Honor the Earth - Issues Overview

http://www.honorearth.com/infonet/overview/domination.html

Overview

North American Indigenous
Women And Cultural
Domination
By Beatrice Medicine
Cultural Survival Quarterly
Winter 1994
Volume 17, No. 4
Many immigrant groups in the United States celebrated a
quincentennial of the "discovery" of a New World in 1992. However,
most of the 1.5 million native peoples in the United States who live in
isolated reservation areas or the 50 percent of the native population
who live in urban areas are rejoicing in their survival. Their cultural
survival against centuries of genocide, legal restrictions on religion and
language, and superimposed systems of law that were meant to
completely obliterate native law-ways and customary systems of
marriage and kinship, and, more devastatingly, demolish belief systems
that were considered "pagan" is indeed remarkable. This pattern of
conquest and domination exists in many areas of colonization by
European powers.
At present, it is agreed that there are approximately 325 distinct tribal
groups in the United States. Their viability in cultural lifestyles and
linguistic persistence lends credence to adaptiveness and tenacity. This
contradicts the common view of policy-makers and religious
practitioners that American Indians would inevitably join a mythical
"melting pot." American Indians of all tribes have been the focus of
administered human relations since the beginning of contact with a
dominant and domineering governmental system that prevails to the
present day. American Indians and Alaska Natives (not Native
Americans!) have a comprehensive system of laws, federal statutes,
and rules stipulated by Congress that distinguishes them from other
so-called minority peoples. Thus they have a constant need for
lobbyists and self-help associations to carefully monitor every session
of Congress to apprise them of and, in some cases, circumvent legal
actions that would erode the special status of tribes as "domestic
of 8

4/4/99 8:33 PM

Honor the Earth - Issues Overview

http://www.honorearthxom/infonet/overview/domination.html

nations" and abrogate treaties on which tribal sovereignty is based.
The need for eternal vigilance as each session of Congress convenes
has established watchdog groups such as the National Congress of
American Indians (founded on 1944) and the politically astute Native
American Rights Fund, which is composed of indigenous lawyers of
both genders. Besides these pan-tribal organizations, many tribal
governments maintain offices in Washington, D.C. to monitor
legislation and inform their tribal constituencies.
It is well documented in the ethnographic literature on North
American natives that the imposition of the patriarchal nuclear model,
of European kinship has extinguished many systems of matrilocal
residence as part of the thrust toward civilization, according to
standards of custom and law of the conquering nations. Eleanor
Leacock documents changes in Naskapi culture due to the fur trade,
the effects of missionization, the patrilineal models regarded as basic
for legitimacy of the union's issue, and the impact of a money
economy on a hunting and gathering society in Canada. More
importantly, she delineates the changes in male-female relationships
that indicate a marked difference in decision-making in native societies
where egalitarian principles had prevailed. This pattern of
colonialization is mirrored in Iroquois, Navajo, and other indigenous
groups. Because the Naskapi reside in Canada, one must mention the
Indian Act of 1876, which gave status to natives who were direct
descendants in the male line.
Women who married outside the band (to European, Metis, or
nonstatus males) lost their Indian status, as did their children.
Conversely, non-Indian women, mainly European, who married native
men became fully endowed with rights to live on the reserve and
register their children in the band, and were entitled to health,
education, and welfare benefits. Native, now (1993) Aboriginal, is the
preferential term used in Canada, although Treaty and Non-Treaty are
also used. Only in 1985 was this law changed to end racism and
discrimination against Canadian native women. The issue of native
women wishing to return to reserve lands and to native rights,
especially for education, is a source of discord in many Canadian
native communities today.
(Top of page on Xerox copy is cut-off.) ...specific cases that involve
unequal treatment of Indian women in the United States. In most
precontact societies, native women shared equally with men in social,
economic, and ritual roles. Most ethnographic accounts (for the Plains
culture area) emphasize the dynamic, dyadic interplay of both genders
in the ongoing enterprise that allows indigenous societies to exist.
Perduring images of Indian women as drudges and beasts of burden
and the princess-and-prostitute syndrome offirstencounters still
remain as part of the inter-ethnic interchange and center in legal
transactions. Recent feminist writings have contextualized the high
status of Indian women in many societies, especially those of the
2 of 8

