Women's Roles In Native American Culture

In Native American culture, it was common to see many women with powerful roles in the community. Most families were Matrilineal , with the woman’s family in charge. When the Europeans arrived in the late 1600’s to early 1700’s the roles of women began to change from the usual life they had before, to a whole new set of guidelines. In the early days of our history (before Europeans explored the new world) Native Americans settles all over the western hemisphere. While the men were predominantly hunters, the women played a large role in the villages. First and foremost, women were honored and respected creatures because they could bear children. They also had the choice to keep the baby, or abort the pregnancy. Women had very much respect in their tribes. Indian women worked hard for their families as well as the men. The women provided homes and shelters, owned property in which they planted crops, and also provided the family with food. Although women could not be priests , their opinions and thoughts were appreciated and accepted by councilmen of the tribe . Since marriages in the Native American cultures were typically more of a partnership, women could choose to
Because the fir trade was becoming increasingly important to everyone in the new world, women were pulled from their field and village work, and put into other tasks like processing and preparing animal skins . When they weren’t helping their husband’s trade, they were forced to use new farm tools, like hoes . Not only did they abandon their crafts and tool making, but their opinions in council were no longer cared for . European men did not want to deal with Indian women. It was appropriate to do trade with the men of the villages. Indian women were basically forced into becoming homemakers like European women. One Cherokee woman spoke out about her feelings and