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.

Strong Women Stories (Chapter 7)

After the events of 9/11, it has shifted people’s thoughts about Islam, Afghanistan and the people who live in those countries. Dawn Martin-Hill describes the commonalities of the Afghanistan Mohawk communities as very similar. Colonialism leaves Indigenous communities shattered and traumatized.

This chapter is called She No Speaks which refers to the emergence of an Indigenous traditional woman who is silent and obedient to male authority. That kind of women is referred to as voiceless and the woman who never questions male authority.

Traditionally Haudenosaunee women did not typically stay at home with the children. They worked in the fields harvesting and preparing foods and clothing. The children were raised by extended family. This is based on the Western tradition and is based the nuclear family.

Today Native women continue to be oppressed and to be seen as disposable. There are five hundred Native women missing in Canada today and fifty plus missing and murdered in Vancouver, British Columbia. Indigenous women today have lost the basic human right to raise their own children.

Women and Change (Chapter 4)

Abortion is an issue that will always be disagreed upon in every group. Abortion in Mexico is a legally prosecutable crime, however, across the border it is a constitutional right. This reading explains an analysis of the women taking the San Diego- Tijuana transborder as a specific case. Lifestyles emerge and conflict at the border. There are many differences between the border communities. Both the San Diego and Tijuana have a combined population of 2,493,077 and they have a high degree of diversity in both cities. Crossing to the other side of the border to have an abortion is a part of the border life for many women. Mexican women who wish to have an abortion see the border as an opportunity to cross over to the country where they are allowed to decide to go through with the abortion or not. Coming to the United States to have an abortion where it is legal is possible only for those women who have the money, a passport, and a necessary reason. Because of these regulations it works against the majority of the Mexican women.

Women and Change (Chapter 7)

Working mothers from Mexico struggle with their everyday lives trying to make a living off minimum wage jobs. A lot of their low wage pay is used to feed their children and pay rent for usually a small run down apartment. Their everyday challenge consists of trying to balance their children and family responsibilities as well as work full-time jobs. They are faced to develop strategies for dealing with their double work days. Some of the mothers who do work full-time struggle the most with finding child care. Working for minimum wage or below has made it difficult to pay for child care on a consistent basis. Most mothers who struggle to find child care rely on the caring labor of other women. Many immigrant women get hired to clean houses in upscale neighborhood usually make about $40 a day. Some immigrant women get hired to work as a live in household worker which is hard because they end up spending little to no time at home with their own families.

Women and Change(Chapter 10 Presentation)

Chapter 10
Border Women’s NGOs and Political Participation in Baja California
This chapter analyzes female political participation through the study of the social movement in the Mexican State of Baja California.
The feminist movement is diverse and involves people from different social classes, rural and urban origins, and from different occupational sectors.
Because of Mexican Women’s movements three general varieties of feminism have developed in Mexico.
1. Historical Feminism include middle-class women who emphasized women’s subordination, and centered their fight on domestic work, abortion, sexuality, and violence.
2. Popular Feminism is dominated by women from popular but low-income sectors who face poverty and marginality and are in vulnerable economic situations.
3. Social Feminism organized by NGO’s. This group focuses on women of the popular sectors. They institutionalized their movement.
Feminism and Participation
Main goal: To participate in design of public policies related to violence, reproductive health and associated issues.
This participation has helped the women because they have:
• Feminism has expanded the concept of politics to include everyday struggles for survival and a change in power relationships in all spheres of social life.
• Women’s demands for citizenship expanded informal means and modes of social action.
• Influence in policy making, centering women’s problems within the public agenda and developing alternative policies.
• Women are establishing relationships of power with public authorities, demand and negotiate resources, counteract public decisions, resist, and negotiate and exert influence.
• Mexican Women’s NGO’s define their political participation through their involvement in advocacy and policymaking.



NGO’s means Non-governmental Organization.

NGO’s is defined as social and political actors who resolve their specific needs through alternative models of social relationships and for representing their interests in political life.
Goals
The social movement of women’s NGO’s has had a strong presence in Baja California since the 1990’s.
The goals for NGO’s are to
• Define women’s rights
• Increase women’s political participation
• Influence in public

Differences
• Ngo’s have differences in their specializations, some have overlapping aims that create disagreements and they also compete for political resources and networks.
• Not all NGO’s have the same political resources they consider themselves as advocates with some influence in public policies and laws.
Challenges
• NGO’s face the challenge of providing continuity to programs and policies that they promoted.
• They have to target groups such as judges and physicians to show more resistance to gender perspective.
• They need more efficient use of strategic planning tools that will continue to build an agenda that focuses on local problems such as:
o Women’s opportunities to access education
o Labor rights of maquiladora workers, Indigenous women, agricultural women workers, domestic workers, and working children
• They face ongoing challenges of promoting a new gender culture based on equity.


Achievements
• Contribute to civil society by promoting a gender dimension to public policies, institutions, and local governments.
• Because of demands and actions of NGO’s, local governments have assumed the defense and protection of women and other vulnerable groups in their discourses.

Dissident Women (Chapter 2)

Indigenous communities today are facing many hardships. In many of the indigenous communities there are high rates of malnutrition, poverty deaths, and cultural segregation. Oaxaca and Chiapas is one of the most marginalized from the benefits of development and has the largest indigenous population in Mexico. Life expectancy in indigenous communities is forty years compared to the national average is seventy years. Women are the most seriously affected by this living condition. They are very vulnerable and the main cause of deaths is related to reproductive health.
The Zapatista armed movement is a community movement. The majority of women who join the armed movement are young girls. By taking part in the Zapatista movement it requires that communities assign new activities to women which require that they remain single for a longer period of time.
Some women who have participated in the movement have pointed out the jealousy of their husbands. Their absence is interpreted as deceit and infidelity by their husbands. Alcohol is usually a factor in these situations as well as violence.
What is happening in these indigenous communities is causing many challenges to the Mexican nation.

