Catherine J Johnson

The Legends and the Reality:

Strong Women within Native American Cultures

Introduction:

            While gathering research for this paper on Native American Women, my niece Aeralyn was watching Disney’s version of Peter Pan in the front room. All of a sudden she ran into the room where I was working, all upset and told me she was very angry with the Indians. Puzzled, I asked her what the Indians had done and she said, “That Indian Squaw lady is mean! She wouldn’t let Wendy play with the boys but Tiger Lily got to!” I told her that there were some Indian-ladies who were like that, but there were also ladies like Tiger Lily (the Indian princess in the story) who were brave and had many adventures. Being the inquisitive and highly intelligent three-year-old that she is, she was not satisfied with a simple answer. She then demanded that I tell her all about these ladies who were brave. This gave me the opportunity to concentrate on researching strong Native American Women, because I had to find them for this paper, and to answer my niece’s demands as well.

            Most of the literature of Native Americans are either personal experiences or legends past down through a tradition of oral storytelling. Working through the Internet and books of biographies I was able to find stories that were both a part of literature and a part of my subject. Some of these stories don’t have authors and some of the authors are not the original but in an oral tradition it is hard to find the true original. So through many sources I started the search for women’s stories in legends and history.

Personal Reference:

            My good friend Deidre Rose Avery, a tribe member of the Cheyenne River Sioux, when I asked her about important women within the Native American Society, pointed me in the direction of the Sioux Nation and the legends within. She said “women in our tribe used to be like the squaw, but with the difference that they were considered important as life-givers and White Buffalo Woman told the women that they were important because everything lived because of their work.” She sent me a web-site with the legend of White Buffalo Woman and so began the search for powerful women.

The Sioux Women:

            Through searching online and in the few books on Native American women, I found that within the Sioux Nation what Deidre Rose had said about them was fairly accurate. Women of this tribe were similar to housewives whose main role was to have children, prepare food and tend to their homes. When it came to war, it is known that “women were formally barred from participating in any of the war games” (Niethammer p. 167). Some women of the tribe followed the war parties to cook meals and make camps, for the only reason they would follow to fight was in seeking revenge (Niethammer).

            There is however the legend of White Buffalo Calf Woman (Ptesan-Wi) which contradicts this idea that they were a completely patriarchal society. This oral story is passed through the generations, and told by the Sioux Indian John Fire Lame Deer. It says that when the people were scattered upon the plains with little food and no patterned way of life, “the chief sent two of his young men to hunt for game […] they searched everywhere but could find nothing” (Lame Deer). Then to them this beautiful woman appears, “more beautiful than any they had seen [she was wearing] a wonderful white buckskin outfit [that] was embroidered with sacred and marvelous designs” (Lame Deer). Of the two men, one was struck down because he didn’t recognize that she was sacred, the other she sends back to tell the chief to make preparations for her arrival at the camp. After everything was readied, four days later, she arrived carrying a feather fan and a bundle. Within the bundle was the sacred pipe, which was to sit on an altar they had built. She then taught them the rituals, ceremonies, food gathering and preparation, and gave them the freedom to hunt the buffalo. She then told the women that “the work their hands and the fruit of their bodies [is what] kept the people alive” and that what they do “is a great as what the warriors do” (Lame Deer). She then said things to others such as the children, the chief of things should do and ways to behave. After telling some prophecies of the next appearance of a white buffalo, she left saying that she would return. Since then every year the story is retold and an honorable maiden of the tribe is chosen to play White Buffalo Woman in a reenactment of the event.

            Finding only the legend of White Buffalo Woman among the Sioux tribe and some small mentions of women seeking revenge, I decided to look at other tribes to find women of note that my niece could enjoy hearing about. There are many different Native American tribes, each with their own stories of women but through more searching on the internet I found four groups that had women worth noting, these were the Ojibwe, Crow, Apache, and Cherokee. Within the Ojibwe nation I first found evidence of not only legend but also historically real women.

