Strong Women Stories (Section 3-Ch 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)

In chapter 12 Kim Anderson talked about the children of aboriginal communities and how they are truly the heart of their communities. Looking back in history Native women’s history demonstrates that family planning was a women’s business. She talked about birth control and how it was present in the Chippewa because Indian families often had two to three children where as the white families had 13-14! A study was completed called the OFIFC youth sexual health and pregnancy study and it was done to explore sexual practices, contraceptive use, abortion, and education. The results of sexual practices of youth was astonishing to me because it showed that by high school sex is the norm and sexual intercourse is a part of peer culture for children who are still in grade school. Half of the interviewees said those adolescents are becoming sexually active at 13 or younger. 22% of the interviewees said they started using alcohol and drugs, and having sex because there is nothing else to do. Some young teen females said pregnancy was appealing to them because it offers them a way to away from their own families. We are a time where the youth are engaging in high risk sexual behavior at a very young age.

In chapter 13, “Creating a Community Based School”, the parents of the native children at the town school were pulled out because of the racism they were encountering there. They started their own school on the reserve and parents had full involvement in their children’s education. Jean Knockwood was in the process of receiving her master’s degree when the parents wanted her to home school their children. When the parents refused to send their kids back to the town school is when the school on the reserve came into creation. The first year the school was open they had about 50 kids in the elementary school. The Mi’Kmaq cultural teaching was integrated into the curriculum and the students were taught Mi’Kmaw language for two periods a day. Problems that developed were the teachers because they were poorly prepared to deal with the Aboriginal students and Mi’Kmaq teachers tend to go back to their communities. The school created community self-reliance because it generated jobs and it created a huge economic success. Jean’s message was that schools can be community driven and she tried to get her community to believe in that. Parents can be involved and should be where the child’s education begins.

In chapter 14 Rebecca Martell’s story was very inspiring. Her journey to becoming a foster parent all the way to raising a foster boy into a young man is captivating. The young boy who became her foster child came from a family that was going through many struggles. His mother was a Native woman battling alcoholism and trying to raise three small children. He was the oldest and was forced to try and provide for his two young sisters. Rebecca called out for help and learned about her foster sons Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. It took almost a year for her foster son to respond to her. She became extensively involved in her community and took part in developing a series of addiction awareness workshops and a community plan of action for children who might be identified with special needs. She found her journey very purposeful ad rewarding.

In chapter 15 Cyndy Baskin talks about her childhood which was involved much abuse and terror. Today she is married and has a son which she raises according to the traditional teachings and vales of Aboriginal cultures. She has gone onto be an assistant professor and is working on a Ph D. This chapter focuses on abuse against women and family abuse in Aboriginal families. Family violence in communities is the result of the system of domination, disrespect, and bureaucratic control. Cyndy took part in a program that offered services to children, women and men in an urban Aboriginal community of about three hundred people. She was involved in all aspects of the community from 1995-2000. It was called the Mino-Yaa-Daa program. This program brought the community’s women together.

In chapter 16, the Ipperwash Crisis took place on September 6th, 1995 when a trained police unit of the Ontario Provincial Police opened fire on the community members of Kettle & Stony Point First Nation who began their occupation of Ipperwash. This has brought ongoing crisis and turmoil to the community. On that night Dudley George was murdered. He was a part of the Stony Point community who fought for the return of Stony Point. The Ipperwash Crisis has greatly effected the community and every year there has been an increase in youth violence and drug and alcohol abuse. The community has created a growing concern about the effects of the crisis on the youth and children of the community.

In chapter 17 Carl Fernandez talks about building gender equity in Aboriginal communities. He explains that Aboriginal women are community leaders who protect the future by transmitting language and culture to their children. Young men can make a difference by re-establishing gender equity through the promotion of more balanced relations between men and women in communities. Fernandez explains how the aboriginal community is imbalanced and full of uncertainty. The relationship between men and women is unbalanced and men have assumed the dominant position. The men and women also have differing opinion. Aboriginal people need their traditions to find meaning in life and guidance for the survival for their people. Many women believe the men need to step back ad allow the women to step forward so that they can stand together as equals.

Response to "Lawless Lands" Video

After watching this video the thing that surprised me the most was the FBI arrested the wrong person after Alex Apachito was stabbed by his cousin Leonard Apachito and he remained a free man unfortunately resulting in the death of Arthur Schobey. When the FBI realized they had the wrong person they let that person go and never went to arrest Leonard Apachito. Finally, he was arrested and was sentenced for six years in jail for the stabbing of Arthur Schobey. He was never tried for the slashing of his cousin. There are so many cases that have gone untouched by legal authorities. Crimes that happen on Indian Reservation can not be investigated by state police and have no authority to prosecute. Marlene Walker, Arthur Schobey’s mother said Native people are not receiving justice and too many go on waiting for years for a day in court.

Changing Ones (Chapter 6 & 7)

Chapter 6
Social gender is based on natural facts of sex and since there are only two sex’s people assume there are only two genders. In this case, people assume if you are not one, than you must be the other. Drawing a line between sex and gender is not enough. A multiple gender paradigm takes the original insight underlying the sex /gender distinction that biology is not a destiny. Gender categories often include perceptions of anatomical and physiological differences but the perceptions are mediated by language and symbols.

