Native
Women
"The honor of the people lies in the moccasin tracks of the woman. Walk the good road.... Be dutiful, respectful, gentle and modest my daughter... Be strong with the warm, strong heart of the earth. Be strong and sing the strength of the Great Powers within you, all around you." --Village Wise Man, SIOUX
The Elders say the Native American women will lead
the healing among the tribes.
We need to especially pray for our women, and ask the Creator to
bless them and give them strength.
Inside them are the powers of love and strength given by the Moon
and the Earth. When
everyone else gives up, it is the women who sings the songs of strength.
She is the backbone of the people.
So, to our women we say, sing your songs of strength; pray for
your special powers; keep our people strong; be respectful, gentle and
modest. Oh, Great One,
bless our women. Make them
strong today.
From: Journal #962 from sdc 11.05-11.9.97
There are
articles, links and a quiz on this page.
Women's Page 2
Women's Health
Issues
Native Women
in the Military
Sarah Winnemucca
Zitkala Sha
&
the story of a Native
Woman serving in U. S. Customs,
Shadow Wolves.
Take the NWHP Native American Women's History
Quiz!
There were somewhere between 7 and 11 million
indigenous people living in what became the United States prior to
European contact. These people belonged to hundreds of diverse nations
and tribes. Their systems of government, their language, their
economies, their social customs and their traditions were often
extremely different from one another. This quiz presents information on
women from a variety of nations and historical periods.
Weetamoo (1635? -1676) Wampanoag Pocasset –
Rhode Island
1. She mobilized and led her people to fight the
encroachment of European colonist during King Phillips War. Weetamoo
also:
a. Was
daughter-in-law of Chief Massasoit who sat with the Pilgrims at the
first Thanksgiving dinner.
b.
Imprisoned Mary Rowlandson, whose captivity story became the most read
book of the times.
c.
Interacted with the British and adopted some of their customs.
d. All of
the above
Annie Dodge Wauneka (1910-1997) Navajo -
Arizona
2. She
was one of the great Navajo leaders who dedicated her life to help her
people overcome the health problems that plagued the Navajo in the
twentieth century. She won many awards including the Presidential Medal
of Freedom. She educated her people about the prevention and treatment
of diseases, the most prevalent and deadly disease being:
a. Cancer
b.
Tuberculosis
c.
Influenza
d.
Emphysema
Maria Tallchief (b. 1925) Osage - Oklahoma
3. One of the most high-profile Indian women of the
twentieth century, she was also the first American dancer in the history
of ballet to achieve international fame. She was catapulted to
international star status with her title role performance in:
a. The
Temperaments (1946)
b. Orpheus
(1948)
c. Romeo
and Juliet (1950)
d. Firebird
(1949)
Sarah Winnemucca (1844-1891) Northern
Paiute - western Nevada
4. One of the most famous Indian women of the
nineteenth century, she was renowned advocate for peace and justice.
What other statement about Sarah is true?
a. She
rescued her family from captivity by a warring tribe.
b. She met
with President Hayes to ask that the government keep its promise of the
Paiute returning to their own reservation.
c. She
wrote “Life among the Paiutes”, the first known autobiography written by
a Native American woman.
d. All of
the above.
Maria Montoya Martinez (1887 - 1980) San
Ildefonso Pueblo - New Mexico
5. Her success as an artist ushered in the modern
Native American arts industry that today brings monies and honor to
Indians from nations and tribes throughout the country. She was a:
a. Muralist
b. Potter
c. Basket
weaver
d. None of
the above
Ada Deer (b.1935) Menominee - Wisconsin
6. To ensure the survival of the Menominee who had
lived in this area of Wisconsin for 5,000 years, in 1970 she led the
drive to end the US government's policy of termination. Termination
included:
a. Closing
Indian hospital and schools.
b.
Collecting income tax, which earlier treaties had prohibited.
c. Tribal
government selling tribal homelands
d. All of
the above
Essie Parrish (1903-1979 Kashaya Pomo –
Northern California
7. Essie Parrish, a renowned Pomo spiritual healer,
was dedicated to teaching the children of her tribe their native
language and customs. During her lifetime:
a. She was
acknowledged as her people’s “dreamer” at age 6 and had a great ability
to prophesy and interpret dreams.
b. She
worked with acclaimed social scientists to make over 20 anthropological
films documenting Pomo culture and ceremonies.
c. She
presented Robert Kennedy with a treasured hand-woven basket when he
visited the Kashaya reservation to investigate conditions in Indian
schools
d. All of
the above
Answers: 1. a. All of the above 2.
b. Tuberculosis 3. d. Firebird (1949)
4. d. All of the above 5.
b. Potter
6. d. All of the above
7. d. All of the above Quiz compiled by:
National Women's History Project
More Famous Native Women
Rebecca Adamson (1950-)
Native American Advocate
A member of the Cherokee nation, in 1980 Adamson
founded the First Nations Development Institute. This group has
established new standards of accountability regarding federal
responsibility and reservation land reform and has an operating budget
of about three million dollars. Adamson has aided indigenous peoples in
Australia and Africa also and has received many awards for mobilizing
and unifying people to solve common problems.
