wrists, a male accoutrement. Although this woman remains unidentified, there was at least one Quechan kwe'rhame, who married a woman, reported at this time.64"
Note 64 cites Gifford (1931:56), who supplies evidence of homosexual attraction: "Charles Beans knew of a Yuma female transvestite who married another woman; also he knew of Yuma berdaches. He did not know if sucking or sodomy was practiced. No instances of prostitution were known."
Drucker's (1937:27) informants affirmed the presence of "Female berdaches" among the Quechan (Yuma), but provided no additional information.
Spier (1933:6) notes that the Quechan (Yuma) term for "male transvestite" is exla', while "female transvestite" is kwe'rhame.
Similar to Gifford's (1933) description of the warrhameh, Forde (1931) describes the kwe'rhame as viragos with underdeveloped secondary sex characteristics and amenorrhea. In some cases, they were actually intersex with male secondary sex characteristics, possibly guevedoces. Similar to Devereux's (1937) description of the hwame, they were characterized by childhood onset of masculine behavior. While not explicitly stated, it is likely that they were sexually attracted to women, as was the case for the warrhameh, hwame, and kwiraxame. Consistent with Gifford's (1931) description, Forde (1931) describes the kwe'rhame as "inverts" and implies an association with homosexuality:
"Both male and female inverts are recognized; the females are known as kwe'rhame, the males as elxa'. Elxa' are more numerous. Such persons are considered to have suffered a change of spirit as a result of dreams which occur generally at the time of puberty....
...As a rule parents are ashamed of such children, but there is no attempt to force them or suppress the tendency. In some cases the "transformation" is publicly recognized, friends are invited, and in the case of an elxa' food is prepared by him. It is, in any case, customary for an elxa' to undertake women's work, fetching water and grinding corn.
An elxa' later goes to live with a man; such a pair often remains together permanently. It is considered unwise to interfere with them for the elxa' has more power than the ordinary man and is thought to have a peaceful influence on the tribe.
Female inverts (kwe'rhame) are rarer, but they too realize their character through a dream at puberty. The characteristic dream is of men's weapons. As a small child the kwe'rhame plays with boys' toys. Such women never menstruate; their secondary sexual characteristics are undeveloped or in some instances are male. Parents object more strongly to kwe'rhame than to elxa' and attempt to bully them into feminine ways.
Casual secret homosexuality among both women and men is well known. The latter is probably more common. This is not considered objectionable but such persons would resent being called elxa' or kwe'rhame."
Pruden & Edmo (2016) spell it as kwe'rhame.
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