Winkte (also spelled wíŋkte) is the contraction of an old Lakota word, winyanktehca, meaning 'wants to be like a woman'.
Contemporary winkte may or may not consider themselves part of the more mainstream gay, LGBT, or pan-Indian two-spirit communities.
[1] Historically, sometimes the direction to adopt the social and spiritual aspects of this role has come in a series of dreams.
[1] In contemporary Lakota communities, attitudes toward the winkte vary from accepting to homophobic.
[1][2] Beatrice Medicine writes: In my childhood, we were aware of this social category, which was referred to as winkte.