Indian Women as Cultural Mediators

Looking at Indian Women as Cultural Mediators is somewhat of a new concept to me because it is not something i have previously learned very much about. Indian women i feel, are largely ignored in the greater picture of what an Indian is...When looking at Native people as a whole much of the emphasis is put on looking at Native men and the struggles they have encountered due to colonialism. As well, we often look at the negative effects colonialism had on Natives in general or sometimes more specifically a particular tribe. I think that we look at these issues through this lens because of our egocentricity. In our culture the male is dominant, when a hardship is faced it is the white male who deals with it and "protects" his family. Consequently, when we look at Indigenous societies we tend to ignore the roles Indian women played because "women's words are not the stuff of history" (Kidwell, 2007, p. 55). "The voices of Indian women are not heard in the written documents or in the history books..." however, Indian women were "actors in history, and their actions affected its course" regardless of whether or not we acknowledge this fact (Kidwell, 2007, p. 55). Fortunately though, scholars, students, historians, and Indigenous people, etc. have begun to research, explore and unravel the roles Indigenous women played in the history we all share.

In fact, "there is an important Indian woman in virtually every major encounter between Europeans and Indians in the New World" (Kidwell, 2007, p. 54). In all aspects of life Indian women were involved and this only changed after colonization started. Before this Indian women played roles in war, hunting, food preperation, raising of children, communication and relationships between tribes, healing ceremonies, and so on. There was an equality in most tribes that we do not see in our society today. Individuals more than men and women enjoyed roles that ensured the success of their whole tribe rather than the success of a specific person. Thus, when Indians had to create relationships with Europeans it was through their women that most of these relationships were built. "As mistresses or wives, they counseled, translated, and guided white men who were entereing new territory" (Kidwell, 2007, p. 54). In fact, many of the stories of Native women we are familiar with such as Pocahontas, Dona Marina, Sacagawea, and Nancy Ward, etc. have been changed or molded to fit our western ideals. In regards to Pocahontas we are all familiar with the Disney rendition of her life but the accuracy of this story is something we are not familiar unless we do some research.

Yes, Pocahontas saved John Smith's life but it was most likely not out of lusty love, as we are lead to believe in Disney's version of what happened. In fact, Pocahontas did not even marry John Smith as most believe but she married and had a son with a man named John Rolfe after moving to England. However, before moving to England Pocahontas visited the settlers often and created relationships with them. In regards to history, it is important to recognize and be aware of the roles Indian women played because if we are aware we may be able to deconstruct the stereotypes we have placed on Indian women and Indian societies.

The "Squaw Drudge"

The "Squaw Drudge" looks at the stereotypes placed on Native societies at the time of colonization based on the Euro-American ethnocentric view that Native people were savages. Based on this view Euro-Americans were able to justify their harsh ideas that Native women were basically work horses pushed by lazy Native men. This idea led Euro-Americans to conclude "that Indians personified savagism" which "served as the grand rationale for imperialism" (Smits, 2007, p. 29). Consequently, Europeans could justify their maltreatment and harsh criticisms of how native people lived their lives. Europeans believed that as the more advanced and more evolved civilization it was their job to civilize and Christianize Native people in order to elevate them from their savage status. Specifically Europeans saw the roles Native women took on as particular signs of savagism because Native women played roles that in European society were played by men. In European society women were suppose to be submissive, weak, quiet, "ladies". According to Wright Native societies were savage because "the weaker sex" was the one that did the physical labor. "Where we find the weaker sex burdened with hard labour, we may ascribe to the stronger something of the savage" (Smits, 2007, p. 36). The reason Europeans saw for insinuating Native people were savages was that it furthered their agenda in gaining land, in my opinion. If Native people were savages, they must be less deserving of land and resources than the more civilized individual.

In regards to the land found in The New World, Europeans believed that they were more deserving of the land and should have ownership of the land because Native people were not working the land and did not own the land in the European sense. "By disregarding Indian agriculture, Euro-Americans could defend their territorial dispossession of the Native Americans" (Smits, 2007, p. 37). In fact, according to European thought "...the frontiersmen could not be accused of trespassing, for "the man who puts the soil to use must of right dispossess the man who does not..." or Europeans believed that "the world would come to a standstill" because taking this land was God's destiny for Euro-Americans (Smits, 2007, p. 38). However, what Europeans did not know or acknowledge was that for several thousand years Native people had not only been living but thriving in the New World enjoying sexually defined roles that were "complementary, equitable, and harmoniously integrated" into their way of life (Smits, 2007, p. 40).

