Allen shows that the roles of women in the native past has actually put modern Indians at an advantage when it comes to living in the society that America has become today. The acceptance of multiple gender roles within one person,…
“A Tapestry of History and Reimagination,” by Barbara Cook, is a very interesting article to read. When reading it after Fool’s Crow, it allows for a new perspective to be brought to the table as well as to view the book in through a new lens. Welch is able to construct a story by presenting a type of history lesson (while a very entertaining history lesson at that), of sorts. The type of history lesson that is not taught in white public schools. Another important point that Welch brings up in his book is the importance of the women to the tribes. While not the most glamorous of positions, what with having to deal with all of the dirty business of raising and keeping a family together, polygamy, almost subservient beings to the outsiders looking in, the cleaning of the buffalo hides, etc... etc.. the women are the one's who keep the tribes ways of life going, as they are the one's making sure everyone else is taken care of. The last point of merit that was presented was the introduction of guns and horses to the Native life. This is what really set everything in motion in terms of socially deconstructing the rest of the tribes.…
Throughout time, scholars have wanted to understand American women’s history. Gender has played a role in shaping the behaviors and ideas within societies. The gender role that women played can be looked at in a historically specific manner. In the early 1500s through the late-nineteenth century, women have had a silenced place in society and within their home. This ideology silences real women’s voices under patriarchal structures. In the time period of Early America, women were silenced through various factors such as the laws and ideas created within marriage, views of women given by society, and…
We turn back the clock as Welch draws on historical sources and Blackfeet cultural stories in order to explore the past of his ancestors. As a result, he provides a basis for a new understanding of the past and the forces that led to the deciding factor of the Plains Indian tribes. Although Fools Crow reflects the pressure to assimilate inflicted by the white colonizers on the Blackfeet tribes, it also portrays the influence of economic changes during this period. The prosperity created by the hide trade does not ultimately protect the tribe from massacre by the white soldiers. It does, however, effectively change the Blackfeet economy and women's place in their society. Thus, it sets the stage for the continued deterioration of their societal…
The United States woman between 1776 and the 1860’s varied greatly in the ways they went about achieving the ideals of their time. Both sought to better themselves and their families for the over-all betterment of their nation, but neither went about it in quite the same manner as the other. Also race was becoming less of a social barrier than it had been in the 1770’s, which is not to say, however, that it was not a significant stopping power at the time for non-whites and many immigrants from Europe, especially the women. The ideals were similar, but the ways of achieving them were very different in the 1860’s than in the 1770’s, and much more innovative for women’s status in society outside of the homestead. (Doc. C)…
The concept of race, according to Rosenberg, has been “entangled with the notion of ‘civilization’” (Rosenberg 316). Past historians studying races tended to compare them through their respective cultural tenets and such methodology was susceptible to establishing a hierarchical construction of race. William Fyffe, although not a historian, proceeds to document the discrepancies and similarities between the Cherokee Indians and the colonials in his letter to his brother. According to Fyffe, the Cherokees valued war and orderly communication amongst one another and these cultural beliefs were rather antithetical to European culture.…
In the book First Generation Women in Colonial America Carol Berkin shows us the diversity of the women living in the American colonies. They lived among race, region, religion, and class. Even though they were divided among those qualities all of the women except the Native American females were treated very poorly. Women were known to men as property and were not treated well unlike the Native American women.…
This paper goes into detail about the struggles women faced back in the 1800’s, as well as how they were treated verses men. Women weren’t able to vote, work, learn, and were considered “less powerful” than men. They were strictly known as “mothers” and their job was to take care of their family.…
Despite countless numbers of stories told about how women were disrespected and unappreciated, although that might be true in some cases, it isn’t for the Iroquois. The Iroquois women were very well respected and honored and loved in their society. They had skills and wisdom that were valued in their communities and always were given a lot of power in decision making in what goes on in their society. Females had the right to vote for which men they want to see in “The Great Council”, which is a council that men control and is in charge of the area they are living in. They can also vote on the chief they want to see in charge of their community, or they can vote a chief out if they find he isn’t performing properly. The women also had a position called “The Clan Mother”. She is the wisest, eldest, and most respected woman of the area, she also got to remove or choose the sachem.…
Diamond states that, “women’s pre-colonial roles in many First Nations cultures were stronger than in the ensuing centuries” (Diamond, pg. 390). After Diamond interviewed many…
While English colonial women tended to experience more oppression because of societal expectations of women’s subordination and Native American women experienced a much greater equality of genders, both groups of women were integral to the evolution of their respective societies. Both Native American women and colonial women’s sexualities confused and provided points of misunderstanding in the colonial era of America that contributed to a change in the societies.…
She first sets the stage by explaining the implications that the cross cultural transfer of traditional gender identities had on both English and Native American ideas of gender roles. In the face of new conceptions of gender, the colonists further refined their gender identities by creating more nuanced categories of femininity. The author continues in part two by adding the social construction of race into the narrative. The addition of Africans and slavery into the already complicated mix of early Virginia forced yet another redefinition of gender identity. The introduction of race allowed white males to refine their patriarchal position through more formal means, defining gender through tax law and aligning slavery with race and status. Consequently, changes in the laws concerning race and gender became the “mainspring of social control” (Brown p. 219) in…
In the early 1700s, one of the Cherokee leaders came to South Carolina to discuss trade agreements with the governor and was surprised to find that there was no white women present. And then Europeans were also surprised to see that Cherokee women were equally important as men, politically and economically. The women of the Cherokee tribe also could get divorced easily, rarely experienced rape or domestic violence, they worked as farmers, owned their own homes and fields, and had significant political and economic power.…
Bibliography: "Patriarchy in Colonial America." Patriarchy in Colonial America. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Sept. 2013.…
The Iroquois myth, “The World on the Turtle’s Back,” is a piece that has been passed down from one generation to the next since 1800. It introduces a story of the world; good and bad, male and female roles, a great god, the solar system, growth, etc. This text not only challenges stereotypical views of gender roles, but it also introduces a different perspective on superiority. As the male population is classically seen as dominant, fearless, and powerful souls; while the female population is seen to be gentle, nurturing, loving souls, this piece smoothly diffuses those ideas.…