ipl-logo

Native American Women

524 Words3 Pages

My reaction:
While working through this sections reading, videos, and other material, I felt ill to my stomach thinking about how Native American women are suffering so greatly. Their culture and beliefs were stolen away from them by colonization, which lead to a plethora of other problems such as violence and a loss of say in their culture.
My Analysis: The Native American culture was a mostly egalitarian society before colonization took place. Native American women held a great amount of power and authority in their tribes. On example of this is seen in the book Women and Religious Traditions by Leona Anderson and Pamela Young when they discuss Clanmothers. A Clanmother is described as a woman who holds “a key political office in Indigenous …show more content…

Colonization lead to the separation of the sexes and the belief that man is superior to woman. Native American women were portrayed in popular media such as Westerns as inhuman, which sent a negative message about Native American women and all women. This excerpt describes the way that women were described, “rarely speaking or showing any emotion, these women were often depicted as nearer to animals than human beings, and their dehumanization was compounded by their depiction as beasts of burden or slaves to their owners- their husbands” (Anderson and Young 165). The colonization of Native Americans has had a lasting effect on the women and men, however the women seem to be underrepresented. “As a result of colonial policies, Indigenous women are overrepresented in recent statistical data on issues such as domestic violence, imprisonment, suicide and general poor health” (Anderson and Young 173). The video No Justice for Alaskan and Native American Women by Amnesty International USA stated that “Native American and Alaskan women are 2 ½ times more likely to be raped, in fact 1 in 3 of these women will be raped in their lifetime” (“No Justice for Alaskan” 0:24). These numbers are outrageous and need to be addressed in order to help Native American Women and women around the

Show More
Related
1518 Words | 7 Pages

The different settlers in America had continued to down women as a gender, and make males more superior. As Perdue continues, she addresses how the power that Cherokee women held had began to plummet the more they were involved with Europeans. However, today there are still Cherokee women that stand strong, hold positions of power, and even are still respected as if it was the 18th

Read More
394 Words | 2 Pages

Before the 1860’s the native americans were living in peace until the Colonists attacked. The Western Expansion of 1860-90 greatly affected the lives of Native Americans, due to the powerful role

Read More
1007 Words | 5 Pages

Throughout history, there have been many literary studies that focused on the culture and traditions of Native Americans. Native writers have worked painstakingly on tribal histories, and their works have made us realize that we have not learned the full story of the Native American tribes. Deborah Miranda has written a collective tribal memoir, “Bad Indians”, drawing on ancestral memory that revealed aspects of an indigenous worldview and contributed to update our understanding of the mission system, settler colonialism and histories of American Indians about how they underwent cruel violence and exploitation. Her memoir successfully addressed past grievances of colonialism and also recognized and honored indigenous knowledge and identity.

Read More
1123 Words | 5 Pages

I was impressed by the way the author addressed cultural erasure and the long-lasting effects of colonization while shedding light on the difficulties faced by Indigenous communities. I had a better understanding of their perspectives and

Read More
739 Words | 3 Pages

Duties of both genders were unique to the success of their community. Without the touch of European hands Natives were living life as they’ve been since their unknown arrival in the Americas. ”(Encyclopedia of the Great Plains) Upon the news of Columbus’s voyage to the West Indies, Europeans saw the chance to claim the land or resources

Read More
1726 Words | 7 Pages

“1 in 3 Native women will be raped in her lifetime” (Erdrich 319). Since the westward expansion of European settlers into the Native American lands, the U.S. government has been colonizing and conquering native lands. With this invasion comes drastic effects such as violence, disease, dwindling resources, and sexual assault. Native American women experience some of the highest percentages of sexual assault in the U.S, while virtually none of the perpetrators are prosecuted. The Round House, by Louise Erdrich, is a story about the Coutts family and their journey through a horrific rape.

Read More
615 Words | 3 Pages

Surprisingly, Native American women had more freedom than the white women in the Chesapeake, Middle Colonies, or New England region. Some Native American women were given rights such as controlling land, political power, marriage and divorce in choice. There were matrilineal kinship system, in fact, marriage was not the most top rite of passage for them. The author covers around the 1600s- 1800s century time period while focusing on mainly white women but also women of color.

