Perdue’s topic is the gender construction and distinctions in Cherokee Indian society, the traditional roles that women played and how cultural progression affected them specifically. Cherokee women lived in a world that was disrupted by trade and war which resulted in a shifting for both male and female roles in their community. With the arrival of Europeans, the significance of trade and warfare, men became the focus of clan livelihood thereby brining about changes in the traditional matrilineal kinship structure of native lifestyles creating a profound effect on women and their status. Women were traditionally equated with “Mother Earth” being the giver and sustainer of life, as such, they held a profound connection to family and the land. They were primarily responsible for households, children, and agricultural endeavors which their people depended on to survive. Native communities’ economic base was agriculture. This gave them considerable power and prestige within their respective clans. However, as the “civilizers” intently placed Cherokee men in a more patriarchal position in the areas of economic and political roles, women’s position of power, prestige and autonomy declined. 3. The main theme in Perdue’s work is of Cherokee women’s cultural persistence during the “civilization” period. She paints a convincing picture to show how Cherokee women showed “remarkable cultural persistence” (pg. 186), in the face of the ever changing times and non-native
The status of women in Algonquian and Iroquoian society. The Europeans viewed the structure of Native American society lacking the complexity of their own community. Their drawings and accounts of the Indian people reveal that the tribe's division of labor and gender roles were actually very advanced, especially where the status of women was concerned. Since married women in Europe held few rights to their property, family wealth, or even children, women of the tribes had greater independence and discretion over their produce, conditions of labor, and property. Native women even served as representatives in the tribal councils, and held rights over the land they worked. This demonstrates that although “women’s work” was belittled in European cultures, Native women’s daily contributions were recognized by Native men and the tribe as a whole as vital to the prosperity of the community and worthy of respect. Analyzing the condition of women in America, a woman's status in their community was directly related to the social hierarchy, religious culture, and natural environment in which they lived, and that the combination of those ingredients varied vastly across the continent.
Have you ever heard of the Cherokee Indians? Sure you have! Just as a reminder, they are the biggest tribe, and most known of out of all the Indian tribes there has ever been in the southeast. They are very important to American History and helped shaped us to be the Americans we are today, which is clearly what I 'll be explaining in this paper. Throughout the paper, I 'll tell you everything you need to know about the Cherokee Indians and continue to relate to the thesis.
In American Indian life, they believe their life is interconnected with the world, nature, and other people. The idea of a peoplehood matrix runs deep in Indian culture, in this essay the Cherokee, which is the holistic view of sacred history, language, ceremony, and homeland together. This holistic model shapes the life of the American Indians and how their sense of being and relationship to their history is strong and extremely valuable to them. This essay will try to explain how each aspect of the peoplehood matrix is important and interconnected to each other and the life of the Native Americans.
Throughout the course of history there have been numerous accounts regarding Native American and European interaction. From first contact to Indian removal, the interaction was somewhat of a roller coaster ride, leading from times of peace to mini wars and rebellions staged by the Native American tribes. The first part of this essay will briefly discuss the pre-Columbian Indian civilizations in North America and provide simple awareness of their cultures, while the second part of this essay will explore all major Native American contact leading up to, and through, the American Revolution while emphasizing the impact of Spanish, French, and English explorers and colonies on Native American culture and vice versa. The third, and final, part of this essay will explore Native American interaction after the American Revolution with emphasis on westward expansion and the Jacksonian Era leading into Indian removal. Furthermore, this essay will attempt to provide insight into aspects of Native American/European interaction that are often ignored such as: gender relations between European men and Native American women, slavery and captivity of native peoples, trade between Native Americans and European colonists, and the effects of religion on Native American tribes.
In The First American Women, Sara M. Evans describes the changing roles of the respective populations of indigenous, white European, and black slave women, from before Columbus’s arrival to the American Revolution, and how the perception of these roles were shaped by the sociocultural context of each group. For example, although indigenous women in North America had significant political and economic power, especially initially, most white European settlers did not recognize this power-- their Eurocentric lens conveying women as inferior-- and thus they instead saw these female political leaders as slaves, basing this conclusion on a comparison to black slaves.
