omen of courage. A woman of courage was one who persevered under sometimes terrible conditions, who spent her life caring for others, and who brought love and compassion in
Feminism is defined as courage, the ability to overcome great obstacles and act as a positive role model in their community. Feminism should be embraced as it teaches society that all woman have the possibility for greatness and equality.
, and I found her early work thor- oughly liberating for me as a reservation Indian woman. Her words made me think of the women in my family and reservation community who were feminists and my he
Allen redefines Luana Ross's feminist perspective from something that should be embranced and encouraged in order to initiate real change. Feminism and tribal culture don't have to clash but instead both can be embraced without debating your identity as a Native woman.
ork: "If I am dealing with feminism, 1 approach it from a strongly tribal posture, and when I am dealing with American Indian literature, history, culture, or philosophy I approach it from a strongly feminist
Tribal posture and feminism seem to be directly connected to each other from Allen's perspective as she normally is able to analyze American Indian culture and history from a feminist perspective and vice versa. Some values of Native culture need to be looked at from a more feminist perspective to get the whole story.
Feminism."9 Allen's thesis, albeit romanticized, is that Native peoples are traditionally feminist and now is the time to reclaim that belief. After all, it would becom
Allen 's thesis said that feminism is at the heart of the Native peoples as change must be enacted to protect and enforce their equality in their family structures and their connection to the land. Being a feminist means to be in favor of decolonizing as its effects directly impact Native women in drastic ways.
Recognizing that there is no single woman's movement, Shanley believes that diversity is beneficial and powerful, and that there are and should be many strands of feminism.
To generalize the feminist movement is to marginalize Native women and their ways of life. Indigenous people have to promote tribal sovereignty which characterizes their strand of feminism.
on the individual level, the Indian woman struggles to promote the survival of a social structure whose organizational principles represent notions of family different from those of the main- stream
Because the Native societal structure may be seen as outdated or different from what society wants, their way of life is in danger of being erased as equality is defined as protecting their way of life. Their entire family structure is threatened by the overwhelming majority that have a more modern family structure.
. Shanley, who brazenly calls herself a feminist in the essay, argues that many Native women misunderstand feminism and, therefore, do not want to be associated with a white woman's movement.
Shanley questions whether being a feminist impacts her identity as a Native woman because the first usage of the word feminist was used in Europe in the 1850's showing that it was first used for white woman to help gain and start the movement towards equality.
y.5 Medicine presents a new image, one of strong and capable Native women, although she did not specificall
In order to progress as a society, gender and societal roles must be changed and this really begins with the deconstruction of harmful stereotypes which Medicine paves the way for.
disapproval, he was shocked when she announced that she was a feminist, too. In front of a large audience, she took my hand and warmly greeted me - feminist to femi- nis
Interesting how the word feminist was almost like a taboo phrase in a derogatory manner and shows how fragile the male ego is. Kinda shows how society is always trying to undermine women and how through united activism, Native women could really gain the recognition they deserve.
minist work. Medicine began the academic exploration of the roles of Native women in the 1960s. I began reading her work in the 1970s. Way ahead of the game, by 1974 Medicine was instructing a class on N
Shows the US's progression in the field of civil rights of Native women during the 60's and 70's. Could possibly have been influenced by the civil rights acts of African Americans.
june. Each scholar added a piece to the definition and practice of feminism for and about Nat
I really like how the author uses a working definition of feminism for and about Native people. Shows how the definition is ever expanding due to increased knowledge in the field and the influence of other writers kind of like how this writing will expand our own definitions of Native feminism.