Native Americn Women in Many

Native Americn Women

In many ways, the cultural experiences of Native American Women inspired the societal changes that led to women gaining social and political rights in the late 19th and beginning of the 20th century. This resulted directly from the role the Native American Women had in their own society, where they often occupied positions of influence and respect.

The common thing shared was the primary responsibility of women in both societies as mothers and sources of life. However, while in the Native American society, this was a source of worship, with the women enjoying respect and security because of their role, in the white society, this was rather a source and motivation for restricting women in their presence and role within everyday life. As such, we could point out that this cultural baggage in terms of customs and tradition that Native American Women brought along inspired white women to join in their own struggle for the role they were to play in society.

In my opinion, the basic values did not differ so much from Native American women to white women, what truly differed was the capacity of each category to project their values in the society they were part of. While on one hand, values such as equality in rights, participation in decisions or equal role were respected in the Native American society, in the white women's society, this was something that needed to be fought over and achieved. In this sense, the Indian society most likely was much more matriarchal than the white society.

On the other hand, one needs to consider that at the end of the 19th century, Americanization was attempted for the Native American society, which would have included women as well. The result would have most likely have been a decrease in women's rights, because of the fact that women's role in the white society was at that point much more diminished than the Native American women's role. For Indian women, it thus meant even more than losing their race rights, it also meant losing their traditional gender rights.

3. Dolphus, a Cheyenne River Lakota Native American, says that "I was supposed to attend a Halloween party. I decided to dress as a nun because nuns were the scariest things I ever saw." She has a very plastic way of remembering what the boarding school experience meant for Native American women. Going of to Christian schools from tender ages, often no older than four or five, meant that these individuals would be separated from their families for a whole year, with rare visits mainly due to boarding rules and affordability for the Native American family. On the other hand, many have witnessed abuses from boarding schools and have later told accounts of their mistreatment there. From all these point-of-views, boarding schools were definitely not a positive experience and it is doubtful that the positive educational effects could have countered them.