Ogimah Ikwe Native American Women Analysis

Native American women have always power within them, but with the arrival of colonists came the arrival of sexism. Today, indigenous women are beginning to thrive in American leadership and are once again tribal leaders like they were pre-colonialism. Even the most successful Native American women have faced unbelievable adversity, commonly including poverty in early life and sexism. But they also share rich traditions, female role models, and Native feminism. Throughout “Ogimah Ikwe: Native Women and Their Path to Leadership,” Lajimodiere shows how the common threads of tribal ties, female role models, off-reservation education, and Native feminism influenced successful contemporary Native American women today. A strong sense of self is instrumental for success, as is a strong sense of identity regarding your family and

Two of the women interviewed specifically spoke about their mother’s influence on them through tribal leadership and nonconformism (Lajimodiere 14). The importance of mothers in Native American culture cannot be understated, as the culture is matrilineal and the question “who is your mother?” is how one finds their identity within the universe (Allen 209). Though patriarchal colonists were unlikely to ask about the mothers of historical Native American women such as Pocahontas, Sacagawea, or Sarah Winnemucca, the omission of their female role models is also a deliberate blow that disrespects matrilinealism. One leader with well documented female role models is Gladys Tantaquidgeon, whose nanus Emma Baker, Lydia Fielding, and Mercy Ann Nonesuch Mathews formally trained her to become a Mohegan medicine woman (Fawcett 37). In a culture where women are traditionally the lifeblood, female role models shape young girls into great