4/4/99 8:33 PM

Honor the Earth -- Issues Overview

http://www.honorearth.com/infonet/overview/domination.html

"warrior" societies of the northern Plains. The emphasis on feminine
skills did not disturb the egalitarian nature of native societies. The
feminine "culture hero" of given cultural mandates-such as the Sacred
White Buffalo Calf Woman of the Lakota (Sioux), or Changing
Woman among the Navajo-was and still is an ongoing focus in these
belief systems. These feminine icons are constantly evoked by
participants in these cultures as an ongoing means of social control,
especially in wife abuse.
The placement of Indians on reservations and the destruction of male
roles and the diminished valuation of Indian women had great
demoralizing and long-lasting effects on native populations.
In the destruction of aboriginal lives, the legal repression of native
languages and belief systems, such as the Sun Dance among the
Lakota, cut at the very heart of native lifeways. The Christian ethic of
patriarchy-a male god and a patrilineal kinship model with the
imposition of patrilineal family names-virtually eclipsed the autonomy
of native women. The introduction of alcohol as a control mechanism
in the early flxr trade era also had perduring repercussions in the early
reservation placements. In general, apathy and despair seemed to reign
in early reservation life. More devastatingly, a pattern of administered
human relationships ensued. With the demolition of traditional
leadership patterns and the establishment of new "chiefs" with more
acquiescent orientations, patterns of paternalism were firmly
established. Additionally, new patterns of legalized lawways undercut
established and functional... (top of page cut-off)...the adoption of the
transgressor into the kinship unit to make up for the loss of the
murdered one. Only entities such as the Pueblo in the American
Southwest-where continual residence in aboriginal habitation sites was
common-were somewhat immune from these tremendous dislocations.
Gender disequilibrium and social anomie are often referred to as the
"culture of poverty" or "reservation culture" in present-day parlance.
These factors, along with racism, discrimination, and unemployment,
are part of the everyday life of indigenous peoples in North America.
In the history of Indian-white relations in the United States, the
forcible removal of children from families and the belief that education
and Christianization were important forms of civilizing the "wild
Indians" were disastrous government policies, In addition, the
dominant society felt that "women were the cradle of civilization."
Thus, the role of Indian women as change agents was fostered. Early
in the educational process, Indian women were utilized as matrons,
cooks, maids, and laundry workers. The benefits of a new life were
instilled in them, and intermarriage was encouraged thus it was hoped
that they would direct their children away from "heathen ways."
Importantly, federal and parochial schools constituted the main
destroyers of Indian families and kin networks. The Protestant ethic
was the... (top of page cut-off)...

3of8

4/4/99 8:33 PM

Honor the Earth - Issues Overview

http://www.honorearth.com/infonet/overview/domination.html

The use of native languages was expressly forbidden, and the cultural
basis of ritual, value configurations, and kinship terminology was
undercut and replaced with a meaningless cultural infrastructure. More
far-reaching, the boarding school experience demolished parenting
skills, and the consequences of this intrusion are still evident today. In
this context, it is evident that socialization according to tribal
traditions was negligible.
At the present time, there are many instances of legal inequities in the
lives of Indians, both male and female. In "Indian Country," as the
tribal land bases (reservations) are often called, jurisdictional issues
abound. Reservations are situated within counties, within states. On
reservations, federal Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) legal forces
prevail. The tribal police are mainly concerned with the seven major
crimes of federal policy. The tribal court on most reservations operates
with its own legal mandate. As disequilibrium regarding proper
behavior becomes more evident in homes, larger systems of new laws
prevail. Since reservations are within states, BIA police are often in
direct conflict with state police in legal jurisdiction. For example, on
Standing Rock Reservation, which straddles mid-North Dakota and
South Dakota, three control mechanisms are evident. South Dakota
does not have jurisdiction on state roads within the reservation. This
has been a battle with the state since the 1950; when the state referred
it to the Supreme Court, tribal sovereignty ruled.
In cases involving Indian women, such as spouse or child abuse, or
welfare issues, the jurisdiction mandates blur the enactment of justice.
In off-reservation or "border towns." where many Indian women live
in legal or consensual ("Indian marriage") unions, there is often little
recourse for them in abuse cases. Municipal and county police may
ignore these abuses-both physical and sexual-on the pretext of
jurisdictional uncertainties.
In cases of child abuse-and especially in cases where grandmothers
(the mainstay in many Indian families) wish to obtain custody of minor
children-mothers tend to utilize state courts, where European kinship
systems are often evoked in order to circumvent grand-parental rights.
Removal from family con-...(top of page cut-off)... connecting with
parental surrogates. The European modus operandi was physical
punishment to "save the child." In other cases, state laws might be
negated. In South Dakota, for example, some counties recognize tribal
court orders and others do not. In some cases in which the spouse is
of another race, generally European-the implications of legal codes are
horrendous. A case that has publicized this problem vividly is that of a
Dakota woman who removed her child from Washington State to her
natal reservation. This young male child then was abducted by his
white father and taken out of South Dakota. Tests for paternity
determination were initiated. Afinalresolution to this and other cases
plays upon state versus tribal jurisdiction.

