Summary Of Cherokee Women Gender And Cultural Change

From the seventh to the nineteenth century, the Cherokee people underwent an important time of gender and cultural change. In Cherokee Women: Gender and Cultural Change, 1700-1835, the author Theda Perdue reconstructs the history of the Cherokee people by placing women as the focus and by examining their gender roles. Throughout the novel, Perdue successfully argues previous narratives made about the Cherokee’s history and offers an alternative to the reading of their history. In order to support such an alternative, the author has created a detailed timeline of the events that lead to such a shift in the gender roles of the Cherokee from 1700 to 1835.

During the early 1700’s, the Cherokee lived along the fertile valleys of the southern Appalachians. Based on their gender, a division of labor, was made between men and women. For instance, the women were in charge of the household and agriculture while the men acted as the hunters and warriors.

As the Cherokee became more dependent on the trade goods provided by the Europeans, the importance of agriculture weakened while the influence of trade and warfare grew. This resulted in men’s power to grow within the Cherokee society at the cost of the women’s power. At the same time, the U.S. government made several attempts to implant Euro-American values onto the Cherokee. Perdue later explains how the U.S. government’s objective was to confine Cherokee women and limit their power to domestic affairs. At first glance, the Cherokee Nation accepted many of the Americans ideology and values. For example, in the early nineteenth century, the Cherokee government began to prioritize individual rights and personal property. However, the matrilineal clan’s power still existed. Women still had strong spiritual and judicial control, and “women’s roles and women’s concerns remained central to the Cherokee republic” (p.