Deep Reading Questions #1

1. When Miranda was doing archival research she hit an obstacle when trying to find

context from unfiltered Indian voices. This was attributed to the colonization of the

context as well as the presence of oral traditions among Californian Indians that resulted

in a great lack of historical context. Embedded in this obstacle was the issue of having to

tell the story of Indians using non-Native archives that were plagued with biases,

agendas, cultural pride, and more.

2. The Joya is a term used to describe non-binary or “third gender” people that the

Spaniards tried to exterminate. The history of colonization for these terms stems from the

Spanish colonizers in 1775 where men observed in dresses were viewed as “sodomites”

and given the name of Joyas to negatively describe their gender identities due to breaking

through the gender norm.

3. Miranda distinctly emphasized the difference between homophobia and gendercide. As

described by Miranda, homophobia is identified as the fear of folks with same-sex

orientation. Gendercide however is classified as an attack on a group of victims on the

basis of the victim's sex/gender.

4. Spanish soldiers weaponized bred mastiffs and greyhounds during the extermination of

the Joyas by commanding them to attack and execute them. The Native's acquiescence

with the murders of Joyas is discussed and shows how communities were sacrificed and a

history of gendercide within Native Tribal communities was created.

5. The renaming of people and places by Spanish colonizers was a strategy used to further

gendercide through the “cancelation” of the Native name. The logic was to “christen” the

land and people by removing their “alien” Native identities.

6. The consequences of regendering as well as the physical and mentally abusive methods

involved in the process left many Joyas homeless. It also led to the disruption and

well-being of the tribe. This is because many of the Joyas remained in the women's realm

and helped maintain and care for the tribe.

7. The roles and responsibilities of the aqi were to act as the mediators between life and

death for the tribe. The aqi was usually a post-menopausal woman or one who could

never procreate. The emergence of post-menopausal women taking on responsibility was

prompted by the absence of the Joyas who were trained to touch the dead and manage the

burials.

8. Miranda reasons that the survival of the Joyas is not dependent on having Joya parents,

and granted that enough of the population stays alive and can have children, then the

potential for future Joyas to emerge is there. How some of the Joyas survived

colonization by becoming baptized when “wild” Indians were rounded up and brought to

the church. Along with this an influx of adult indigenous cultural practices helped to pass

information to younger Indians. The split Joya gender either became closeted same-sex

Jotos who would engage in secret sexual relations or they became “grave-tenders” who

decided to stay single throughout their lives.

9. The terms gay and lesbian don’t fully describe two-spirit peoples because those labels are

based on the sexual paradigm that is inherited from nonindigenous colonizing culture.

The two parts of social life that two-spirited people bring into one gender role are holding

the male and female energy in various manners to uphold balance. Miranda notably gives

the contemporary example of California two-spirits as the rightful descendants of Joyas.