Women and Change (Chapter 8)

Women leaders are the heart of Colonia communities. Colonia’s exist on both sides on the border. They are a space in which what it means to be a Mexican in the United States is constructed. Colonia’s are usually filled with substandard housing stock. Immigration to the United States was at its highest in the 1980’s when the Mexican economy was at worst. Women’s traditional gender roles in Mexico are caretaking and for men are to be providers. It is important in the production of political subjects in the Colonia’s. Most Colonia households have one car sometimes it may not be working so it requires carpooling. Some of the people who live in the Colonia’s were interviewed about gender roles and what they expect from men and women. Some responses about the about the fathers role was the most authority, kids obey him more; give security to their families, and the provider. Some responses about the mothers roles was intelligence and wisdom, educator, iron clothes, bathe the kids, take them to school, and feed them food. These roles are traditional patriarchal roles but women on a daily bases are also active in leadership roles. The Colonia homes would not a functioning home without the women. Men who work from eight to five or nine to five come home after work and their work is done for the day. Any other activities are recreational. Women leaders find it easier to be active in public areas if their husbands are not present. Many of the leaders are women who are the heads of their households.

Don’t Let the Sun (Chapter 7&8)

Chedisake was a small community, there were only six families including Eva’s who lived there. All of the families helped each other out though. They shared hunting supplies and if one person shot a deer they shared the meat. Eva’s family hunted a lot. They shot with .22’s and .44’s. Eva shot her first deer with a .22. Her mother spent much of her time making jerky. Not many people had money in their community so when they did have money they used it to buy things. Eva’s mother traded goods most of the time. Eva rode horses often. Her family had many animals that her mother looked after. Charley talked to the horses in Apache, they would just stand there and listen. Eva started taming horses when she was 16, she learned from her brothers. I think Eva really enjoys being around horses, once she learned to ride and tame horses she never stopped.

Don’t Let the Sun (Chapter 5&6)

Eva’s sister died but before she did they attended school together at St. John’s Indian School. Everyone spoke English so if you didn’t know it you had to learn it. The boys and girls were always separated from each other and they rarely played together or participated in activities together. Music was taught at school and Eva’s brother Joe played the piano and the organ. The second year Eva was at St. Johns she got chicken pox really bad and was in the hospital for a week. Eva did not want to go home for the summer break, she wanted to stay because back at home was only her mother and her mother worked all the time. She didn’t want to go home just to be alone all the time. Eva’s mom also remarried to a man named Charley Marley. She had never met him but already was not fond of him. The next summer she decided to go home for the summer and she discovered Charley was a very kind man and he made her laugh. Eva went back to St Johns after summer break but came back right away to take care of her mother who became blind from trachoma. Eva had to stay with her mother but eventually she got better and Eva went back to school. Eva’s mother and Charley Marley moved form Cibecue to Chedisake and lived on land that belonged to Charley. He built a log home on that land and Eva’s brothers helped. They all lived there, Eva, her brothers, her mother and Charley. It wasn’t big but it stayed warm.

No Parole Today (pg 1-27)

In this book, Laura Tohe memorably records her experiences with boarding school life alongside those of her mother and grandmother. She also writes of the joys and tragedies of growing up on and off the Reservation. She describes attending a government school for Indian children and the challenge it presented to her socially, culturally, and expressively. She shares many of her experiences in poems. In grade school she describes her teacher, Miss Rolands as an alien to them. She was a black woman from Texas and the children thought she had a hard time adjusting to living in a Dine community. Laura loved to dance, she and her friends practiced often and she enjoyed wearing her dancing boots that her brother often made fun of. In high school her first dance was with Pierce in the Indian School gym. She remembers his cologne and the way it smelled, she will never forget the smell of Pierce. When she went off to college she starts to remember home and how much she misses it. She remembers the calves nuzzling their mothers; she remembers the mountains, the smells and her mother. She misses her mother’s warm, round tortillas.

Strong Women Stories (Chapter 3)

The Métis Women’s Circle was founded 1995 by Métis women as a response to a need expressed by women of mixed blood and Métis heritage. There is healing work to be done in the Métis communities and a lot of that has to do with people having the notion that they are only alive in history books. Many Métis women fear being told that they don’t belong. Other Métis women have chosen to identify with mainstream culture. To be considered in the Métis Women’s Circle they are three conditions that are required and that is mixed Aboriginal ancestry, self-declaration as Métis, and community acceptance. Many of the Métis women are attempting to expand and displace histories but have failed because too much reliance has been placed on what has been written about Métis. Métis women’s voices are not documented in historical texts. Because of this the Métis Midwife’s Medicine Planting project was created. The projects purpose is to reconstruct Métis women’s histories specific to the southern Great Lakes region. This project has helped to better understand Métis values and Aboriginal worldviews. Their work brings the Circle together in hopeful anticipation each time a tiny scrap of history is uncovered.

Women and Change (Chapter 3)

Mobility is made up of daily routines and complicated and precisely timed arrangements. The journey to work is an important type of daily movement for women in the United States and Mexico. Women who have to travel across the border to go to work or go home affect their daily mobility and time constraints are a major consideration. The main concern for women and mobility is the need to coordinate between work and household responsibilities as well as their children. Some women are fully responsible for their child’s care and some have to work part-time to attend to their children. Child care is often a major time conflict or restraint in everyday working women’s lives. The border location adds complications to families who work on both sides of the border and have to find child care. Surprisingly, after a study was done it was found that the most common motive for crossing the border from either direction was to shop. That was surprising to me because I would think if the people crossed the border to shop in a certain place then it would be on only one side of the border. Shopping however classified as grocery shopping, specialty foods only available on one side, and prescription drugs. Some other reasons people cross the border are to see family and friends and receiving health care from doctors and dentists.
After 9/11 many things have changed at the border. Sometime the wait at the border can be long, now residents or visitors can now check the Internet to see updated times for how long the wait is at the border. Because problems at the border have created much delays in crossing of the border. That has affected many aspects of the border community. Because of increased waiting time there has been a decrease in shopping which has affected businesses. There has been an increase in security at the border which has created a decline in cross-border traffic.

