In Native American culture, it was common to see many women with powerful roles in the community. Most families were Matrilineal , with the woman’s family in charge. When the Europeans arrived in the late 1600’s to early 1700’s the roles of women began to change from the usual life they had before, to a whole new set of guidelines. In the early days of our history (before Europeans explored the new world) Native Americans settles all over the western hemisphere. While the men were predominantly hunters, the women played a large role in the villages.
First and foremost, women were honored and respected creatures because they could bear children. They also had the choice to keep the baby, or abort the pregnancy. Women had very much respect in their tribes. Indian women worked hard for their families as well as the men. The women provided homes and shelters, owned property in which they planted crops, and also provided the family with food. Although women could not be priests , their opinions and thoughts were appreciated and accepted by councilmen of the tribe .
Since marriages in the Native American cultures were typically more of a partnership, women could choose to divorce their husbands when ever they’d like . In addition to that, it was common for women in the tribes to marry more than once in their lifetime. This ideology of their culture, and many other aspects, were foreign and very much a sin to the European, Christian, explorers. When Europeans arrived, the powerful women not only shocked them, but fueled their fight to convert them into a “white society”.
The Essay on The Status of Native Culture and Identity In Contemporary Society Depicted In Thomas King’s Borders
Thomas King’s Borders, is a first person narrative designed to represent the continuing loss of identity experienced by the native population in contemporary North America. Borders tells the story of a native family living on a reservation located close to the Albertan-Montanan boarder in Western Canada. The protagonist of Borders is the unnamed mother of the family, who by refusing to properly ...
Because the fir trade was becoming increasingly important to everyone in the new world, women were pulled from their field and village work, and put into other tasks like processing and preparing animal skins . When they weren’t helping their husband’s trade, they were forced to use new farm tools, like hoes . Not only did they abandon their crafts and tool making, but their opinions in council were no longer cared for . European men did not want to deal with Indian women. It was appropriate to do trade with the men of the villages.
Indian women were basically forced into becoming homemakers like European women. One Cherokee woman spoke out about her feelings and said: We have raised all of you on the land which we now have . . . . We know that our country has once been extensive, but by repeated sales has become circumscribed to a small tract. . . . Your mothers and sisters ask and beg of you not to part with any more of our lands . She refused to back down to the white man, and openly stated her opinion (which was looked down upon very highly), even though she was feeling very much repressed.
Later these same women were sent to simulation schools were they were taught to act like white European women. Throughout this time period, many women were raped, and dragged from their homes . They were seduced and out casted from even their own tribes. It was a hardship for Indian women due to the unkindness and unfairness of the European explorers. Many of these changes altered the life of not only the women, but the entire nation of Native Americans forever.
