American Indian, Alaska native, and Canadian aboriginal two-spirit/LGBT elderly

The purpose of this chapter is to discuss the status of older two-spirit American Indian, Alaska Native, and Canadian Aboriginal two-spirit LGBT elders. Information is presented on traditional values and behaviors, two-spirit tradition and roles of elders in tribal communities, service utilization by two-spirit elders, systems of service delivery, and policy implications. The authors acknowledge the heterogeneity of these groups and do not presume uniformity across groups. Similarity, the term LGBT is used as the modern roughly equivalent of the Native term two-spirit. A brief background of two-spirit is included to provide the reader with an understanding of the history and significance of self-identity that is implicit in how two-spirit persons refer to themselves.