by Matt
Native Americans have in general have taken a backseat throughout the study of history. Native American women have been even more overlooked than the others. The challenges of writing about Native American women are very specific and scholars each have their own take on what they believe should be included in the writing about Native American women. One of the biggest struggles and challenges that writers face is that scholars see the only purpose of writing about Native American women is for entertainment purposes. This is extremely negative light to write in. it basically states that there is no purpose what so ever in writing about Native women other than for just the sheer enjoyment of the people who are reading it. The women played no significance in the culture or the history of the individual tribes is what many of the scholars are basically saying when stating that Native American women’s histories only purpose is to be there to entertain the masses. Could you imagine if somebody was to say that the only purpose of studying the thirteen colonies was just for fun or we only learned and study about certain peoples’ cultures when we are bored and have nothing better to do with our time? Native American women would play major roles in most if not all of the Native tribes. Women would play roles in economics, politics, and religion and play powerful social roles as well.[1] Native American women do not always find their way into the history books but that is not to say that they cannot. Sacagawea is the most famous Native woman that is learned about at the high school level. Without her abilities chances are Lewis and Clark would have never been able to reach the west coast of the United States. There is a lot that Native women of today take from their ancestors in how to be strong confident women and the roles that they play. Part of understanding someone else’s culture is to immerse one’s self into the culture and learn all about it. Women are a large part of cultures and to say that the only reason to study them is for entertainment is an insult to the women of the native tribes.
One large reason that challenges the understanding the history of Native American women is that as women of color they are overlooked a great majority of the time. There is very little known about the day to day lives and relationships that Native American women had with their families and neighbors. Men have always take a priority seat over women in terms of being studied and being remembered in the history books. Women though have played major roles in the lives of those men though and many played a part in making key decisions. It is hard to learn about a particular part of a culture if you completely ignore the existence of that part. Colored women have always had that challenge. Unless you have done something beyond extraordinary, chances are that you will be left out of the history books. Men have many ways to make it in, whether it is being a soldier or a great politician or an inventor or any way that makes even the smallest ripple. Women have to be radical and push for things to be drastically different.
Another one of the challenges that women face is that they are not even asked about their role or their history.[2] Historians and scholars continually ignore the use of Native oral accounts and will continually use only written documents. If a historian had the opportunity to talk with a person who fought in a major World War II battle or read an article or book by somebody who was not even there, they would speak to the veteran every time and listen to his story. So why is it not the same for Native American women? The scholars will not even use literature or poetry as a source. All three of these care major players in understanding particular culture’s past. Mihesuah does a great job by including an interview between her and Deborah Maloney-Pictou.[3] That is a key process in actually understanding Native American women’s history.
These two challenges make it very hard to study the role of Native American Women and thus many times it is overlooked all together.
I agree with your paper and your argument because i also feel like the native american woman are overlooked throughout our history. I found it interesting to see that people only inquire the native american woman in there stories for entertainment purposes. This shows that they are not held accountable like other females from other cultures. It basically becomes as an insult and a little degrading to the woman of the native american culture. I agree with the fact that woman of color were looked down upon because some time after that became the slavery era. This just goes to show that discrimination has always been in our nation, even before theslavery days.
Matt, I would agree that the representation of Native Americans has been stereotyped and used for the purpose of entertainment. We all come to know Native American women and their culture through the cartoon portrayals of Pocahontas and Sacagawea. Like you, I do believe that this western interpretation of Native American women and their culture has derailed the understanding of the culture.
What do you make, Matt, of Mihesuah’s critique of the celebration of Sacajawea? Your analysis seems to reinforce exactly what she’s saying whites shouldn’t do–celebrate Sacajawea’s assisting of the white men who would colonize the continent.
I’m also interested in what you mean by “Part of understanding someone else’s culture is to immerse one’s self into the culture and learn all about it.” How are you defining “immerse” here? Mihesuah has strong words, of course, for non-Natives who would “immerse” themselves in Native cultures by co-opting these cultures’ symbols and attempting to adopt their practices.