Introduction
The Native American women by tradition belonged to a customs that bestowed them admiration and where they had autonomy, power, and equality. However in a period of a century and owing to European colonization they have lost all that they previously had and currently the Aboriginal women endure a high rate of poverty. They at the same time experience sexism and racism from Western ideologies and have lost the deserved esteem from their own culture. The European legislations, residential schools and reserve existence have ensued to loss of culture, language, culture, self-esteem and family although the Native American women are still hopeful of the prospect for their rich culture. The Native women are striving to make perceptible efforts to restore the customs and to improve their educational level, through self independence and by attempting to heal from within their culture. They are a spirited grouping who will not give up fighting for their community since they are still the counselors, nurturers, providers, spiritual and medical healers of the First Nations People. The First Nations People that envelop North America are at variance in their practices, rituals and languages and their rituals. Predominantly they diverge in their manner of survival, which is determined by the lands’ characteristics, location and their animals which are bountiful. A number of bands gather and hunt some fish whilst some of them are agricultural. Customarily though, they are moderately comparable in their approach toward the persons in their bands. The native societies in the ancient times were not founded on a hierarchical structure and there were few significant divisions between women and men. The vocation of the two genders frequently diverged but there was no significance of one more than the other. The native women of the ancient times were valued and respected for their involvement to the continued existence of their families. Their understanding of plants, and their skill in curing and preserving food and their attitude in political issues was all valued. The native women currently are experiencing a distinctive loss of that value and respect from outside and within their culture and they are constantly under going some increased ill-treatment at the hands of their husbands. The women are at the same time losing esteem for themselves as signified by their increased addiction to alcohol and drugs as well as the poor conditions of their families. However, there are some increased efforts being made by these Native women to advance their futures and at the same time develop the prospects of their spouses and children. This information is founded on the lives of First Nations women in common and is drawn from the distinctiveness general to the Iroquois of New York, the Tlingit society of Northwest Coast, the Inuit societies in the Arctic, the Cherokee and the Blackfoot societies of the Plains women of the Southeast amongst many others..
Priscilla K. Buffalohead in her 1983 expose titled “Farmers, Warriors, Traders: A Fresh Look at Ojibway Women”, affirms that until recently it was presumed that the traditional Native American women were no superior to slaves (pp.236-44). Klein and Ackerman (1995) deduce this is so since when the earliest missionaries witnessed the hard labor which the women did and stated that the tribal women worked just as hard as the drones. More often than not, the Native women were never referred to historically for the reason that the pioneer missionaries and traders to come in contact with the Native tribes did not perceive them as essential (Klein & Ackerman, p.3). This might have been due to the trendy belief that the European women were helpless and frail which made the hard labor executed by the Aboriginal women look strenuous (Voyageur,1993). The invisibility of the native women in record is starting to transform and even the feminist researchers are guilty of perceiving tribal women as important only to elucidate the genesis of sexism but this view, nonetheless, is proving to be erroneous. It has come to our attention that many tribal societies were founded on cultural and egalitarian traditions, which were less concerned with the equality of the sexes but was more interested in the dignity of individuals and their inherent right to make their own decisions and choices (Buffalohead, pp.236-244).
In the Iroquois tribes of New York native women had the political right to recall or nominate civil chiefs, and they had the right to divorce, they controlled and managed their families, and could decide how many children they wanted to bring up (Buffalohead, pp. 236-244). The original historians gave testimonies that the women were being exploited and mistreated and for these reasons they justified the guidelines that forced the Natives to take on the life-style and religion of Euro-American society (Buffalohead, pp. 236-244). A discriminatory stance took place among the colonialists who intimated that Aborigine Indians were savages and required to be made more civilized and that the Native women were predominantly indistinguishable as European men perceived every woman as inferior (Voyageur, p. 85). The mind-set that the European customs was superior to that of the Native community led to preconceived notion in the witnesses which made them fail to understand the full range of women's economic roles or social and their political and power abounding in their societies (Voyageur, p.85).
In the Blackfoot community a woman possessed the goods of her labor as well as the tipi that her family resided in (Kehoe, p.114). A woman was judged by the excellence of her labor and was treated with admiration in reference to her good toil (Kehoe, 1995, p.115). Women were perceived as powerful owing to their capability to give life. She was so influential that it was she who unwrapped and rewrapped the holy packages since a man was not able to handle this authority directly without her intersession. A woman's higher spiritual power was perceived in her capability to hold the Sun Dance ceremony alone (Kehoe, p.116). Women are Shaman's as frequently as men are and they bring blessings to the people which shows that customarily the Blackfoot women had freedom, power, and autonomy.
It was comprehended in the majority of Native cultures that men and women's vocation is complimentary and of equivalent value. While men hunted and the women processed the meat that was hunted and one did not function better without the other. Each individual worked for the success of the group and the power was counted in the property one had that they would then give away (Kehoe, p.114). It was in reality through the giving away of gifts that the Natives got power and prestige. The women had immense power and respect was traditionally inclusive in the communities, including the Navajo, Iroquois, and Cherokee who were either matrilocal or matriarchal (Maltz & Archambault, pp.234-236). Regrettably the European patriarchal principles have taken over in the majority of contemporary Native communities.