Women and Change (Chapters 1 & 2)

The women at the U.S. Mexican border are facing many issues; employment, long-term mobility, and political activism are all concerns. This chapter talked about changing lives of indigenous immigrant women from Mexico’s poorer southern states. There is an ongoing problem with women who live and work on different sides of the U.S. Mexican border. Immigration is growing massively and migration from Mexico to the United States has become more dangerous.
Indigenous women who work in Baja California often have double and triple work days and are still expected to perform housework, child care, physically demanding salaried work and craft production and its commercialization. Added work in the tradition of immigrants is another extension for indigenous women. They also perform hostess functions such as washing, shopping, cooking and cleaning. The standard of living conditions for immigrants are related to immigration.
Many younger women differ from the older generations. They contract their own jobs, work without male supervision, negotiate, and collect their own salaries. Many of these young indigenous women work in the maquiladoras of Tijuana, Ensenada, Maneadero, or Mexicali. Today, many of the younger women who have finished primary and or secondary school control their own salaries, study technical or professional careers, and defend their right to choose their partners.

Dissident Women (Chapter 8)

Women who participate within the EZLN are very active at all levels. The women organize communities and regions; they also take part in the women’s militia who form irregular troops who are called to action. The women also are a part of the support bases who take part in all of the EZLN initiatives. In 1995 the people of San Francisco were forced to flee from their home to protect themselves against the Mexican Army. After three months they finally returned home to find devastation. Their homes, belongings, and animals were all destroyed. Everyday life for them involves violence and the way they go about everyday life has changed. The women’s tasks have been made more difficult because of the army, they have to walk much further everyday to fetch water and fire wood. The Mexican army settled in San Francisco because it had pronounced itself a community in resistance after the EZLN. Since the EZLN uprising in the community changes have been made and they have been made for the good. Maria Angelica talks about some of the changes she has noticed. The Women’s Revolutionary Law issued by the EZLN is a symbol of women’s dignity for the Zapatista women. Women were given the right to choose their spouses and were not forced or sold into marriage. Women also had the right to take part in community politics and hold leadership posts. Physical violence against women is also prohibited and it has decreased in the community. It has become more normal to find young women of twenty-one who are still single considering ten years ago women were married at the age of fourteen. The use of birth control pills have been used more by married women in the community. With the Zapatista uprising men are helping women with tasks that were previously considered exclusively women’s domain. Women are continuing to fight for their rights and a change but they still face obstacles and resistance inside the EZLN.

Strong Women Stories (Chapter 2)

Laura Schwager describes native traditions and values as a feeling of coming home. Her father was native but he did not speak of it. Her mother believed in native ways though and so did Laura as a child. Her story begins with searching her ancestral tree and the search to finding out who she really is. She comes from the Hotinonshon:ni, meaning the People of the Longhouse. Her great-grandmother was a hard working native woman. She spoke Mohawk and made baskets from black ash and sweet grass and mittens from deer hide to sell in Kingston. She was a native woman raising three children and went against the norm of married couples. She worked very hard when they moved to Belleville to support her three kids. Her great-grandmother is remembered for sticking up for Native people. Her father grew up with no Indian status in his life but remembers his cousin coming by the house when he was young to tell his father that he should have Indian status. It wasn’t until his twenties when he realized there was Indian blood in his family. His father finally acquired Indian status and became the first of his mother’s children to do so. Laura does not have Indian status but her family tree begins with Native roots. Laura is on a journey to find and explore her Native heritage and her Native self.

Every Day is a Good Day (Chapter 3)

Living according to a certain set of values is one of the most important attributes of culture. The lack of knowledge about indigenous people has created a lot of stereotypes. Because the indigenous people have had contact with the Euro-Americans in the past their culture and traditions are automatically paired with Euro-Americans. To the indigenous people Euro-Americans are considered more analytical; they rely on formal logic and avoid contradictions where native Americans view things in a more interrelated way.
Wilma Mankiller in her early child hood lived in a house with no plumbing, no electricity, no well, and no paved roads. Clothes and shoes for the winter were bought with money her father earned butting broomcorn. They signed up for the Bureau of Indian Affairs Relocation Program which was supposed to provide a better life for them but San Francisco turned out to be a culture shock to their family. They were able to connect with other Native people who had also been relocated by the Bureau. They met at a center called the old San Francisco Indian Center however it burned down before the occupation of Alcatraz. When Wilma married they had two kids. Her husband was controlling and wanted her to be a certain way, she always tried to be perfect for him and he made the decisions for everything they did. She had no say in where they traveled and how much money they spent. She ended up taking money out of their account and went to buy herself a car. She took her daughters about 100 miles out of San Francisco to an indigenous world that loved and embraced them. It was called the Pomo Kashia Ranchero. She seemed much happier there. After her and her children enjoyed traveling around California for a while she traveled to the Colville Reservation to attend a spiritual gathering following the Wounded Knee occupation. Her marriage ended and she would be heading back to Oklahoma soon. She began working for the Cherokee Nation. The Cherokee traditional identity is tied to both an individual and a collective determination. Be responsible, and loving, and help one another.