4 o f 8

4/4/99 8:33 PM

Honor the Earth » Issues Overview

http://www.honorearth.com/infonet/overview/domination.html

Wife abuse-when reported-is often dismissed as a "domestic issue,"
especially in border towns. Recent establishment of shelters for abused
women and children is a sign that some tribes are confronting the
need.
In the 1960s and 1970s, many Indian activists, including females,
claimed that Indian women had been sterilized without their
knowledge or consent. Outright claims of genocide were leveled
against the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Indian Health Service,
which maintains hospitals on reservations. This was a time of ethnic
ferment in the United States, and it is not possible to obtain accurate
data on these claims.
In that same era, white social workers removed many native children
from Indian homes and placed them in foster homes and/or in adoption
availabilities. Many of the dissonances of native life-for both men and
women-were alcohol-related. However, in many instances, the
standards used to judge the quality of a home were middle-class
norms. The functions of extended families and native kinship
obligations were seldom considered. This led to hardship among
women and grandparents who wished to maintain care of their
children.
To avoid these problems, several historical factors must be
contextualized and particularized for each individual in a tribal matrix.
One factor, of course, is the loss of parenting skills. Another is
poverty, the dismal statistics constantly evoked when one speaks of
Indians, including high unemployment, alcoholism, lack of...(top of
page cut-off)... factor is the interface of powerless peoples with
superimposed legal systems.
Alcohol constitutes another problem. Legal prohibition against Indian
consumption of alcohol was operativefromthe 1800s into the
mid-twentieth century. In 1953, that prohibition ended, and there was
a great rise in alcohol-related crimes and social problems among
Indians, particularly batter of women and neglect of children.
Currently, excessive consumption of alcohol by pregnant women is
resulting in an accelerating rate of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome among
many tribes. These disorganizational factors, plus concern for children,
led to the passage by Congress of the Indian Child Welfare Act in
1978. The mandates of this act state that social workers must find
foster homes within tribal communities and encourage adoption by
tribal peoples. Unfortunately, the money needed for case work and
alleviation of this problem is not forthcoming from the federal
government. Tribes are hampered by lack of economic resources and
destruction of cultural norms that formerly allowed for the absorption
of orphans and neglected children into extended kin networks. The
need is still evident in many Indian enclaves-both reservation and
urban.

5of8

4/4/99 8:33 PM

Honor the Earth - Issues Overview

http://www.honorearth.com/infonet/overview/domiriation.html

One possible amelioration of these dissonances is the passage of the
Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978, which allows for a return to
native rituals and
systems. This has had a positive effect in
many communities, for previously heavy alcohol users have utilized
old beliefs as support systems in sobriety. The truism that alcohol is an
imported evil is also helpful. Many alcoholism treatment programs use
native beliefs as a coping mechanism. The efficacy of these indigenous
strategies has not been evaluated. However, attendance at meetings to
maintain sobriety appears to be increasing.
From this very partitive presentation of complex issues that impinge
on Indian women, one should note that there are many externally
construed laws and statutes formulated and promulgated by a myriad
of federal agencies. These include the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which
acts in a trust position, as well as the United States Public Health
Service, Housing and Urban Development, Environment Policy
Administration, and others. Both the BIA and the IHS still essentially
direct and/or limit the types of occupational selections that Indian
women make. Additionally, tribal councils make decisions regarding
sex education programs, medical care, prenatal and other "female"
concerns, plus care for urban residence set priorities for quality of life
for Indians. Housing and Urban Development has instituted such
notions as clustered housing in reservation communities, which has
exacerbated in group tensions, peer pressure for drinking, and child
sexual abuse and, in general, has aided in the erosion of family
effectiveness within a kinship frame. More recently, the EPA has
pressured some tribes to accept atomic waste on the reservations,
which has potential for serious damage to future generations. In sum,
external policies continue to have horrendous effects on Indian people.
All of these impinge on tribal and individual decision-making in
contemporary life. Importantly, in discussions about the roles and
statuses of Indian women, the tribal group in which the female
operates must be specified.
Regarding the legal and social rights of indigenous women, the
Wanrow case (1971) serves as a good example of the conflict between
tribal tradition and non-Indian law. In Washington State, the mother of
a sexually abused boy shot the perpetrator. The defense attempted to
show that she was acting within her tribal cultural mores. The attempt
failed in federal court. ...(top of page cut-off)... of customary law and
beliefs and state and federal jurisdictions. The woman currently is
working for an advocacy group defending treaty rights. Although this
may be a cause celebre, it highlights legal discrepancies for all Indians.
It is also notable that in Nebraska, Montana, and North and South
Dakota, the incarceration rate of Indian men is exceedingly high, and
much of this incarceration is alcohol-related. Moreover the structure
of tribal societies is being affected: growing numbers of native
households are headed by a single parent, usually a female. The
strength of women in legal matters is evident. Men often say to Indian