Chapter 7
Third and fourth gender roles become a feature of the Mohave culture. Some myths that exist in the Mohave social life are gambling, shamanism and dancing. The Yuman tribes are ancestors of the Mohave tribe. The Mohave were the largest of the Yuman tribes and they also were recognized as cultural leaders by other Yuman’s. Most of the information on Mohave alternative gender roles is found in the writings of George Devereux. Devereux states that if a child has desire to become a transvestite (interchangeable with homosexual) that child will act different at a very early age. The Mohave’s believed that life-shaping dreams occurred while the child was still in the mother’s womb and then reoccurred at puberty revealing their adult identities. If a child shows interest in the activities of the opposite sex, it was considered evidence that their prenatal dreams were those of an alyha. Mohave berdaches consistently behave according to the precepts of a cross gender model. It’s not that the person wants to change sexes they just want to imitate and act like the opposite sex.

Dissident Women(Chapter 5)

The Zapatista movement has allowed indigenous women to move into new roles and positions of authority. Many frequently asked questions were about the women in the Chiapas and how have women’s roles changed in the Zapatista communities. The roles of women across the different indigenous communities differ greatly. There are many significant differences between women who live away from their communities in military camps and those women who live in their home communities.

Women were among the pioneers who cleared the land, built houses and harvested coffee in the 1960’s. In the 70’s and 80’s they developed other skills that proved important roles in community as leaders. Men and women spent their days apart, men worked in the corn and coffee fields while women gathered fire wood, delivered food to the men and attended domestic animals and children.

Every Day is a good day(Chapter 5)

Traditional indigenous women express a deep sense of responsibility for the cultural survival for their people. When referring to womanhood most women express more interest in being a good human being. Most women who work on gender issues do not refer to themselves as feminists but more as human rights work for family and the community. Many male leaders of the tribe often call on women for their opinion when they have a difficult decision to make.

Wilma Mankiller describes being elected as the first female to serve a four-year term as the deputy principal chief. She was elected in 1983 and then reelected again in 1991. She decided not to seek a fourth four-year term in 1995. She believed if people opposed her it was because they disagreed with her politics and not because she was female. Wilma’s elections were a step forward for women and provided a balance between men and women of the Cherokee nation.

Don’t Let the Sun (Chapters 10 & 11)

Chapter 10
Eva’s family didn’t have a lot of money most of the time so her stepfather and brothers started working part time for a man named Ndaa Bigan Nagode in exchange for groceries. They worked on pounding rocks and getting asbestos out of it and putting it into cans. Trading was also a common practice for Eva’s family because they had a great supply of corn so they usually traded corn for meat. In this chapter I think it showed that Charley, Eva’s stepfather was a good man. He left a couple days to go visit a couple of his old friends and when he returned he found an envelope of money in it from his old friends. It had a note on it saying this money was for him and his family. Eva’s family moved to Oak Creek so her brothers could start making a consistent income. It wasn’t much money but it was enough. They started out building fences for $40 a month.

Chapter 11
Eva’s mom and stepfather needed money so Eva decided to start working for the first time. There no jobs in Cibecue so she had to leave home for the first time and it was really hard for her emotionally to say goodbye to a place where that is all she knows of the world. In this chapter Eva reviles she has a four year old son named Reuben. When Eva leaves home she leaves Reuben with her mother because she really wanted him to stay. When Eva left home she didn’t return for twenty years. She had so many jobs throughout the years. She sent the majority of the money, she made back to her son and mother. She worked in a hospital cleaning the rooms and beds, and then she worked at the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Eva also worked in a boarding school at Fort Apache doing laundry and cooking, she also worked at Hogan Hill chopping wood and stacking them. After that Eva worked at the Horse Shoe Café where she ended up working there for two years and she liked it. Eva started work for a family as a babysitter and one of the daughters wanted Eva to move to Spokane with her and care for her child. Eva decided to go, the baby loved Eva. In Spokane is where Eva met her husband William Watt. He worked as a petroleum man for the air force. They got married in 1952 in Florence and lived in Chandler for eight years. Eva and Bill had two children together and later found out Eva’s husband had cancer. In this chapter it really expressed Eva as a woman and not as child; you can see the transition from one to the other. She ventured out into the world starting with nothing hoping to find a job. She had many jobs but I think she enjoyed it because she experienced so many different things through those jobs and I think most of her jobs opened up opportunities for her future.

Strong Women Stories (Chapter 8)

Bonita Lawrence wrote this chapter reflecting her own life and the struggles she has gone through. She is forty four years old and just finished her Ph D, she lost her mother and her partner of ten year. While going through these tough times she also suffered some health problems that resulted in having a hysterectomy. She interviewed many older Native American women that expressed their feelings and experiences at this point in their lives. She found that the most apparent thing was as these Native women enter their forties they all carry massive burdens. The responsibilities for their children, families, and communities are taken up the younger women but as they get older they take on more and more. Despite the high workload most women in their forties were comfortable saying they are at the peak of their productivity in doing what they do.

Sexuality and older women can be a hard process for some women. Some face the difficulties with being able to have their sexual needs met and some feel they are never going to be too old for sex. Some women however struggle with their sexuality and seeing their sex life slowly disappear to never re- exist. This happened to a woman who lost her husband to a younger woman after twenty years of marriage. Menopause can be a difficult stage for many women also, many women who are struggling with accepting this are women who have spent so many years looking after other people’s children and after the community she hadn’t had any children of her own. If beginning a menstruation signifies an entrance to adult hood the end of menstruation signifies a transition out of womanhood.