The Ojibwe Women:

            The Ojibwe Nation (also known as the Chippewa) had a woman of creation like the Sioux, except that she physically gave birth to the people as well as all the animals. Being another oral story, I found this on a Native American website with no author other than to say it was an Ojibwe oral story. It is the story of Spirit Woman and she was the only being on earth originally was contented until one day she decided she wanted a friend. The Great Spirit sent her a husband and soon after she gave birth to all the creatures of the world. Only one out of every group of animals promised to stay with her and never leave and she gave them special attributes for their love (Ojibwe Oral Story). This was one of the Ojibwe creation stories and the importance of Spirit Woman was not forgotten. Women were not forgotten either in the mindset that all creatures including females was considered equal yet, like the Lakota, the women had different though equally important tasks than the men.

            Though I could not find very much information on the everyday life of the Ojibwe women, from a website on historical Native American women, I did find the story of a very incredible woman named Hanging Cloud who took the idea of equality and used it to her advantage. She was an Ojibwe Princess, the daughter of a Chief, and “the only woman of the Ojibwe Nation ever allowed to become a full warrior” (White). This woman stood out because she “wore war paint, carried full battle weapons, was a deadly warrior and took part in battles, raids, hunting parties, was a full member of the war council, performed war dances and participated in all warrior ceremonies” (White). Everything she did was against their idea of how a woman behaved yet she was not shunned for it and stands alone as the only female warrior of the Ojibwe. There is not much more information on her yet she is still remembered.

            Through the legendary tale of Hanging Cloud, I found the first evidence of a real Indian warrior woman. Someone comparable to the greatness of Peter Pan’s “Tiger Lily” in my niece’s mind, and yet she still wanted to know more. Her thirst for knowledge engaged my need to find more Indian women she could admire and to find more I looked westward to the Crow Nation.

The Crow Women:

            Within a book of Indian Women, I found a couple of outstanding warrior women of the Crow Nation. The first woman that I only found a little amount of information on was a bloodthirsty woman named The Other Magpie. This woman was known particularly “for her warrior-like skill and bravery while riding with” (Bataille p.308) the Crow army scouts. There was some confusion about her story because there was another woman name Magpie Outside, whose life ran in the same general time and location. Yet while Magpie Outside was a more peaceful and kind woman who later married, The Other Magpie “had no man of her own” and was known to be pretty dangerous on the warpath. The Other Magpie was well known for her fighting skills and it is well remembered for a tale of when one of her comrades was surrounded by Lakota warriors she “rode straight at them waving her [weapon at them] she struck the Lakota […] and saved her companion” (Bataille p.308). She then “took a scalp and cut it into many pieces, so that the men might have more scalp to dance with when they returned from battle” (Bataille p.308). From this I gained the sense that these were two definitely different women and that The Other Magpie was the woman I was looking for. This woman was known for her prowess in battle and this was only one of many bloody adventures that are told that includes her.

            The Other Magpie was the perfect image of a savage Indian woman who had many adventures and fought among men, but there is another woman of the Crow who had even higher acclaim. This woman known as Woman Chief was Pine Leaf, of the Gros Ventre Tribe and was captured and adopted by the Crows when she was very young (White). Growing up, she dressed “as a woman but pursued male activities,” and early on was “she was known for her marksmanship and her ability to kill and butcher a buffalo in the field” (Bataille p337). She became known as Woman Chief, when she “achieved the status of warrior during a Blackfoot raid in which she is reported to have single-handedly turned an ambush and protected a fort that sheltered both Crow and white families. [She was later] elevated to the Council of Chiefs” (Bataille p 337-338) where she was given the name Woman Chief. After she attained this station her thirst for blood faded and she concentrated on “peacemaking efforts [between] the tribes” (Bataille p. 338). Pine Leaf/ Woman Chief earned the prestige of being a strong woman among men and fought strongly for her people both in protecting them and later trying to make peace.

