Native American Women

A detailed Summary of Native American Women


On few subjects has there been such continual misconception as on the position of women among Indians. Because she was active, always busy in the camp, often carried heavy burdens, attended to the household duties, made the clothing and the home, and prepared the family food, the woman has been depicted as the slave of her husband, a patient beast of encumbrance whose labors were never done. The man, on the other hand, was said to be an loaf, who all day long sat in the shade of the lodge and smoked his pipe, while his overworked wives attended to his comfort. In actuality, the woman was the man's partner, who preformed her share of the obligations of life and who employed an influence quite as important as his, and often more powerful.

Native Americans established primary relationships either through a clan system, descent from a common ancestor, or through a friendship system, much like tribal societies in other parts of the world. In the Choctaw nation, " Moieties were subdivided into several nontotemic, exogamous, matrilineal 'kindred' clans, called iksa." (Faiman-Silva, 1997, p.8) The Cheyenne tirbe also traced their ancestry through the woman's lineage. Moore (1996, p. 154) shows this when he says "Suc


  • Faiman-Silva, S. (1997). Choctaws at the crossroads. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.

    The Cheyenne held women in particularly high regard. They played an influential role in determining warfare and sometimes even fought alongside the men. Upon a war party's successful return, the women danced about while waving the scalps, exhibited their men's shields and weapons, and derived honors from their husbands' deeds.

    In the Southeast and Southwest, men and women performed their daily labors with observable equality because the men did not go out on grueling expeditions as did the men in the Northeast and Plains. In California, the Great Basin, and Northwest Coast, the sexual division of labor fell somewhere between these two variations.

    Women had certain common tasks in each of the U.S. culture areas: cleaning and maintaining the living quarters, tending to children, gathering edible plants, pounding corn into eal, extracting oil from acorns and nuts, cooking, sewing, packing, and unpacking. Certain crafts were also usually their responsibility: brewing dyes, making pottery, and weaving such items as cloth, baskets, and mats. In the Southwest, however, men sometimes made baskets and pottery, and even weaved cloth.

    Among many Southeast tribes the women were influential in tribal councils and in some places they cast the deciding vote for war or peace. The Cherokee designated a female as "Beloved Woman," through whom they believed the Great Spirit spoke. Consequently, her words were always heard but not necessarily heeded. However, she headed the influential Woman's Council, sat as a voting member of the Council of Chiefs, and exercised considerable influence. She also unhesitantly u

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    Approximate Word count = 1148
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