In the ancient times most Native women were considered equivalent to men and they had power politically, medically, spiritually and usually in everyday life. But what has happened to that power and equality and currently? The native women in contemporary community now are at the bottom of the communal hierarchy and they fight back racism and sexism and are not normally respected even by their own community. However, economically women are more underprivileged than non- First Nations inhabitants and First Nations men (Canada, p.31). But how did this far-reaching radical change come about?
It is well acknowledged that the commencement of the decline for all First Nations community started with colonization. The influx of European settlers and the shift of Aboriginal community to reserves was the commencement of a long hard road for the Native inhabitants. When the Native communities were placed on reserves they lost their capability to be self-reliant. In the west these shifts to the reserves corresponded with the reduction of the buffalo and this loss of the buffalo made it uncomplicated for the Europeans to influence the Native community to shift to the reserves since they were starving and frequently perceived it as their only anticipation for survival.
In 1876 the Indian Act was enacted in Canada, which deprived the Native women of their standing if they married a non-Indian man. This was a sexually prejudiced piece of legislation that was not appropriately equal to men and it limited the women's social and political rights and put the women in a lesser position to men who essentially achieved political power. In 1951 the Indian Act additionally damaged the women by disallowing them the right to vote in group elections. They were not permitted to participate in public meetings that decided band business or hold elective office (Fisk, p.122). In addition to this loss of power, the Indian Act determined the legal position by patrilineal association and thus leaving the women with no rights which ensued in subordinating them to the level of bits and pieces possessed by their husbands. This meant that if a woman's husband enfranchised then she and her children automatically became enfranchised as well but if she married a man from a different tribe she became a member of his tribe and when he died she may well not return to her reserve (Voyageur, p.90). An additional abuse was that when her husband died his entire estate was inherited by his children and not to his wife because under the Indian Act, Indian the women completely lost their freedom; they had no legal recourse to remedy the state of affairs and were not legal entities unto themselves (Voyageur, p.90).
Children
Customarily women were nurturers, providers and educators of the children but with the introduction of residential schools, it brought the loss of her children. The young Native children were taken to reside in Residential schools; even though their families were against the matter, and when the children were moved, their mothers lost their responsibility as the nurturer and the educator. This was a cruel blow to the status quo and the power Native women initially possessed. The children who matured in residential schools devoid of the love and supervision of their mothers ensued in the depleted capability of those children to parent and nurture their own children in the next age group. The children endured physical, sexual, and psychological abuse. This led to the apparent loss of pride, health, language, culture, and ultimately further loss of self independence (Voyageur, p.87).
This can be accomplished by initiating and acquitting them to successful and educated adults in the worlds of movies, law, sports, television, medicine, law, business and the arts. The young Aboriginal children need sufficient food, health care, housing, and parenting as the basic requirements of life but an astounding number of these children are not having these requirements met and this requires some change once and for all. The Young Aboriginal inhabitants increase the intelligence of belonging in this world and they do this through educators such as their mothers, elders, and fathers who can educate them about their culture and language and make them pompous of whom they are. However, some provisions must be made so that that the young community perceive more motivation to live than to die.
Mythology
Conclusion
It apparent that the only way to heal a Nation is through the children since the native community start by giving children a family through parenting, extended family, grandparents; or through a Native social service club or group. Children may be assisted to attain an education system that meets the particular requirement of Aboriginal children. The assistance of parents is enlisted in the direction of this objective by teaching them to value and trust the education for their children as well as making available to the young people some good role models is of the essence.
References
Buffalohead, P.K. Farmers Warriors Traders: A Fresh Look at Ojibway Women. New Haven, Conn, (1983).
The National Archives Learning Curve, (n.d.). Plains Indians. (2006)
Canada, Indian and Inuit Affairs Program, Research Branch. A Demographic Profile of Registered Indian Women. Ottawa (1979).
Fournier, S. & Crey, E. Women and Power in Native North America (pp.303-330). University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, (2000).
Fox, T. & Long, D. Struggles within the circle: Violence, healing and health on a First Nations reserve, (2000).
Hare, J. & Barman, J, Aboriginal education: is there a way ahead? University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, (2000).
Kehoe, A.B. Blackfoot persons. In L. F. Klein & L. A. Ackerman (Eds.), Women And Power in Native North America University of Oklahoma Press, Norman (1995).
LaRoque, E. Violence in Aboriginal Communities. National Clearinghouse on Family Violence: Ottawa, (1994).
Peters, E. Aboriginal People in Urban Areas. In L.F. Klein & L. A. Ackerman (Eds.), Women and Power in Native North America (2000). University of Okalahoma Press, Norman.
Voyageur, C. J. Contemporary Aboriginal women in Canada, (2000)