Ada Deer (1935-)
American Indian and Civil Rights Activist
Deer was the first member of the Menominee tribe of
Wisconsin to graduate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and
earned an MS in Social Work from Columbia. Deer led her tribe in gaining
passage of the Menominee Restoration Act, which restored their land and
treaty rights as American Indians. At the national level, Deer became
Deputy of Indian Affairs and is now the Director of the American Indian
Studies Program at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
La Donna Harris (1931-)
Indian Rights and Civil Activist
Harris, member of the Comanche tribe, has served
since 1970 as president of Americans for Indian Opportunity (AIO), a
multi-tribal organization devoted to improving life for American
Indians. She has served on the National Rural Housing Conference and the
National Association of Mental Health. Harris has expanded the AIO to
include the "American Indian Ambassadors" program, which provides
one-year fellowships for Native American students.
Winona LaDuke (b.1960)
Author and Environmentalist
Winona LaDuke has worked for nearly three decades
on the land issues of the White Earth Reservation in Minnesota including
litigation over land rights in the 1980's. She currently serves as the
Director of Honor the Earth and Founding Director of White Earth Land
Recovery Project.
Queen Lili'uokalani (1838–1917)
Monarch
The last reigning monarch of Hawaii, Lili'uokalani inherited a difficult situation in 1891. Foreigners forced through a new constitution which took away voting rights from most Hawaiians. A revolution, encouraged by the American government, forced Lili'uokalani to abdicate in 1893 and in 1889, the Hawaiian Islands were annexed by the United States. Among her legacies are over 200 songs she composed, including the very popular Aloha Oe.
Belva Lockwood (1830-1917)
Lawyer, Women's Rights Activist
Lockwood graduated from the National University Law School in Washington, D.C. in 1873. In 1879, she was the first woman admitted to practice before the Supreme Court where, in 1900, she argued and won $5 million for the Eastern Cherokee Indians. She ran for president in 1884 and 1888 as the National Equal Rights Party candidate. Lockwood joined the Universal Peace Union, and in 1889 was a delegate to the International Peace Congress.
Mankiller lived in San Francisco in 1969 when she
and friends from the Indian Center successfully occupied Alcatraz and
brought national attention to the needs of Indians. She returned to
Oklahoma and became deputy chief of the Cherokee Nation in 1983. She was
elected principal chief of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma in 1985, the
first woman to be elected to this position. Mankiller served for 10
years and in 1991, she won with 82% of the vote.
Maria Montoya Martinez (1887–1980)
Artist, Potter
Martinez lived in the small, ancient Tewa Indian
village of San Ildefonso, New Mexico, where she learned the traditional
Pueblo way of making coiled pottery from her aunt, Tia Nicolasa. She and
her husband rediscovered the ancient techniques of firing polychrome and
black-on-black pottery. These fine designs are highly praised today, and
this blend of the old and new has helped produce economic
self-sufficiency for the Indian village.
Sacajawea (1784-1812)
Frontier Guide
Sacajawea was a Shoshone woman sold to a fur
trader, Charbonneau, when she was fourteen. Lewis and Clark hired
Charbonneau as an interpreter; Sacajawea was a translator and guide. She
traveled with her two-month old baby nicknamed "Pomp." She saved the
expedition when she met her long-lost brother, a Shoshone, who prevented
conflicts with unfriendly tribes. Lewis named a "handsome river" in
Montana for Sacajawea, this trusted interpreter.
Buffy Sainte-Marie ( 1941-)
Singer
A Cree Indian, Sainte-Marie has supported Native
American rights through her songs. Her intense political songs in the
folk style of the 1960’s, like Universal Soldier and Now That the
Buffalo's Gone, established her solid reputation as a songwriter and
vocalist. Her first album debuted in 1964, and her latest in 1991.
Sainte-Marie has written over 300 songs which have been recorded by her
and more than 100 artists in seven languages.
Susette La Flesche Tibbles (1854- 1903)
Indian Rights Advocate, Author
Tibbles taught at an Indian school after being
educated in the East. In 1887, her Indian tribe, Ponca, was forcibly
removed from their land on the Dakota-Nebraska border. Tibbles lectured
in the East and made many converts to the cause of Indian rights,
including Helen Hunt Jackson. In addition to writing Indian stories, in
1881 Tibbles addressed the Association for the Advancement of Women on
"The Position, Occupation and Culture of Indian Women."
Sarah Winnemucca (1844-1891)
Indian Rights Activist
Winnemucca, a Paiute Indian, was a liaison between
the Paiutes in Nevada and the army in the 1870s. After the Bannock
Uprising in 1878, Winnemucca lectured to publicize the injustices
suffered by the Paiutes. She wrote a book, Life Among the Paiutes: Their
Wrongs and Claims, which won wide popular support. She took thousands of
signatures on her petition to Congress that passed a law giving land
grants to the Paiutes, but the Secretary of the Interior ignored its
provisions.
Elder's Meditations
"It is a paradox in the contemporary world that in our desire for peace we must willingly give ourselves to struggle." --Linda Hogan, CHICKASAW
The Grandfathers have taught us about sacrifice. We have been taught to pray for the people in a pitiful way. Struggle and conflict is neither good nor bad, it just is. Everything that grows experiences conflict. When the deer is born it is through conflict. When the seed first grows, it is through conflict. Conflict precedes clarity. Everything has the seasons of growth. Recognize - acknowledge - forgive and change. All of these things are done through conflict.
"Great Spirit, give me the courage today to see that struggle and conflict are here to teach me lessons that are a gift from you."
