Karen Logan

The Role of Early Native American Women

I can remember when I was a child growing up, I would sit with my father and watch cowboy and Indian movies.  Even at a young age I noticed that the Indian men seemed so strong and in charge.  The women were portrayed as being completely subservient and existing simply for male companionship and for doing all of the grunt work. I remember thinking, “Wow, those poor women have such a hard life.  I’m glad I’m not an Indian! The men in their tribe act like they don’t even see them.”  I thought it would be interesting to research just how Early Native American women were viewed by their counterparts and what role they truly played in their marriage.  Were they really thought of as the dumbfounded workhorse that they were portrayed to be or were there hidden sustenance that were not seen by people of other cultures?

I came across a website that shed a great deal of light as to how these women were really viewed among their people http://www.bluecloud.org/women.  Marriage in the Indian culture, for most tribes, was viewed as a partnership with each person having very distinct roles and duties.  The Indian man’s role was to protect his family and to hunt for food; and the woman’s role was to prepare the food and perform all of what we now call household chores. Their roles were basically hunters and gatherers with men being the hunters and women being the gatherers; however, that was not the only role of the Indian woman. 

The highest achievement for a Native American woman was to be a mother and raise a healthy family, yet many of the women had other responsibilities such as being a medicine woman or practice religion; however, those duties didn’t get in the way of being a mom.  I don’t think much has changed in today’s society where women hold down full-time jobs and are still able to be successful in their role as a mother.

Many women died in childbirth. Infant mortality was high among early Native American women; however, these women were very proactive in doing what they could to stay healthy.  They were big on the use of herbal medicines and superstitions to help them through their pregnancies.  They also were attentive to the foods that they consumed.

Many of the tribes practiced matrilocal and matrilineal marriages. The men would trace their lineage through the women.  They would set up house – erect their tipi – near the woman’s family.  In some tribes, the women could appoint men to council, and if they became unhappy or dissatisfied with that person’s conduct, they could have them removed.  In the matrilineal marriages, women had ownership of property, land, and housing. These practices actually gave Indian women a great deal of power. 

The roles of the Early Native American women were distorted somewhat from watching the habits of the hunting and warfare tribes, which caused a negative picture of their role within their culture.  These women were actually treated well within their tribe.  They were viewed as an equal and looked at as being the other half of their husbands.  In comparison, when a European woman, was taken captive by the Indians, they were actually treated better by the natives than they were by their own people.

After researching this topic, it has become quite apparent that there has been a great misconception of the position that Native American women held.  What I found to be was Native American women were their husband’s partner who each had their own responsibilities to share in order to make their family unit successful.  The woman’s role was just as important as her husband’s role and oftentimes it was more powerful.  So, as a child, what I perceived as the Indian woman being subservient and holding very little to no power at all was actually completely wrong.  They, in fact, were the backbone of their society.  They worked in partnership with their husbands to create a sound family unit that could survive their living conditions.  They were highly respected and, without their help, survival of their culture would have been very difficult.

Works Cited

"Women's Issues." The Wind River Rendezvous 15.2. Print.  http://www.bluecloud.org/women

Native American (Indian) Women: A Call for Research Beatrice Medicine Anthropology & Education Quarterly , Vol. 19, No. 2, Women, Culture, and Education (Jun., 1988), pp. 86-92

Navajo Mothers and Daughters: Schools, Jobs, and the Family Donna Deyhle and Frank Margonis Anthropology & Education Quarterly , Vol. 26, No. 2 (Jun., 1995), pp. 135-167

Newell, Quincy D. "The Indians Generally Love Their Wives And Children": Native American Marriage And Sexual Practices In Missions San Francisco, Santa Clara, And San José." Catholic Historical Review 91.1 (2005): 60-82. America: History & Life. Web. 12 Apr. 2012.