6of8

4/4/99 8:33 PM

Honor the Earth ~ Issues Overview

http://www.honorearth.com/infonet/overview/domination.html

women in their kin networks, "You go talk to the judge, he'll listen to
you." Again, this leads to perceptions among whites that native
women tent to be "more dependable" and "More aware of time" than
Indian men. However, both male and female status in the face of
interethnic encounters reflects racism and second-class citizenship.
This situation is further confounded by the low economic status of
Indian families, which minimizes their effectiveness in negotiating in
the legal system.
A further example of imposed legal policies that have had deleterious
effects on traditional tribal government was the passage of the
Wheeler-Howard Ace of 1934 (often referred to as the Indian
Reorganization Act), under the Collier administration. In tribes that
accepted this legislation, the act set up tribal councils based on the
premise that men should be the leaders. This model often
circumvented the role of women in the tribal government ...(top of
page cut-off)... of men at the present time. Thus the act has eroded the
position of women in decision making. Although there are instances of
female chairpersons, such as at Standing Rock in 1970 and 1960, this
has not been the norm. Recent figures, however, indicate that many
women are assuming these elected positions in tribal groups. Witness
the recent re-election of Wilma Mankiller to head the Cherokee tribe
in Oklahoma.
Although there are many examples of legal actions detrimental to
Indian customary law, the Martinez case demonstrates how these
tribal decisions may evolve from female actualization in legal contests.
The 1978 case of Santa Clara Pueblo v. Martinez arose out of the wish
of a Santa Clara woman married to a "full-blood Navajo" to leave her
home in Santa Clara village to her daughter. The council (not the
indigenous one) disagree, on grounds that she was married to an
outsider. As indicated by Pueblo anthropologist Edward Dozier, a
strong dual governance of aboriginal secular and religious functions
existed (and still exists) in many pueblos. Mrs. Martinez appealed to
the Supreme Court, claiming sex discrimination. The Court ruled that
a female tribal member "could not bring a case against the tribe in
federal court. The Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968 did not expressly
abrogate sovereign immunity by subjecting the tribe to civil suits in
federal courts." This decision was made in spite "of any act of
Congress providing for the protection of civil rights." Unfortunately,
this seemed a signal for some tribes to allow the tribal council to
permit enrollment only for individuals whose father was an enrolled
member of that tribe. In cases of consensual unions, a child cannot be
enrolled unless a man signs an acknowledgment of paternity (as on
Standing Rock Reservation). Other unfortunate consequences are
certain to arisefromthis decision.
In summary, I would state that the status and role of Indian women
declined after the status and role of Indian declined after the formation
of reservations. During this time, state and church policies imposed a
7 of 8

4/4/99 8:33 PM

Honor the Earth - Issues Overview

http://www.honorearthxom/infonet/overview/domination.html

patriarchal and patrilocal model, the privatization of communal
property and a system of increased administration of human
relationships, which did much to diminish tribal women's status and
aspirations.
Fortunately, the political and economic influence of women has grown
since the 1960s. Women of the northern Plains, in particular, have
maintained a power base and prestige structure that is that is tied to
artistic efforts, the manipulation of educational avenues and welfare
and economic enterprises, and ritual participation.
It is encouraging to note that, since the 1970s, there has been an
upsurge in the number of native lawyers. At last count, there were
seven hundred American Indian and Alaska Native lawyers. Over
one-third of these are women. A. Lumbec was thefirstwoman to
argue a case successfully in the United States Supreme Court. If
women serve as judges in tribal courts on Indian reservations or
penetrate the legal systems in off-reservations bordertowns, these
developments will greatly improve the legal status of all Indians in the
United States.
Beatrice Medicine is a research coordinator for Women's Perspectives
Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, Ottawa, Canada, and an
associate professor emerita at California State University, Northridge.

Mmt $& &&& %m&Fim

8 of 8

tetfmmttm fletaarfc frtrfex

4/4/99 8:33 PM