The term Two-Spirit was coined in the early 90's by Native Americans during a lesbian and gay gathering in Winnipeg. Many contempory LBGTI Native Americans use Two-Spirit to maintain cultural continuity with past cultures where some individuals possessed and manifested a dynamic balance of both feminine and masculine energies, making them inherently sacred people. The English phrase Two-Spirit, which originated primarily in urban Native American/First Nations contexts is not meant to be translated into Native American languages and terms because to do so may change the common meaning it has acquired. In some cultural contexts, translating it to a Native language would not be appropriate (adapted from Two-Spirit People eds Jacobs, Thomas and Lang, Univ of Illinois Press, 1997-2-3).
"Two-Spirit" reflects traditions among many Native American nations which accepted and celebrated the diversity of human gender, spirituality and sexuality. As Owlfeathers says:
"Traditions need to be reseached and revived. If traditions have been lost, then the new ones should be borrowed from other tribes to create groups of societies for gay Indians that would function in the present" (Owlfeather in : Living the Spirit eds W. Roscoe and GAI 1988:104 St. Martin's Press).
Accordingly, BAAITS sees itself as an organization for Two-Spirit people to explore their rich heritage in a safe environment. To that end, BAAITS is committed to offering culturally relevant activities for LGBT individuals of Native American ancestry and their families and friends.