Native American Women

<aside> đź’ˇ Questions

  • how might colonialism impact tribes’ traditional way of life and/or native women’s role? </aside>

<aside> đź’ˇ Quotes

  • “…Alcatraz, it changed me.” — Wilma Mankiller </aside>

<aside> ✏ Notes:

  • Tribes that were matrilineal societies

    • Example: Chicasaw, Cherokee

    • clan membership come from the mother - Cherokee

  • Women were symbolic of creation and life

  • in some tribes women held equal or even higher status than men

  • traditionally in some tribes women held a role in

    • argiculture

    • land and resources

    • artistry and trade

    • politics and leadership

    • spiritual

    • warriors and strategists

    • education

    • cultural presevation

  • overall women’s contributions were critical to the strength and reilience of their tribes

  • in the 1970s: estimated 25 to 42% of native american women(some as young as 15) were sterilized

    • 1 in 4 native american women were sterilized against their knowledge or consent

  • the sterilizations were subsidized by the federal government and often undertaken without consent or under duress

    • indian health service(IHS)

  • report findings

    • women of all red nations(WARN) - fought for native american civil and reproductive rights

    • in 1976, the US government accountability office investigated the forced sterilizations

      • found that 4 of 12 Indian health service regions sterilized 3406 american indian women without their permission between 1973 and 1976

  • notable native women

    • Zitkála-Šá

      • product of the boarding school system

      • become a writer, musician and speaker

      • secretary-treasurer for the society of american Indians - the first national native rights organization Rin by and for nativs

      • urged american women to help support an indian citizenship bill

      • in 1924, in part to her advocacy congress passed the Indian citizenship act

        • endowed full citizenship to natives

      • forward in Native american literature and one of the first native american women to write autobiographical works publised in national magazines

    • Wilma Mankiller

      • Wilma Mankiller is honored and recognized as the first female Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation. She is also the first woman elected as chief of a major Native tribe. She spent her remarkable life fighting for the rights of American Indians.

      • Born on November 18, 1945, in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, the capital of the Cherokee Nation, Wilma was the sixth of eleven children born to Charley Mankiller and Clara Irene Sitton. The surname "Mankiller," Asgaya-dihi (Cherokee syllabary: ᎠᏍᎦᏯᏗᎯ) in the Cherokee language, refers to a traditional Cherokee military rank, like a captain or major.

      • Mankiller was elected to serve as the Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation in 1985. She led for 10 years, guiding a sovereign nation whose population more than doubled, from 68,000 to 170,000, during her tenure. Prior to being elected Principal Chief, she served as Deputy Principal Chief.

      • President Barack Obama said this about her: “As the Cherokee Nation’s first female chief, she transformed the Nation-to-Nation relationship between the Cherokee Nation and the Federal Government and served as an inspiration to women in Indian Country and across America. A recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, she was recognized for her vision and commitment to a brighter future for all Americans. Her legacy will continue to encourage and motivate all who carry on her work.”

      • Steinem, who was by her side when Mankiller walked on, said of her friend, “Ancient traditions call for setting signal fires to light the way home for a great one; fires were lit in 23 countries after Wilma's death. The millions she touched will continue her work, but I will miss her every day of my life.”

      • when she was a 23 housewife, she didn’t know about tribal sovereignty and learned about it at 23

      • got her education through working for a tribe

        • learned how hard it was to get and maintain sovereignty

      • when she got into soverignity, her husband, Hugo, didn’t want it he wanted hier to be a housewife and raise the two girls so she divorced him —> moved back to oakolama with her two daughters after divorce with very little money

        • came back to her tribe where the tribe has been changed

      • after a terrible car crash, she had 17 different surgeries just to walk again. her best friend(the person in the other car) was killed in the car crash

  • Cherokee mythology

    • the sun is female because the sun is always there and women are always there while the moon is male because sometimes it’s there and sometimes it’s not </aside>