            Aeralyn (my niece) especially enjoyed these stories because these women, as she put it, “beat up the bad guys and saved lots of people… they kicked the bad guys butts!” But rather than telling her about other women who only fought, it seemed wiser to show her another side. Since she is fascinated with “finding good medi (medicine) to make owies (hurts) better” (Aeralyn’s words), I decided to look at the Apache tribe’s most noted ladies, who were both warriors and healers.

The Apache Women:

            Through more reading in the book on biographies of Native American Women, I found that there were many females of the Apache Nation that were warriors. “Apache’s are traditionally matrilocal societies, and women were taught warfare skills without ridicule and praised for mastering them” (Bataille p.83). Besides being allowed to be active fighters, they could do the cooking, cleaning, and nursing” (Bataille p.83) as well as homemaking.

            Among these many fighting women of the Apache there was one who was well known for her time spent with Geronimo, she was known as Dahteste. She was not only a fighter recognized as “a skillful rider and hunter,” she was also seen to be a great “mediator between the U. S. Calvary” (Bataille p. 83) and the Native Americans. This incredible lady won “personal battles as well as military” (Bataille p.83) and was a true survivor, she fought off both pneumonia and tuberculosis. She gained almost legendary status with her people and nothing defeated her determination until the end when she comfortably passed away due to old age.

            When Dahteste helped in “bringing about the final surrender of Geronimo in 1886” (Bataille p.83) there was another woman who had a major part in it as well. When Geronimo actually decided to surrender he trusted Dahteste and Lozen with the message. Although Lozen, like Dahteste, was a warrior she was also known for her great healing power and skills as a shaman. It is said that during her “puberty ceremony, she was given the power to find [an] enemy, sensing their direction […] as she prayed with hands outstretched” (Bataille p. 190). Acting as a shaman before a battle “she sang war songs and directed dances of war parties” (Bataille p.190). Both Dahteste and Lozen remain somewhat obscured in American history, but through the Apache’s tribal history they live on.

            Aeralyn was really surprised that there were so many women “who did stuff that was so brave” and wished to hear more and more. I was excited by her need to know as much as possible about good strong women and had to think for a long time when she asked me if we knew any Indians who were strong and smart like all these women.

Personal Information:

            The person who was most important to me and my family, who Aeralyn met only once, was Luna Mae Wilburn Sowell who was half-Cherokee and lived from 1909 to 2002. She was the head of the family, which consisted of one-hundred-and–seventeen children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great great grandchildren. I was one of the family members who had a very close relationship with her and as a child I stayed with her often, learning all of her wisdom that she shared. One day while out in her garden collecting vegetables, she told me to leave a corn husk on the ground so Corn Woman would know that her children remembered. I didn’t understand what she meant then, but through research on the Internet of the Cherokee legends the truth of this was uncovered.

The Cherokee Women:

            Corn Woman was the woman in one of the creation stories of the Cherokee people. Along with her husband, Kanati, Selu (Corn Woman) had a son named Good Boy, and later from the waters sprang another son who they called Wild Boy because her was wild like the natural world and not very easy to parent. Together the boys were mischievous and they found where their father got the animals he kills and they accidentally release all the animals. Having no meat to eat their mother provides them with beans and corn, so they go to find how she gets this food. They see their mother rub her stomach and her leg, providing food for her children “from her own seed.” She finds out that they know and instructs them how to bury her when she dies. Soon thereafter she becomes sick and passes on, and the boys bury her but not exactly as they are told and that becomes the reason why corn only grows in small patches instead of all over (Lame Deer). Corn Woman is henceforth always remembered for providing food from her seed and the earth for the Cherokee people (Welker).

