Cherokee Woman
INTRODUCTION
When examining the history of a particular culture, understanding the perspective of the historian is imperative to the interpretation. The history of Native American cultures in particular has been largely a collection of observations by white European men. Europeans used their own culture as reference by which to evaluate another. The historical sources that we find today are thus created by non-natives about natives. This historical bias has lead to male dominated archives with little or no attention paid to women (Perdue (1), 5). The matriarchal structure of many native cultures has been repeatedly challenged by ‘contact' and assimilation. Despite European intervention, Cherokee women have persisted and maintained their fundamental roles in society.
GENDER BACKGROUND
In the early eighteenth century prior to any significant European contact, the Cherokee existence was one of marked by balance guided by oral tradition. Their belief in balance in all aspects of life did not leave room for a system of hierarchy that often oppresses women (Perdue (1), 18). Men and women lead very separate lives. Activities and jobs were very gender specific. Men primarily assumed the roles of hunters, while women occupied the categories of agriculture and gathering. Relative to other cultures such a division was not the best utilization of a labour force. However, for the Cherokees maintaining natural order was of greater concern (Ehle, 3).
The burden of a successful harvest, the very life sustaining task, rested on women. They were both responsible for protecting the crops and summoning help in a drought situation from a priest. Coinciding with agricultural responsibilities was cooking, also preformed by women. Being as corn was the principle staple that Cherokee life depended on, it gave to women considerable economic power and status (Bender, 596). The importance of corn was expressed in the most important...
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