Clothing, property, polygamy, education, and religion are discussed; however the focus is aimed at the Cherokees’ progress of becoming like the ‘white brethren’ . They were ‘in a course of improvement… nearly on the same level’ as those who considered themselves to be the prime example of what a civilised society ought to be. Now, the topic of ‘race’ comes into question, thanks to Howard F. Taylors’ several definitions of the term . Now, all the categories listed seem to be match for this document. The biological
Globalization has caused extreme change on the Cherokee ways of life, institutions, customs and traditions. The Cherokee people are incorporating more and more of their past traditions in to their institutions way of life in a means of trying to preserve them in this every changing world. Once a culture of people that held high their beliefs and way of life was nearly an extinct culture after the European, and colonization forced these people out of their land. It is important to see look at the affects that globalization has on the Cherokee people because looking at this we can see how globalization affects human dignity both in a positive manner and in a negative manner.
Cherokee women played an extremely important role in their tribe’s society especially compared to women in America during the time period. In the 1800s, Cherokee women played a much more influential role, impacting the tribe on a daily basis. For example, they were farmers, craftswomen, builders, and in some cases, even warriors. Women were essential to the survival of the tribe. In many cases, the women of the tribes were in charge of gathering materials and building homes for their family to live in. In addition, women would often help men hunt deer, then would skin, cut, and cook the animal. Women also served important purposes in medical circumstances in the tribe. There were plenty of medicine women in the tribes; in fact, many tribes believed that women had more healing power than men.
This paper addresses the results of interviews, observations, and research of life in the Ottawa tribe, how they see themselves and others in society and in the tribe. I mainly focused on The Little River Band of Ottawa Indian tribe. I researched their languages, pecking order, and interviewed to discover the rituals, and traditions that they believe in. In this essay I revealed how they see themselves in society. How they see other people, how they see each other, what their values were, what a typical day was etc. I initially suspected that I would have got different responses from these questions but in reality the results in the questions were almost completely the same. I studied this topic because mostly all the people that are
die. The Red Chief was also in charge of the lacrosse games which were called
In Lakota Woman, a biographical account of Mary Crow Dog, there is established a reoccurring theme centered around Native American women and their outlasting strength as they play their roles of wives, mothers, daughters, and sisters. Especially so in trying times, which Crow Dog illustrates, that have spanned for centuries and are as inescapable as they have ever been. Remarkable are her feats of bravery fueled by strength she’s derived from other influential women in her life and her love for her people and their traditions. Without a doubt, Native American women had and always will play a large role in keeping the ardor behind their fight for equality and justice lit. Whether it be physically, such as it was in Wounded Knee, spiritually, in their participation in keeping up rituals and religion, or traditionally, as they help uphold old values beloved by their people for centuries.
Native American, or American Indians, have a rich culture comprised of struggle, strife and success. For this paper, i will discuss the Native American Culture and it's history.
When European settlers arrived, they had a pre-decided vision of what women ought to behave like based on the European women, which the indigenous women didn’t align with. Indigenous women were comprehended and characterized in ambiguous and conflicting terms. They could firstly be viewed as “noble savages” where they were seen as classic Indian Princesses, virginal, childlike, naturally pure, beautiful, helpful to European men, and open and willing to
Judith Lorber is able to convey many of her ideals about our contemporary conceptions of gender in her essay, ?The Social Construction of Gender.? Not only does she clearly express her opinions on the roles of physiological differences of the male and female bodies, but she also elaborates on the roles of the mass media and professional sports among other things. It rapidly becomes clear that there are many legitimate arguments that support this movement for near or complete equality in genders and the roles that they perform.
Talking Back to Civilization , edited by Frederick E. Hoxie, is a compilation of excerpts from speeches, articles, and texts written by various American Indian authors and scholars from the 1890s to the 1920s. As a whole, the pieces provide a rough testimony of the American Indian during a period when conflict over land and resources, cultural stereotypes, and national policies caused tensions between Native American Indians and Euro-American reformers. This paper will attempt to sum up the plight of the American Indian during this period in American history.