            As my Great Grandmother, Luna Mae, told me stories and taught me things about life, so did all the women of the Cherokee Nation. But they were more than just storytellers, besides raising and teaching the young, Cherokee women had a multitude of jobs they could optionally perform. While researching through a book of the freedom of women in Native North America, I found that most women were wives and mothers who tended the fields and raised their children in the Cherokee Nation, but they had more freedom than women did in most other Indian societies. These women lived in a matriarchal society and had “titular ownership of the fields and land” which they “conferred no greater access or control” (Klein P.223) to their husbands when married. Even though these women did almost all the agricultural labor, they were on equal ground with the men. When it came to marriage, premarital fornication was not so frowned upon and sometimes, extramarital fornication was also overlooked. This didn’t mean that adultery was a thing that happened very often, but if it did, “divorce was complete for both sexes on separation” (Klein p.222) and no further recourse was enforced after that.

            Besides being wives and mothers, there were many women who were politically active. In the Cherokee Nation, women “frequently and openly made their opinions known on political issues, with no shame attached to the man who listened and considerable peril of severe and public tongue-lashings to the one who did not” (Klein p.222). There was also a council that only women with seniority or prestige could become a part of, they were a “sorority of sacred persons who were called Pretty Women” (Niethammer p.172). These women “had the power to decide the fate of captives” (Allen p.36) and they “joined the men of the tribe at every war council and were expected to counsel the war chief on such matters as strategy and time of attack” (Niethammer p.172).

            There were two women noted in the books and on the websites that I searched through who obtained the Beloved Woman status (another title with similar attributes as the Pretty Woman), that both had similar stories. Cuhtahlatah (Wild Hemp) was a woman who lived a long time ago and Nanye-Hi also known as Nancy Ward was around some time near the end of the preservation days. Both women stayed with their husbands in battle and when both their husbands were killed, Wild Hemp picked up her husband’s tomahawk and Nancy picked up her husband’s gun and both women plunged into battle (White). In both cases the battle led to victory, but for Wild Hemp her victory was more significant because her tribe was on the brink of retreat (Niethammer p.171-172). These women became recognized as Beloved Women and remain a strong part of the Cherokee’s cultural history.

Conclusion:

            It all started with a child’s simple question and a quest for more knowledge and look how far it went! After reading about all these fascinating women, I still feel a need to find more stories about exciting women in the Native American culture. For both Aeralyn and I, reading these stories and finding the women of all these tribes was like a whirlwind of excitement and intrigue. She is no longer mad at the Squaw lady in Peter Pan, but feels sad that she “can’t have any fun.” It makes me glad that at such a young age she can take in this information and then make such an astute observation. This information is important in that it can be used in a way to teach the young about fairness and equality not only by race, but by gender as well. The stories from these oral traditions are difficult to come by but as more are taken down and remembered, so another chapter of literature will be entered in the library of the world. Aeralyn and I will be there to find and read as many stories as we can get our hands on and find a better way to share them with others.

Work Cited

Allen, Paula Gunn. The Sacred Hoop: Recovering the Feminine in American Indian Traditions. 1986. Beacon Press Books. Boston.

Bataille, Gretchen M. American Indian Women – A Biographical Dictionary. 2001. Garland Publishing. New York.

Klein, Laura F. and Lillian A. Ackerman. Women and Power in Native North America. 1995. University of Oklahoma Press. Oklahoma.

Lame Deer, John Fire. White Buffalo Calf Woman: Brings the First Pipe. 1996.

http://www.kstrom.net/isk/arvol/lamedeer.html

Niethammer, Carolyn. Daughters of the Earth: The Lives and Legends of

American Indian Women. 1977. Colliers Books. New York.

Ojibwe Oral Story. Mother, We Will Never Leave You. 2002.

            http://www.aaanativearts.com/article583.html

Welker, Glenn. The Origin of Game and Corn. 1996.

            http://www.indians.org/welker/origgame.htm

White, Julia. Pine Leaf (Woman Chief) – Gros Ventre, Nanye-Hi (Nancy Ward) – Cherokee, Hanging Cloud - Ojibwe. 

http://www.meyna.com/wspirit.html