Every Day is a Good day(Chapt 1,2)

Audrey Shenandoah is described as a clan mother; she is responsible for the welfare and social harmony of the clan. She has important roles and is responsible for the removal of male chiefs who are considered caretakers of peace. Mary and Carrie Dann represent personification of Indigenous womanhood-beautiful, strong, loving, and free woman. The struggle with the U.S. government taking the Shoshone land seems unfair in my opinion. The Indigenous people have been putting up a fight but the government does not seem like they are respecting their rights. The land and history of the Native Americans affects the lives of native people today. History is who they are and reflects the decisions made today. Chapter one talked about how indigenous and native women are little known about and that has created stereotypes about native women. However these native and indigenous women play a critical role in many indigenous committees as leaders in tribal societies and the larger culture around them. The indigenous people embrace many spiritual practices such as Christianity and Buddhism. Being forced out of their land is a problem because the native people know it will be impossible to keep their culture intact. Their land is sacred and an important key to their culture.

American Indian Women's Activism in the 1960s and 1970s (H.O)

The purpose of the 1953 Termination Act offered one-way bus fare and the promise of assistance in finding jobs and housing in urban areas for reservation Indians, usually younger tribal members with more employable skills. The BIA estimated that 200,000 Indians were relocated under this program while the Indian Removal Act of 1830 had forced less than half this number, 89,000, to relocate. The high point of termination policy occurred during the period from 1952 to 1962. The Alcatraz Occupation was a landmark occupation that began in November 1969 and ended nineteen months later, in June 1971.The Indian population in California was 82 percent urban in contrast to states such as Arizona, New Mexico, Alaska, and North Carolina, where Indians were more than 70 percent rural. Urban residents at this time had more education and lower rates of unemployment. The 1969 occupation of Alcatraz, which gained national and international media coverage, was led by students from California campuses and supported by community members of the San Francisco Indian Center. The important thing that happened from the Alcatraz movement was they raised so much political consciousness and because of the Education act they gained land back.
Fish-in protests began as a response to Washington state policy that tried to use state laws to restrict Indian fishing rights guaranteed by federal treaties. Women Led the Fish-In Movement. The fish-ins started out as nonviolent civil disobedience, but after violence from state and city law enforcement, game wardens and white vigilantes, including the use of tear gas, clubs, beatings, and shootings, Indians responded in self-defense. In most cases, it was women who carried the arms during the fish-ins. Women comprised the majority of protesters and half of those arrested. One of the first protests occurred in 1961: of twenty-seven protesters, only eight were men. When men were arrested, women ran the fishing boats. The Fish-in movement was to fight for reservations and wanted their treaty rights back. They constantly battled fishing laws with the government. Native American women very important during the Indian Rights Movements because the struggles were mostly lack of health care, no schooling, and no reliable resources so it was the women who stepped up and opened community health clinics, they opened schools and ran them so their kids can get schooling. They brang urbanization to the community.

Strong Women Stories (Intro & Ch 1)

This reading tells a story about Gertie Mai Muise of the Mi’kmaq women who travels back home to Newfoundland for a visit. Home for Gertie Mai is a non-status Mi’kmaq community. She had been forced to live away because of the precarious economic situation. This trip home will give her the opportunity to network with the women and help them to deal with the problems they face. Coming home means having a sense of status of your Native heritage; it is something that native people need to do to re-embrace the traditions that return them to their Native community. Coming home can be reconnecting to their communities both physically and emotionally to make them feel at home. Some major problems the Mi’kmaq people are faced with are assimilation and intermarriage are problems the Mi’kmaq people face because the genocide experienced for years has forced those people to attempt to blend in with the dominant culture. Outsiders and academics have established their authority over the Mi’kmaq existence and history. The federal government has encouraged for the Mi’kmaq chiefs to call themselves “Mi’kmaq Descendants”. The Mi’kmaq people are disappearing as a race and women and children are being abused and sexually assaulted. Suicides are taking place because of people wanting to pass on to the spirit world. When Gertie Mai arrived in her hometown she wanted to bring a sense of hope to the community. The gathering took place at a female relative’s home and women and children were in and out throughout the day. She talked about her understanding of traditional concepts of self-determination, attitudes, elders, and about traditional forms of governance and techniques for listening, talking, and justice. By night time the men have rejoined the women and children and there is a new energy that filled every person. A safe environment has been created and much healing work is being done.

Don't Let the Sun (Chap 3,4)

Eva and her family began their journey to Roosevelt and camped along the way at night. Moving to Roosevelt was best for the family because there were jobs available. Eugene which was Eva’s brother ran away to Roosevelt to attend a boarding school and work. The family called Roosevelt their new home. The everyday tasks Eva’s father did was carry rocks down to where the new road was being built and her three brothers Joe, Jack, and Albert carried water to the workers. That was their job and they received pay for it. Grandma Rose and Eva’s mother traveled across the lake and collected wood. Grandma Rose stayed with the family for a little while until the family was able to get back on the Apache Trail and then she moved back to San Carlos. Gambling was a very entertaining part of the Roosevelt community and lots of money was won and lost on a daily basis. Many new things were introduced to Eva in Roosevelt such as gambling games for men and women and she saw a car for the first time ever. As the road (Apache trail) was getting built the family moved mile to mile as it was being built. Eva cooked all the time as well as carried water and gathered wood. They currently lived at the Mormon Flat when Eva’s father became really sick with pneumonia and unfortunately passed away. The children were not allowed to attend the funeral and they stayed at the Mormon Flat while the rest of the family went back home to San Carlos to attend the funeral. The family then moved to Solomon because work became available. Eva’s sister Donna also died that year. There was nothing the doctor could to do to save her. I think Eva’s mom has done a really good job of holding it together. She lost her husband and now her daughter but she is continuing to take care of Eva and her brother while they go through grade school at St. John’s. I think it was unfortunate that she was put in jail but I think she is doing a good job as a mom and as a primary provider for her family.

