How European Interactions Benefitted Indigenous Women

Indigenous societies existed in North America in the period between 1600s and 1800s. The roles and responsibilities of men and women during this period were clearly identified despite the hundreds of cultures that dominated indigenous societies. Despite the existence of separate cultures, indigenous men in North America were primarily responsible for hunting and warfare while women were mandated with the responsibility of handling the internal operations of the community. In this case, indigenous women were responsible for taking care of households and upbringing of their children. However, indigenous women in North America during this period were mostly considered as slaves to men. Indigenous men had more visible, public roles, while indigenous women served as slaves to men. Indigenous women depended on men for decision-making and had relatively minimal control of their bodies. In this essay, I argue that indigenous women benefitted from the interactions with Europeans who arrived North America through becoming autonomous by making their own decisions or choices.

Prior to the arrival of Europeans in North America, indigenous societies were dominated by men who assumed more visible, public roles. Men domination was to the detriment of women who were given more private roles of handling the internal operations of the community by taking care of their households. The domination by men was problematic to indigenous women since they served as slaves to men and depended on them for decision-making. As a result of male domination in indigenous societies, women had relatively minimal spiritual and physical power or control over their own bodies. In this regard, men had control over the bodies, decisions, and actions of women in indigenous societies in North America from the 1600s to 1800s regardless of the existence of separate cultures. The arrival of Europeans in North America during this period had significant impacts on the role of women in these societies. Indigenous women benefitted from their interactions with these Europeans in various ways.

First, indigenous women benefitted from European interactions through having the ability to make their own choices. European arrival in North America during this period introduced Christianity, particular Catholicism. This came at a time when indigenous people believed in medicine men and understood that some objects possessed the power to harm or to heal.[footnoteRef:1] This essentially means that life in indigenous societies during this period was characterized by superstition and sinful practices. The introduction of Catholicism to these societies challenged the religious supremacy of the medicine man and enlightened indigenous women to a new world in which they possessed spiritual power. Indigenous women were converted to Catholicism following the realization that God is the ultimate spiritual power. [1: Tracy Neal Leavelle, “The Catholic Rosary, Gendered Practice, and Female Power in French-Indian Spiritual Encounters,” in Native Americans, Christianity, and the Reshaping of the American Religious Landscape, (2010):2]

Catholic conversion played a significant role in changing the lives of indigenous women in North America during this period. As these women were converted to Catholicism, they discovered new forms of power in Christianity. These new forms of power not only reflected conventional understandings of spirit and practice, but were also utilized by indigenous women to develop new paths for their individual and communal development. Indigenous women incorporated Christian rituals and prayer in their personal and communal lives, which enabled them to experience thriving religious life. Additionally, the incorporation of Christian ritual and prayer in their daily lives enabled indigenous women to differentiate themselves from many men in the community/society. Through their thriving religious lives, indigenous women were distinct from young men and traditional healers during this period.

Catholic conversion enabled indigenous women to become active agents of their lives instead of being passive. The conversion into Christianity enabled these indigenous women to create a stronger community of women. Through the community, indigenous women openly expressed new forms of spiritual and social power. Women became powerful more than the medicine men because of their physical, social, and spiritual power brought by the creation of a strong community following Catholic conversion. The physical, spiritual, and social power possessed by indigenous women over the medicine men was attributable to their practices and proclamation of devotion to Jesus, Mary, and the saints. The strong community of women due to Catholic conversion provided an avenue through which indigenous women challenged men domination and obtained more visible, public roles. Indigenous women’s dedication to Christian ritual and prayer implied that they obtained spiritual power through which they assumed more influential roles in the society. In this regard, the roles of indigenous women were not only restricted to handing internal operations of the community, but entailed providing spiritual guidance to the community, which was traditionally provided by medicine men.

The way with which indigenous women benefitted from interactions with Europeans who arrived in North America is through being given the ability to choose their marriage partners since they were not forced to marry anyone they did not approve of. Additionally, these women were actively involved in the fur trade and were no longer treated like slaves of men. As previously indicated, prior to the arrival of Europeans in North America, indigenous women were treated as slaves of men because of the existing societal systems and way of life. One of the ways with which women were treated like slaves of men was by being forced to marry people they did not approve of. Indigenous women had relatively no choice or say in selecting marriage partners prior to the arrival of Europeans. Moreover, these women were excluded from involvement in the fur trade, which primarily dominated by women. The exclusion of indigenous women from engagement in the fur trade was attributable to the fact that their roles in the community involved handling the internal operations of the community i.e. taking care of their households.

However, a significant turn around ensued following interactions with Europeans as women started to have a say in choosing their marriage partners. Marriage practices changed following these interactions with Europeans as men were now required to obtain consent from a woman’s parents before marrying her. Men could no longer just marry women without their parents’ consent since they faced the prospect of severe punishment. Given the impact of European interactions, the process of marriage in indigenous societies in North America were redefined. The first step in this process was for men to seek for consent from the woman for any relations with her. This implied that the woman’s wishes were taken into consideration and respected.[footnoteRef:2] This was followed by seeking consent from the woman’s parents then agreeing on a bride price before marriage. Even though the bride price differed across tribes, it could amount to several hundred dollars’ worth of trade goods. [2: Sylvia Van Kirk, “The Role of Native Women in the Fur Trade Society of Western Canada, 1670-1830,” Frontier 7, no. 3 (1984): 10]

The change in marriage practices during this period provided an avenue for women to be incorporated in the fur trade. Indigenous women were included in this trade because they actively sought for husbands/men who were involved in fur trade. The change in marriage practices and other factors redefined the role of men and women in indigenous societies. Even though men were still responsible for hunting beaver and large game animals, women’s role expanded beyond taking care of households. Women became responsible for ensnaring smaller fur-bearing animals, particularly marten whose pelt was very expensive. The role of indigenous women in the fur trade involved providing men with a constant supply of “Indian shoes” or moccasins. The expansion of women’s role in indigenous societies in North America contributed to the emergence of these women as diplomats and peacemakers. In this case, indigenous women were anxious to sustain constant flow of European goods like knives, axes, cloth, and kettle.