Indigenous American Women

by Mihesuah, Devon Abbott

• ISBN13: 9780803282865
• ISBN10: 0803282869
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-04-01
• Publisher: Univ of Nebraska Pr

Summary

Oklahoma Choctaw scholar Devon Abbott Mihesuah offers a frank and absorbing look at the complex, evolving identities of American Indigenous women today, their ongoing struggles against a centuries-old legacy of colonial disempowerment, and how they are seen and portrayed by themselves and others.Mihesuah first examines how American Indigenous women have been perceived and depicted by non-Natives, including scholars, and by themselves. She then illuminates the pervasive impact of colonialism and patriarchal thought on Native women's traditional tribal roles and on their participation in academia. Mihesuah considers how relations between Indigenous women and men across North America continue to be altered by Christianity and Euro-American ideologies. Sexism and violence against Indigenous women has escalated; economic disparities and intratribal factionalism and "culturalism" threaten connections among women and with men; and many women suffer from psychological stress because their economic, religious, political, and social positions are devalued.In the last section, Mihesuah explores how modern American Indigenous women have empowered themselves tribally, nationally, or academically. Additionally, she examines the overlooked role that Native women played in the Red Power movement as well as some key differences between Native women "feminists" and "activists."Devon Abbott Mihesuah is a professor of applied Indigenous studies and history at Northern Arizona University. Her books include Cultivating the Rosebuds: The Education of Women at the Cherokee Female Seminary, 1851-1909 and Roads of My Relatives.

Author Biography

Devon Abbott Mihesuah is a professor of applied Indigenous studies and history at Northern Arizona University. Her books include Cultivating the Rosebuds: The Education of Women at the Cherokee Female Seminary, 1851–1909 and Roads of My Relations.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction
A Few Cautions on the Merging of Feminist Studies with Indigenous Women's Studies	p. 3
Writing About Anna Mae Pictou-Aquash	p. 9
Review of Ian Frazier's on the Rez	p. 14
Comments on Linda Mccarriston's "indian Girls"	p. 19
In the Trenches of Academia	p. 21
Colonialism and Disempowerment	p. 41
Culturalism and Racism at the Cherokee Female Seminary	p. 62
Finding a Modern American Indigenous Female Identity	p. 81
1970s Activist Anna Mae Pictou-Aquash	p. 115
Interview with Denise Maloney-Pictou and Deborah Maloney-Pictou	p. 128
Activism and Expression as Empowerment	p. 143
Feminists, Tribalists, or Activists?	p. 159
Notes	p. 173
Bibliography	p. 211
Index	p. 237
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