The Five Sexes: Why Male and Female are not Enough

Western culture is deeply committed to the idea that there are only two sexes however one can argue that along the spectrum lie at least five sexes and perhaps even more. According to Plato there once was three sexes; male, female, and hermaphrodite however that was lost with time. Hermaphrodites were told in stories about human origins. Early biblical scholars believed if you began life as a Hermaphrodite then you would later divide into two people- a male and a female. Today in the U.S. sex is determined by state laws. For instance if someone wanted a sex change it could happen if the surgeon performs the correct procedures. It was interesting to read about Emma, the hermaphrodite who was one of Hugh Young's cases. Emma was a wife to a husband but also a boyfriend to some girlfriends on the side. When Young gave he/she the choice to become a man he/she declined because he/she knew he/she was supported by her husband and if he/she were to become a man than he would have to go to work and be the supporter.

Changing Ones (Chapter 4)

This chapter talks about gender roles and the roles of native women. It also talks a lot about how the Native women status is somewhat stereotyped such as Pocahontas. In Pocahontas it shows that to be a Native woman you have to be exotic, wild, crazy, or a collaborationist to get attention from white males. In reality however, most native leaders and cultural brokers sought to manage and minimize the negative consequences of change in their people. Native women’s lives were also differentiated in terms of identities and social roles. Female berdaches occupied a distinct gender role. They were not thought of as women and their behavior, appearance, and temperament differed from women. Avoidance of marriage was common for female berdaches. Also females who became berdaches were inspired by dreams or visions, had shamanic powers, or were sanctioned by tribal myths. Many of those traits are similar to male berdaches. In most every tribe that has been documented if there was a female berdache in the tribe there was most definitely male berdaches as well. It was interesting to because in some tribes where the same term was used for both, they belong to a third gender role. In tribes where distinct terms are used to separate female and male berdaches, the male berdache represents a third and female berdaches represent a fourth gender role.
Native American “queens” are known to have existed in Algonkian and Muskgoean speaking tribes. Kinship practices allowed women to inherit these offices. The career of Women Chief of the Crow Indians included hunting, welfare, leadership, as well as a sexual dimension. She married four women which only increased her stature in the tribe. There is a disadvantage to not taking part in marriage and women who refused to marry gave up the chance to acquire wealth from her husband. Married women were classified as high status women because they were near wealth and prestige through marital ties and kinship. They had opportunities that poor women did not. Women of chief however provided a great opportunity for certain women to enter positions of leadership and participate in the war.

Many Tender Ties (Chapter 2, 3)

Fur trade was still big business for the economy. Men of the Hudson’s Bay Company and Nor’Westers practiced in marriage “after the custom of the country” which was an indigenous marriage rite which evolved to meet the needs of the fur-trade society. The Indians actually initiated and encouraged the formation of marriage alliances between their women and the European traders. The Indians viewed marriage as a marital alliance creating a social bond which served to consolidate the economic relationship with a stranger. When a European trader marries an Indian the trader is drawn into the Indian’s kinship circle. The marriage between and trader and an Indian was beneficial to the trade ties and the Indian women brought success to their business. On the Pacific coast, marriage alliances played a significant role in the traders relations with the Chinook nation. Marital alliances were also factors in trade competition. Because Indian woman brought success to their fur trader husbands, feelings of affection were not playing a role in their marriages. However, when a child was born parenthood was good for strengthening their husband and wife bond. There were no exchange of vows between the couple but there were other rituals they followed.
The economic role played by Indian women in fur-trade society reflected the extent to which the European traders were compelled to adapt to the native way of life. The Nor’Westers learned from the French what they used their Indian wives for. The Indian women had performed a wide range of domestic tasks, they ground the corn to make the staple food known as sagamite, they made moccasins and leather garments, and they also washed and shopped firewood for the cabins. The most important domestic task performed by the women at the fur-trade posts was to provide the men with a steady supply of moccasins because the men of both companies adopted the moccasin as the most practical footwear for the wilderness. Pemmican became the staple food of the fur trade, and Indian women performed most of the steps required in its preparation. Pemmican was a mixture of pounded buffalo meat and fat. Indian Women were also responsible for collecting auxiliary food supplies which, besides adding variety to the diet, could sometimes mean the difference between life and death. Indian women played an important part in preserving and procuring country provisions, they did not take over the official role of cooking at the fur-trade posts. The Indian women also were involved in specific fur-trade operations such as dressing furs. They also assisted in making canoes and paddling during voyages. The assistance of Indian women on journeys was always an importance to the Hudson Bay Company. They were also important interpreters and teachers of language, also served as diplomatic agents for the traders. In this reading you really realize how much the Indian women were significant to the society of the fur trade. The Indian women did so much work for the men and were never paid; it was cheap labor for the companies.

Dissident Women (Intro)

In this introduction this reading talks about the rights of the Indigenous women. It also talks about the disadvantages of indigenous women. The indigenous women know they must attend all meetings to change things. The women must share their thoughts and be involved. The struggle for freedom continues but women are continuing to take on leadership roles in their communities and organization. They must stay just as committed to their jobs as men are because women do not get paid the same wages and men. What they are paid is not even enough to support them and their children. It is important that women hold leadership posts, so they can demonstrate that they are valuable. Participation in the decisions of the community is important for the women to take part in as well as taking part in the elections. In the Women’s Revolutionary Law; Article four is talked about in depth. The indigenous women of Mexico feel the law has not made good on its promise to respect custom. They also feel the laws should consider the needs of rural communities. The Zapatista women are fighting back too; they are expanding the arena that constitutes politics and are also explaining new forms of citizenship rights and responsibilities. The Zapatista movement has often been termed the first “post modern” social movement because of the use of the Internet as an organizational tool. However, the Zapatista women have complicated the labeling of the movement because of their insistence on examining women’s rights. The Zapatistas have focused their demands on achieving recognition of the political and cultural rights of indigenous peoples.

