Gender Roles Of Native Americans

Our nation’s history has been deep rooted in the conflict involving Native Americans, ever since the beginning of America and it is one hard to get rid of even as the days go by. The impact of colonialism can be seen in Native American communities even today, and it can only be understood through a cultural perspective once you experience it. Aaron Huey, who is a photographer, went to Pine Ridge reservation and it led him to document the poverty and issues that the Sioux Indians go through as a result of the United States government’s long term actions and policies against them. One must question all sources regarding these topics because there is a lot of biased and misinformation about Native American struggles, and sometimes schools do not thoroughly teach the truth so students can get an insight. There are also different sociological perspectives in this conflict, along with many differing opinions on how to approach the problem and deal with it. This is where ideas clash because people believe their views are right regarding how to handle it.

The Cheyenne women and men had very major roles in the tribe. The women were in charge cleaning their house. A big roll of the cheyenne women was building their home every time the tribe moved. The women would also teach the daughters how to cook, clean, make the houses, and etc. The Cheyenne men were hunter and worries. The men ware responsible for protecting their family and tribe if anything tragedies occurred. The Cheyenne men would go on hunting trips for miny days ,but when the men got back from hunting the women would cook the meat to eat and preserve it for later.

The definition of Sociology is the study of human societies through the synthesis of theoretical analysis and controlled research, focusing on the social patterns and the different factors that influence humans. I was born in a small town with roughly five hundred people in it; Terrero Negro the most beautiful town in Honduras is where I grew up for the majority of my childhood. Sadly do a corrupt government the majority of the population lives in poverty, however that does not stop anyone from always offering you a cup of coffee or any type of beverage when you arrive at their house. This is one of the most important norms, thus from a young age everyone is taught to be courteous and make your guest feel at home by offering them a beverage.

Current American society is constantly affected by events from the past, but sometimes what society thinks is in the past is not so far behind. The way Native Americans were treated historically continually plays a part in current American society. Due to the racism and stereotypes carried throughout society the Native American cultural circle is constantly under fire.

Women in colonial America played revolutionary roles. They played roles that were always changing. “All men are created equal.” It’s the basis in which America was built, but what about the women? Without women, men wouldn’t have been nearly as successful. But what exactly did women do? Well, different races had different roles to play within their population(WiseGEEK).

The two short stories that I will use for this essay are “Three Generations of Native American’s Birth Experience” by Joy Harjo and “Black Mountatin, 1977” by Donald Antrim. In “Black Mountain, 1977”, the story is about a grandson and grandfather that try to keep a relationship even when the grandfather’s daughter doesn’t want them to have a relationship. The grandson would stay with his grandparents and found a way to keep their relationship strong even with some of the problems that happened along the way. In “Three Generations of Native American Women’s Birth Experience”, the story starts out with a girl as a pregnant teenager about to give birth on a reservation in a hospital that gave her free care but was not a pleasant place. Then goes on to tell about her next child’s birth and other women in her family about how different their birthing experiences were. Despite “Black Mountain, 1977” telling a story about a dysfunctional family, “Three Generations of Native American Women’s Birth Experience”, tells the growth of a family through hardships.

Native Americans and Americans today share many values and disbeliefs also. We all have families and try to do everything to protect and help them. We also try to not discriminate against other people. Doing this helps us connect more as people and a nation. Chief Joseph said “I believe much trouble and blood would be saved if we opened our hearts more.” We have opened our hearts and live together more peacefully.

Throughout this course, we learned that women’s studies originated as a concern at the time that “women and men noticed the absence, misrepresentation, and trivialization of women [in addition to] the ways women were systematically excluded from many positions of power and authority” (Shaw, Lee 1). In the past, men had more privileges than women. Women have battled for centuries against certain patterns of inadequacy that all women experience. Every culture and customs has divergent female

Prior to Western colonization, American Indian women played an important role in their communities. Many women were valued for their contributions socially, politically, spiritually, and economically and were viewed as leaders (Poupart p.171). Men and women each held different duties in their communities; women had important tasks to fulfill such as the taking ownership of land, crops, and decision-making. Viewing genders as equals was important in the Native communities because their differences were seen as complementary and balanced when used together. In some communities, women were seen as slightly inferior to men because they contributed offspring in the sacred creation of life. Oral history stories say that women were seen as the wisest of the group. Women were viewed as the “Light of Knowledge” and were said to “come first and light the way for males…because they are not created with an automatic connection to the Atisokanak World” and need to be guided (Boatman p.61). The roles of American Indian women were respected and honored in communities, unlike in Western culture.

Today, women are believed to be equal to men however this was not always the case. During colonial times, women did not have the same roles as women do today; men and women had fixed roles in society. Roles between men and women do not exchange due to strict gender roles. Additionally, married women were not exactly considered as companions instead, as the husband’s property. Although gender roles were a significant issue among women in early America, another issue was the background of these women. Factors such as race, religion, geography/region, and social class were substantial to the extent of control a woman had over her own life. These factors significantly shaped the lives of these women. For instance, white women had differences

All throughout history, women have been thought of to be “weaker” and “not as capable” as men have always been thought to be. Due to this, gender roles were

In chapter five of her book, Anderson starts it by stating that “I’m not a feminist”. She shares her experience that this is the remark she very often hears from Indigenous women. She further narrates that when she shared the idea of writing an essay on Indigenous feminism with friends and colleagues, many of them were skeptical: some seemed bored; others considered it a waste of time; remaining labeled it a negative activity. Interestingly, one of the author’s friends remarked that “feminists are always arguing against something”. These sentiments are main reasons of discouragement among Indigenous women to be identified as feminist. In my opinion, this issue is very complex; therefore, should be looked at holistically. Before I further reflect

Native Americans are people that were America Indians they are consider pre-Columbian ancestor were indigenous. Everyday I'm the world people talk about the Native Americans and the important they did, but I realized that people do not know all the things that made the native americans women's did.

What if everyday in America there was not an action someone could take because someone of an opposite race sexually assaulted or domestically abused that person? Often news outlets only focus on major even in cities or towns, but never the reservations. With the lack of awareness of the number of rapes and domestic abuse victims on reservations, at large society is saying America doesn’t care due to reservations having sovereignty. Even with new laws signed into place by President Obama to deal with the rape and abuse problems to Native American women, that come from non Native Americans, the problem with this is it’s a pilot only on three tribes (Culp-Ressler,1).It is said it will expand soon, but how soon? America is not known for being

     With Native Americans being the first inhabitants of North America, many people often question what traditions they have created on their own, before the ideas of the pale settlers. When taking a look into their interesting beliefs, it is obvious to see an intricate basis or animals and spirits that guide the lifestyles of Indians all over the country. Even their society had a special way of doing things, including gender roles of both men and women. There are many customs that have seemed odd to the average American throughout the centuries, but Indians found these a normal way of life. Even the lifestyles of Native Americans were unique, from hunting animals to tanning buffalo hides. Gender was a major