Empowerment of North American Indian Girls

by Markstrom, Carol A.

• ISBN13: 9780803232570
• ISBN10: 0803232578
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-03-01
• Publisher: Univ of Nebraska Pr

Summary

Empowerment of North American Indian Girls is an overview of coming-of-age-ceremonies for American Indian girls past and present, featuring an in-depth look at Native ideas about human development and puberty. Many North American Indian cultures regard the transition from childhood to adulthood as a pivotal and potentially vulnerable phase of life and have accordingly devised coming-of-age rituals to affirm traditional values and community support for its members. Such rituals are a positive and enabling social force in many modern Native communities whose younger generations are wrestling with substance abuse, mental health problems, suicide, and school dropout.Developmental psychologist Carol A. Markstrom reviews indigenous, historical, and anthropological literatures to provide descriptive accounts of North American Indian coming-of-age rituals. She gives special attention to the female puberty rituals in four communities: Apache, Navajo, Lakota, and Ojibwa. Of particular interest is the distinctive Apache Sunrise Dance, which is described and analyzed in detail. Also included are American Indian feminist interpretations of menstruation and menstrual taboos, the feminine in cosmology, and the significance of puberty customs and rites for the development of young women.

Author Biography

Carol A. Markstrom is a professor in the Department of Technology, Learning, and Culture in the College of Human Resources and Education at West Virginia University. She is the coauthor of The Adolescent Experience, fourth edition, and Adolescent Life Experiences, third edition, and has authored numerous scholarly works on adolescents and American Indians.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	p. vii
Preface	p. ix
Acknowledgments	p. xv
Contextual and Methodological Considerations	p. 1
Contemporary Youth Concerns in Historical Perspective	p. 26
North American Indian Perspectives on Human Development	p. 46
Menstruation, Cosmology, and Feminism	p. 85
Historical Overview of Coming-of-Age Practices	p. 123
The Apache Sunrise Dance	p. 192
Interpretation of the Apache Sunrise Dance	p. 259
Contemporary Navajo, Lakota, and Ojibwa Puberty Customs	p. 302
Broader Perspectives on Coming-of-Age	p. 339
Notes	p. 359
References	p. 367
Index	p. 399
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