Read More
846 Words | 4 Pages

“1 out of 3 Native women will be raped in her lifetime” (219). The high raping rate of Native American women is discusting, feeling unsafe in their own tribe where they should be able to call “a safe home”. The white men have the courage to continue these horrible acts upon these women because they know that they will never be prosecuted by the tribal court and pay for the great deal of damage they have caused in a tribe. “The round house is on the far edge of tribal trust, where our court has jurisdiction… So federal law applies.

Read More
417 Words | 2 Pages

While reading about American history the thing that I found most appealing was the limited rights that women had during this era. Although women gave the early settlers longer life expectancy and brought hope to their future, women still were not considered equal to a man. Women were discriminated against and didn’t play an important role in early American history. Generally, women had fewer legal rights and career opportunity than men because they were considered weak and not able to perform certain tasks. Different women came from different ethnic backgrounds and were all created equal in the eyes of men.

Read More
1124 Words | 5 Pages

You see the ripple effect of the family falling apart without Geraldine Coutts, Joe cannot stand to see his once beautiful strong mother drift away from reality after the attack. Louise Erdrich shed light to a grim reality for Native Woman. If reading off the statics does not enrage you then reading the “Round House” will. Here are some of the statistics concerning Native Woman to the US Department of Justice: American Indian women residing on Indian reservations

Read More
1407 Words | 6 Pages

The Impact of Domestic Violence on the Aboriginal Community Domestic violence in Aboriginal community is a cause for concern regarding Aboriginal women 's health and safety. According to Kubik, Bourassa, and Hampton (2009) “In Canada, Aboriginal women have faced destruction in their communities and families as a result of multiple forms of oppression. Aboriginal women experience the highest rates of violence and abuse of any population in Canada”(p.29). Domestic violence is defined by Merriam-Webster’s Online Dictionary (2015) as “ the inflicting of physical injury by one family or household member on another; also: a repeated or habitual pattern of such behavior”. The objective is to look at the cause of domestic violence aimed at Aboriginal

Read More
728 Words | 3 Pages

Although Native Americans are characterized as both civilized and uncivilized in module one readings, their lifestyles and culture are observed to be civilized more often than not. The separate and distinct duties of men and women (Sigard, 1632) reveal a society that has defined roles and expectations based on gender. There are customs related to courtship (Le Clercq, 1691) that are similar to European cultures. Marriage was a recognized union amongst Native Americans, although not necessarily viewed as a serious, lifelong commitment like the Europeans (Heckewelder, 1819). Related to gender roles in Native American culture, Sigard writes of the Huron people that “Just as the men have their special occupation and understand wherein a man’s duty consists, so also the women and girls keep their place and perform quietly their little tasks and functions of service”.

Read More
435 Words | 2 Pages

Typical Native American and African society was often matrilineal. This meant that familial relationships were divided through the maternal line, rather than the paternal one like in Europe. This provided women in these societies a great more power and authority than it did in Europe. Women often were involved in making and influencing decision making in the tribe or group. To Europeans, this type of gender egalitarianism was not just foreign but also considered savage.

Read More
1012 Words | 5 Pages

In all the different tribes, none of the women are seen as less than the men, however in European culture at the time, the women were seen as weak and lesser beings. Gunn Allen tackles this issue using ethos logos and pathos by appealing to the readers through logic, emotion and her personal experiences. With Ethos Gunn Allen makes herself a credible source by mentioning that she is a “half breed American Indian woman. ”(83) making her story worth paying attention to rather than if it were a story by an outsider who truly has nothing to do with the American Indian women.

Read More
2007 Words | 9 Pages

This, in the eyes of the white Europeans puts her on the same level of importance as cattle. (Todorov, 1984) This was another humiliation to the native people because among them, women were greatly respected, they were capable of being the head of clans, owning fields and houses and electing councillors of tribes. (Jessica Claridge,

Read More

More about Native American Women

Related Topics

Open Document