In any society, the positions that men and women hold, will affect the way that each gender is treated. For example, if the women only does the housework, and the man brings in the money and is viewed as the superior, the women will not be treated as equals. They also probably will not be appreciated as much. Typically, for the European Settlers, this is how their society was structured. The Native Americans on the other hand, structured theirs completely different. For the most part, the women did everything, and in the tribe, the men and the women were viewed as equals.
In the Native American society, women gathered materials for the family, built the home for the family, many women were believed to be the superior doctors, and there were many other small things that women were responsible for. Women would have built and maintained the houses, hunted buffalo, gathered firewood, cooked food, repaired clothing, made tools and weapons, made blankets, baskets, and pottery. In some tribes, such as the Pawnees and Omahas, women also had some power that other women in their time did not have. They almost always decided where to camp on bison hunts. Though there was often lots of polygamy in these tribes, the senior wife made all of the decisions. Finally, women could divorce unkind men and since the women owned the houses, the men would be homeless.
The men in the Native American society were the warriors. They too would hunt for buffalo and bison. They also cut down trees to clear land for houses to be made. Often times they would fish as well to get food for their family. Men were often doctors as well. he men doctors were not the favorite of the society though, because women were thought to have a healing touch. Though it seems as if the women in the society do more, the men and women’s responsibilities were equally important to the functioning of the tribe. Not only was this though, but it was believed too. Men treated women as equals; women treated men as equals.
“The men seemed to have all of the power; the women seemed to do all of the work” (plainshumanities.) This statement is the way that many outsiders viewed the Native American culture. To an extent, it is true, but for the most part, it is not. Yes, the women do the majority of the work, but they also have some power. Even though the women had some power for their work, this still did not change the European American’s view of their society. European Settlers though that women should be sheltered and protected from the real world. When they saw how “unsheltered” and “unprotected” these women were, they were not ok with it. There was occasionally tension between the settlers and the natives because of the difference in gender roles between the two societies. Some have argued that tensions got so bad between the two societies at one point, that American and Canadian officials attempted to force European standard gender roles onto the Native Americans. They argue that the laws would have stated that men had to be farmers and blacksmiths and that women were to be housewives. No documentation of such an effort has been found though.
Today, more Native American women still graduate from high school and college than Native American men. Though the women no longer build the houses, for the most part, the mutual respect and division of responsibilities has been carried into the modern day Native American culture.
Works Cited
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Boxer, Andrew.
"Native Americans and the Federal Government." History Today. History Today, 2012. Web. 25 Oct. 2013.
<http://www.historytoday.com/andrew-boxer/native-americans-and-federal-government>.
Hallam, Jennifer.
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<http://www.pbs.org/wnet/slavery/experience/gender/history.html>.
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I really liked reading about this topic because I had no idea the gender roles worked like that in Native American society. I would have assumed it was definitely the other way around. You did a really goo job on explaining the differences and how the roles were almost flipped from what the gender roles were like in European society. I thought it was really interesting that the women back then held that much power in the family. I liked how you talked about how since the gender roles in the Native American community were so different than Europeans that it actually caused a lot of controversy between the two.
ReplyDeleteI really liked this blog! It was organized and written very well. I liked how you went into detail about the jobs that men and women do and how they are seen within the Native American community. I loved how you put the Native American's ways into context with the Europeans surrounding them rather than just talking about the Native Americans by themselves.
ReplyDeleteIt is a very interesting writing. I agree with your opinion. Men and women have to be treated equally. I like the way that you have structured your topic and given your opinion. You also chose very good pictures to go with the blog.
ReplyDeleteThis blog post definitely shows the reader that the conflict man vs. women and issues of equality rarely existed between the Native Americans. The format of the paper helps to prove that Native American women were known as equals compared to other societies,"For the most part, the women did everything and in the tribe" this is a bold statement for the blog post, most people don't know this especially because almost every other society women are at a disadvantage.
ReplyDeleteI agree with many of you about the subject matter of this blog post. It this definitely relates to conversations towards the beginning of the year about the way European settlers typically viewed native american culture. The short of it was that it was different then what they considered to be the right, or godly way. It was with this deep seeded belief, and the idea of divine right, which drove many settlers to attempt to force the correct beliefs on native Americans. What is interesting is when one looks at all the civil rights movements now, which go beyond just color of skin, but also gender equality how "right" the native Americans maybe had it.
ReplyDeleteI loved your blog!! The pictures really helped make it interesting and explain your topic even more. I liked that you used direct quotes of peoples opinion suck as the part where it says, "the men seemed to have all the power". I think you did a great job expressing your opinion on the subject and i think it helped support your blog a lot.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with what you had to say in this blog post. Why do you think that in today's society some people tend to still think of the men as the superior gender?
ReplyDeleteI think many people think of men as superior for the same reason we make our beds up in the morning; it is the way we have grown up. Yes, there are definitely people who think that men are superior, just because they like men better, but for the general population, I do not think that it is something they intentionally believe. I think that the idea that men are superior and women are to be home makers is passed down from the Europeans. I see it as something that directly affects our thoughts today. This is especially evident if you look at Native American culture today, because they still obviously believe that men and women are equal. It is just a cultural thought that has not ever changed.
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