I’m
reviewing the web resource “American Indian Biographies – A to Z”. There are 42
Natives from various tribes listed. Selecting a name should theoretically send
you to the biography, but many of the links did not work (-for instance, the
only link for Pocahontas). If we are to be tribal specific, then it would make
more sense for the tribe to be listed after each Native’s name since the list
is simply alphabetical. I don’t feel that this is a well-designed site; it
appears to not have been updated since 2001. However, even though some were
disorganized I did find some interesting information in some of the links I was
able to follow.
One that I wanted to share is “A
Warrior’s Daughter” by Zitkala-Sa. This is a story about a young Dakota woman named
Tusee whose father is a great warrior. The two have a very close relationship.
One night he catches his daughter’s lover leaving her teepee and the lover asks
the father for his “only daughter”. The father replies that only returning from
war with the enemy’s scalp could win his daughter’s hand, so the lover leaves with
Dakota men and women to find the enemy. The lover is captured by the enemy and
Tusee goes after him. She finds him bound in a mob of people, with his prideful
captor dancing and mocking him. She prays to the Great Spirit for strength and
lures the captor into the woods; he believes she’s part of his tribe and that
she wants to praise him. She slays him there and rescues her lover, thanking
the Great Spirit for giving her courage. I particularly enjoyed this story because the main subject is a strong and brave female.
References:
Eduscapes. American
Indian Biographies- A to Z. Retrieved 6/12/16 from http://www.42explore2.com/native3.htm.
Zitkala-Sa. A Warrior’s
Daughter. Retrieved 6/12/16 from http://web.archive.org/web/20110212153617/http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=ZitWarr.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=1&division=div1.
Hi Lindsey,
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of brave females, Wilma Mankiller’s story is also featured on the same website. Chief Mankiller of the Cherokee nation was initially opposed on account of her being female. Even her own husband disagreed with her role and they divorced. But she pressed on as the first female chief of her nation (PowerSource).
It is interesting to note that, while the brave warrior’s daughter in your chosen story is portrayed as a very capable warrior in her own right, she is portrayed as a feminine dancer for much of the story (Zitkala-Sa). In Treuer’s book, we learn that traditional gender roles among American Indians, while generally superior to European cultures for women (i.e. home ownership and control over marriage and divorce in many nations), were hinged more on balance than equality. Women and men each still had gender-based roles, though (Treuer 23).
Despite the modern discrimination she experienced, Wilma Mankiller was nonetheless elected to lead her nation as chief back in the 1980s. Irrespective of our opinions of her policy, perhaps this will be the year the United States finally catches up to the Cherokee nation (and many other nations in the world) by electing its first female president.
Works Cited
Zitkala-Sa. “A Warrior’s Daughter.” U. of Virginia Library. Web. 12 June 2016. < http://web.archive.org/web/20110212153617/http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=ZitWarr.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=1&division=div1 >.
PowerSource. “Wilma Mankiller former Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation.” Powerful People. Web. 12 June 2016. < http://www.powersource.com/gallery/people/wilma.html >.
Treuer, Anton. Everything You Wanted to Know About Indians but Were Afraid to Ask. St. Paul: Borealis Books, 2012. Print.