Declaration of Independence VS The Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People

The aspect of the Declaration of Independence that struck me most was the view point it apparently came from. The white male view point. In effect i felt that this document was written and aimed at creating a nation that would further the white male agenda. I believe that this document took into account only the desires of the white male and in essence his goal of creating a place where he is in control and in power and can consequently assert his power and authority over others including females and people of other races..people who are not white or white male. So, when i began reading the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples i was intrigued and happy to see that there was such an emphasis on recognizing that everyone is equal while also recognizing that each individual is unique. Specifically i felt that this affirmation was particularly important; "indigenous peoples are equal to all other peoples, whilerecognizing the right of all peoples to be different, to consider themselves different, and to be respected as such" ( http://www.iwgia.org/graphics/Synkron-Library/Documents/InternationalProcesses/DraftDeclaration/07-09-13ResolutiontextDeclaration.pdf ).

Another aspect of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples that caught my attention was that even after the different nations have repeatedly broken treaties and agreements with Indigenous groups they still included in this declaration that they would uphold agreements with these nations in good faith. This is very different from the U.S. constitution because part of the United States agenda is to rule, have power over, and constitute nations inferior to the U.S.. Ironically i believe that it was this agenda that caused the injustices suffered by Aboriginal groups in this country!

Native Women in the Labor Force

Women in the labor force, in my opinion are generally underestimated and ignored but when it comes to the accomplishments of minority women I think this problem is magnified immensely. Particularly, discussing Indigenous Women in the labor force is difficult because we rarely hear about the trials Native Women go through in the work force if we are privy to any of their struggles at all. So for me this assignment had to begin with a little research because I know so little about the struggles Native Women face in the work force other than like many minority groups then are subjected to discrimination AND sexism because they are female.

Today there is a popular image of Native Women as sexualized beings which is portrayed by the popular media and even in Disney’s Pocahontas we see the stereotypical image of a timid Indian woman with long flowing black hair, wearing buck skin, running scantily clothed through nature. To illustrate some of the stereotypes Native women face here's an interview with two Native girls who are talking about these issues

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzck-_MROrI&feature=related

If you go to google images and search “Native American women” you will also find images of stereotypical Native women including some very sexual images and even some nude pictures of “Indian” women. Also, you can find pictures of Indian maiden costumes so that you can be an Indian maiden for Halloween. Here are urls to some of the images you find when you search Native American women in google images however, i suggest you google it for yourself because it is very interesting to see some of the things that come up.

http://www.utopiasprings.com/treegirl.jpg

http://www.properperiodproductions.com/images/native_american_woman_early_1600_s1.jpg

http://www.psychic-tarotreader.com/images/native%20american%20woman%20w%20moon.gif

http://www.sillyjokes.co.uk/images/dress-up/fancy/ladies/value/indian-woman.jpg

With these images being portrayed by the media and even Disney I feel that finding a place in today’s society and in the work force must be extremely difficult for Indigenous women to be accepted and to get the recognition they deserve because they have to deal with this sexualized image along with other negative stereotypes along with the sexism many women face while trying to do their jobs.

Other than this rudimentary understanding however, I don’t know the struggles Native women face in their jobs today so I began to look into it a little more. What I found is that "Women of color have made noteworthy gains, both in terms of workplace numbers and status," said Commission Chair Cari M. Dominguez in an EEOC press release” (http://usgovinfo.about.com/cs/censusstatistic/a/aawomeneeoc.htm) however, Native women comprise 0.3 percent of the workforce in the U.S. which seems like a very small number. But in relation to the number of Native people residing in the United States this number is probably not as small as it seems. Never the less with only 0.3 percent of the workforce being made up of Native women it’s easy to see why we rarely hear about the difficulties they go through. In fact, even as I was trying to find out about Native women in the workforce I found very little information regardless of what I searched. Mainly I found information on minority women but even this information was limited. So where can I find information on this issue? Why don’t we talk about these issues?