Film: The residential School Experience

This film explored the native culture and how it could be changed to a white traditional culture. The native people were stripped of their culture from head to toe and were forced to be people who they were not. They wanted to prove that by doing certain things to someone you could make anyone a white person. I think the native people were used as an experiment. They started by cutting their hair short, they took away their moccasins and replaced them with boots. They then took their robes and native dress and replaced it with uniforms. Following the complete transformation of the way they looked they put them into school where they could not speak their native language in any way shape or form. They were only allowed to speak what they were taught. The schooling aspect of it struggled because there was a major shortage of teachers. Watching this film I was taken back by how the native children were forced into this culture and they didn’t have a choice. It was interesting to see how the native people were transformed and how it happened so fast.

Film: Producing fair trade organic coffee in the highlands of Chiapas

This film was very interesting to me. It showed the everyday tasks that the Indigenous people needed to do to produce the coffee that supported their way of life. Producing this organic coffee was so important to them because that was their income. The men were in charge of the planting, fertilizing, and bringing the plants back to the women who roasted the coffee and prepared it to be traded. It is apart of their everyday lives because the trade of their coffee will provide them with essentials to live their lives. This film showed how much labor the women put into the production of the coffee. They had many important tasks in the production of the coffee and they were probably the most important part to making the coffee business successful for their families and community.

Changing Ones (1,2)

In many Native American tribal societies, it was not uncommon for some men to live as women and some women to live as men. In this land, the original America, men who wore women’s clothes and did women’s work became artists, ambassadors, and religious leaders, and women sometimes became warriors, hunters and even chiefs. The term they used was "berdache". It is a generic term used primarily by anthropologists, and is frequently rejected as inappropriate and offensive by Native Americans. Two-Spirit people were a term used frequently also for Native Americans who fulfill one of many mixed gender roles found traditionally among many Native Americans and Canadian First Nations indigenous groups. Alternative gender roles were one of the most widespread and distinctive features of native societies throughout the continent until the 1980's. In just these two chapters I have read things about gender in native societies that I didn't expect to take place in their societies. It was interesting to read about it because you unconsciously stereotype Native societies. The first thing I think about when I hear Native American tribe is Indians, native women taking care of families, and I think about Native men as the dominance. I think it is important to keep an open mind when reading about these societies because a lot of the time there is more going on in the society with gender and race than what is told in the traditional history books.

Conquest (H.O)

I think violence has always been apart of gender and racial differences. Women of color are put in a dangerous position. Chapter one talks about sexual violence and and how we analyze it. Rape is described as nothing more than a tool of patriarchal control. Sexual violence is also described as a tool of patriarchal and as a tool of colonialism and racism. Racism is not an effect but a tactic in the internal fission of society into binary opposition. Racism is woven into society that is permanent. Sexual violence and genocide among Native Women shows how gender violence functions as a tool for racism and colonialism. African American women as well as immigrant women had a long history of sexual exploitation in the U.S. Sexual violence is a big issue and I don't think Native women, immigrant women, and any women of color is safe and the U.S. is undoubtebly in a permanent social war against the bodies of Native and indigenous women.

Don't Let the Sun (Intro,1,2)

This reading the events that Eva Watt describes are very graphic and moving. Her grandmother was obviously an important part of her young life. Her grandmother was a very smart women. Her grandmother was captured once by a man when she was a young girl but was able to escape back to main camp. Watt's grandmother cured many people, she knew all the plants and herbs to make medications. She taught Watt plants and herbs and lots of things to eat, to grow and teas and medicines. Everything was hard to find and nothing came free so when they were able to find those things, it was a good thing. She also talks about her grandpa and an incident when he almost drowned because he could not make it across the river. His two sons dove into the river and saved him. Her grandmother Rose seemed like such a significant figure in her life because in each story or each even she talks about Grandma Rose seems to be involved. In chapter one she talked about her family moving around a lot when she was young and times were tough. In chapter 2 her brother Paul died and Eugene her other brother ran off. When they moved to Miami her father worked in the mines and that's when the flu broke out and her mother was able to fix medicine that saved them.

Gender in Inuit Society (H.O)

This reading was really interesting to me because I have never read much about Eskimos and their society. Assuming that living in the Arctic would be a struggle to survive, the social society was not it great shape either. Men were dominant because they were naturally superior. The gender status remained unequal. As far as labor, the men hunt, gather and haul food, and construct hunting materials. Women's responsibilities were locked into domestic routines that involved cooking, cleaning, processing and sewing skins and other materials, fishing and gathering fuel. Men's work is physically more dangerous and requires more strength but the women's work is equally exhausting overall. The men's reputations are within the community and are linked to their productive capability. Everywhere in the Arctic men and women are socialized to be cooperative, pliable, polite, generous, and acquiescent. In their society the general rule is that younger answers to older and females answer to males. Marriage for Eskimo women is usually arranged by their families however no woman is forced to take a husband she does not want. After marriage does take place the husband might choose to trade or share his wife's sexuality with a friend or trading partner. This act is very similar to what the Native men did with their native wives. I think in the Inuit society men and women are equal as far as status and power.
The Tlingit society was interesting because it differed much from the Inuit society. Women had primarily the same responsibilites as the Inuit women did but the men controlled the economy by trade. The men in the Inuit society were the dominance of the household. The men in the Tlingit society controlled their trade business and made the income for the household but it was the wives who were the banker of the household. They made a majoirty of the decisions and many times the husbands would bring their wives on the long-distance trading journeys to act as negotiators. The role of gender identity was either a nonissue or a secondary one which is much different from the Inuit society.

