Examines the 'berdache' a male Indian who assumed a female role in his central Algonquian society, and the Illinois Indian tribe during the last half of the 17th century. Tribespeople's fear of the Illinois 'berdache' because of the power they wielded as shamans and their acceptance as 'manitous'; Tribe's recognition of the berdache's special relationship to supernatural power; Disappearance of the institution of berdache after 1698.