The First American Women

Women played a huge role in Native American culture and society. Even the Native American creation myth begins with a woman. This already begins to show you that women were a valued part of their culture. While the men went out to hunt and gather food the women would stay at home to cultivate their social and management skills. They were the life blood of the tribe. They were the ones to keep things in order while the men were gone; tending fields, raising children, growing food, and mending huts.  

Depending on the tribe, certain tasks were given out depending on gender. But on the other hand, there are a few recorded cases of women becoming tribe leader and even taking on the role of a man and going hunting. There is nothing stopping strong woman from stepping up and taking on a role they know they can fill, it was often encouraged.

But the Europeans did not see things as the natives did. They wanted to imagine the culture of the tribes in comparison to their own instead of viewing it as its own separate and viable thing. They found it outlandish and even insulting that they would give such important jobs to women. As the Europeans began to force their own ideals on the natives, they found that they would not be swayed so easily from their own way of life...and with good reason. Many Europeans took Native American women for wives but did not treat them fairly.

With two worlds mixing, instead of one taking over the other and pushing out any hint of it, it is interesting to imagine what it would have been like (in a perfect world) if the majority of the settlers embraced the cultural differences with the natives and became a new united culture; each teaching the other everything they have to offer and working towards a common goal together.