Dissident Women Chapter 3

Some of the main points in this reading talks about the women's role at the end of the twentieth century for the Chiapas. Women participated in marches and demonstrations, occupied land, and lent their support in keeping with the guidelines set by their groups and organizations. It is interesting to me though because once the land invasion, and the march had passed women went back to their daily chores, and it was the men who dominated the political sphere. During the end of this century there was a lot of crisis and deep change to the Chiapas. The women who participated in the movements were able to widen their networks with men and women from different places and with different languages and life styles, and they participated in a variety of actions. After ten year of the Chiapas going through violent land disputes, demands, anger, and bitterness among landowners, peasants, and agricultural workers it was time for something to change. In 1983 the Chiapas formed a march that included 600 representatives. All of the participants were members of the CIOAC (Independent Organization of Agricultural Workers and Peasants). The march was 27 days long and made national headlines. During the march photographs were taken of bare feet, rubber boots, and broken sandals. A majority of the people participating were many indigenous peoples and poor women. This march was just one of many social movements the Chiapas went through to get changes in the political identities.

Many Tender Ties (Into & CH 1)

The fur trade was the only successful economy in Early Western Canada. Fundamental growth of the fur trade society was widespread intermarriage between the traders and the Indian women. Their marriage helped to advance trade relations with new tribes. The Native women had an important role to the success and functioning of the fur trade. Indian wives were the vogue during the fur trade and the native women brought a sense of nativism to the fur trade however the fur trade society was not Indian but many elements were combined of European and Indian to produce a distinctive community. When the fur trade was broken down into two big companies the economic community was benefited but it did not benefit the Indian women, in times of scarcity, the Indian women were the first to suffer. This reading talked about the marriage between the European fur traders and Native women and the marriage between Native women and men. Both differed in many ways, the marriage between Indian husband and wives was perceived as very unromantic, it was not uncommon for an Indian husband to lend his wife even to a stranger and for many nights at a time. Indian men at times were very abusive towards their wives and the fur traders were so outraged they felt compelled to step in. I think it comes down to different morals in different cultures, when the white men were looking on they saw unusual unromanticism between the Indian husbands and wives and they thought the Indian husbands were abusive which I agree with. I thought it was interesting how the white men thought wrong of some of the Indian morals but when the Indian husband offered their wives to them they were more than happy to take their women for nights at a time.

Unsettling Settler Societies (Chap. 4 & 6)

In Canada fur trading was an important part of their economy and Native Women were also an important part of that too because the trade was based on exchange between Europeans and Native peoples and the women were needed to translate and sometimes mediate between the two groups. Women became a huge success for the fur trade industry but as marriage between Native women and European men became more common Native American women suffered a decline in their influence because most women were now mixed blood. Eventually by the late nineteenth century the fur trade was in complete decline and the Native Americans land was completely eroded. Non-native women formed a minority of the population and over the next 150 years only 2700 Amerindian and 1400 black slaves were recorded in Canada. From then on a lot of business with the British and Europeans took place in Canada to try and build their nation. It was until the 1900’s when women became active with movements and organizations. I think they contributed a lot to Canada’s laws especially with reshaping abortion rights and working on the trend of anti-racist pluralism.

Miscegenation is a key to understanding Mexico’s pattern of colonization and three factors accelerated miscegenation which was the early arrival of the African population, the high ratio of black men to black women, and the sharp decrease in the male Indian population due to both the spread of western diseases and forced labor. The settlement of Spanish females developed a pattern and they were mostly the ones who organized the house and were largely confined to the household duties. I think Spanish women had a lot of hardships to go through especially the Spanish women who were born in Europe because they had to go through the process of differentiation between the two groups. The economy in Mexico is discovering hardships especially with labor. The women of maquiladora industry are in my opinion being abused. I did my Women in the Labor force on the women of maquiladora and they are worked over time and paid under minimum wage and the owners of the maquiladora factories refuse to abide by the labor laws. Women however are striking back in Mexico and have challenged their traditional family role by involving themselves in campaigns, strikes, and assemblies. They have also taken action to create their own organizations.

Unsettling Settler Societies (Intro & Chapter 5)

In the introduction of this reading, Settler Societies were described and defined as so many different things. It represents "home" to the dominant group. In the introduction Settler Societies were often referred to the Europeans who settled and how they remained politically dominant over the indigenous peoples but became complicated between Europe and the rest of the world. The process of establishing the settler societies was accompanies by levels of physical and cultural genocide, disruption of settler societies, economies and governance, and movements of indigenous people. Today there important differences among the settler societies in demographic ratios of indigenous to non indigenous populations. Some of the main points in the introduction touch base on understanding the social relations within the settler societies and the struggles they have politically and economically. After the Civil War there was so much conflict going on in the United States; Mexican Americans, African Americans, and Native Americans were not considered apart of the dominant culture and lost control over their land to the United States who seized their territory by war and legal manipulations. Before the arrival of the European Settlers there were more than three hundred Native-American societies and they displayed a wide range of gender relationships. The Native American women shared decision making power with men and they shared positions of spiritual power with men. They were also chief agriculturists and controlled and distributed the crops they produced. This reading really shows how in each society whether it was Native American, Mexican Americans, or African Americans, women had a very important role to fulfill and the men and people of their colony depended on them especially in the Native American society. The Native women were all important especially in the labor force.
This reading really focuses on the time periods each group went through specifically, the Mexican-Americans, Native Americans, Euro Americans, and African Americans. It points out during Colonial America how each group functioned, the importance of women especially, and how they specifically contributed to the success of their society. During the Expansionist Republic the Native Americans were struggling through Indian Wars, the African Americans especially were experiencing hard times through slavery and the Mexican Americans were experiencing a heavy flow of Immigrants into their land. In Modern America the Native Americans went through a heavy loss of land but in 1934 the Indian Reorganization Act was created. The Mexican Americans were continuing their efforts to perfect the incomplete conquest. The African Americans were able to expand their middle class and became the institutional and financial support of the civil rights movement. The Euro-Americans gained much momentum and made a rise to the core of the world economy in structural relations with third world nations.

Indian Women as Cultural Mediators

This reading really goes in depth and shows how much Native women have impacted our world today. They were clearly not given the credit they deserved. Native women were very important in every major encounter between the Europeans and Indinas in the New World. They were there as wives, mistresses, or slaves and were able to translate, counsel, and guide the white men trough new territory. The Native women lived with white men and were there to care for their children as well as translate words. The voices and actions of Native women were never heard and never went down in the history books but they were nevertheless, important women of history that were percieved as powerless by European men but very powerful in the roles that they played in their own cultures and even more powerful in the impact that they have on thier own husbands and children. Some historic Native women such as La Malinche was remembered as an essential intermediary between Spainards and native communities. Pocahontas was in important intermediary between her own people and the English. Sacagawea is described as a heroine in American history. She was brought foward to interpret on the Lewis and Clark Expedition. She recognized many landmarks along the way and became an importnat leader in that expedition. Her rold may be symbolic of westward expansion but her presence was most important for what it told Indian people. She was a sign that Lewis and Clark came in peace and they needed her as a translator. Nancy Ward among the Choctaws were important participants in cultural change. My response to this reading is a great understanding how truly important Native women were to the white men. I got a really good understanding how important native women were as laborers and as intermediaries between their own people and the white men. Without these historic women today we may not be able to understand how cultures meet, how they change, and the improtant role that women play in that process.

What Native Women Weren't

This reading starts out with Smith trying to justify colonization for the Native Women. He described the Native men using the women like exercise. The English men who visited America described a munificent land of natural abundance. Europeans had long argued that the Indian man's idleness demonstrated the savagism of society. This reading really compared English ways to Native ways. A main point viewed by the English is the Native culture corresponds less to reality than in their culture such as hunting and fishing are viewed as a huge labor force for the natives. That provides them food and what they have to live on. They rely on agriculture product to survive. The first English colonists in Virginia depended on hunting and fishing for survival until the Virginia colony became established they were diminished in economic importance. A main point in this reading I think describes how as the years went on the Native way disintegrated more and more until the states were colonized. Through this reading Native Women were always described as hard working. Their work was an important determinant of her social status by the whites. After this reading my understanding of Native Women in the 17-1800's is they were treated as slaves to a certain degree, they didn't have much say in their work. Most of their work was determined by Native men.

Declaration of Independence

The Declaration of Independence was established in 1776. The Declaration of Indigenous people and the Declaration of Independence were written over 200 years apart from each other. The Declaration of Indigenous people was very specific about stating the rights of the Indigenous people where as the Declaration of Independence focuses on the heart of the country and how it operates through congress and the people leading the country not necessarily the citizens who are living in the country. However in the amendments of the Constitution starts stating some rights to the individuals such as slavery is prohibited, women are given the right to vote, and anyone of any race or color are given the right to vote. The most important ideas of the Declaration is to establish these rights to have a consistent law that all the Americans can abide by. This Declaration was established to form a more perfect union like it says on the first line. My response to this Declaration is positive because I truly believe it lays down a guideline that the citizens, the president, the leaders of this country, and the whole congressional party follows.

Reading Respnose for the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People

The main arguments that are stated within the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous people is they are given full rights and full freedom. In the General Assembly the second line down states that Affirming that indigenous people are equal to all other peoples. My response to that is whether you are African America, Hispanic, white, Asian, male or female, etc. you are entitled to the same rights as anyone else living in the United States. And now having this Declaration the Indigenous peoples are going to expect to be treated with the same rights and respect as anyone else in the United States. The most important idea in my opinion about this declaration is the Indigenous people being able to live a free life with rights in their favor where they won't be discriminated against, where they can have equal chances in the labor force and an equal chance at life. I think it is also there for non indigenous people to realize these people have the same opportunities and rights as we do and we do need to respect them as well as their rights. In this Declaration there are no Articles that point out certain rights for women, women are categorized in the indigenous peoples; so I think the United Nations need to make sure the rights are enforced for not just indigenous men but also for indigenous women. They need to be able to come in and have their rights to live just an equal life as the indigenous men.

Native Women in the Labor Force: Mexico, US, Canada

The Struggle of Women in Maquiladoras
Over the years, women have been key participants in the work force, labor unions, and strikes. Recently, women have taken part in organizing the labor in the maquiladoras in Mexico. The duty-free assembly plants located on the U.S./Mexican border, known as maquiladoras, have threatened and abused their workers and repeatedly ignored the labor laws. Women have begun to take a stand and fight for their rights as well as for their fellow workers.

Women working Maquiladora (top photo)
workers live in very poor housing(bottom photo)





My name is Martha and I am 34 years old. I began working in the maquiladoras of Ciudad Juárez when I was 16. My current shift at the maquila is from twelve midnight to six in the morning. Because of my schedule — and because I am a widow — I have to leave my three children alone each night. When I leave the house I am very scared that something might happen to me or one of my children, because of all of the things that have been happening to women in Juárez. Just knowing that there are people out there who are killing women in the streets makes me very nervous and wary of anybody I meet on my way to work.

Fact: An average work week lasts 60-70 hours, and wages are estimated at $5.75 for a full day's work. It is estimated that it takes a maquiladora worker 4 hours and 17 minutes of labor to buy a gallon of milk.

Women in the workforce in America
There is a noticeable trend in today's workforce, more women are earning team leader positions in many businesses. Yet, for women in the workforce, there are still many cases where barriers exist that may limit their chances of earning that promotion.

In a recent survey, women in the workforce have emphasised two main problems they find the hardest to deal with in the workplace:

1. Finding the balance between work and family life

2. Finding the most effective way to communicate with males in the workplace





In countries such as Japan, Germany and Italy, which are all troubled by the demographics of shrinking populations, far fewer women work than in America, let alone Sweden. If female labour-force participation in these countries rose to American levels, it would give a helpful boost to these countries' growth rates.

It used to be said that women must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good. Luckily that is not so difficult.