In the “Women in between”: Indian Women in fur Trade Society in Western Canada, historical paper by Sylvia Van Kirk a University of Toronto professor of History and Women’s studies. This article is about Indian women who were in between the Hudson's Bay and St. Lawrence-Great Lake men and the Europeans, the roles women played during the fur trade, the union between native and mixed-blood women with the traders and the advantages the traders had from the native and mixed-blood women. In this article she argues that native women preferred to stay with traders than their native men, which had its pros and cons. The native women would make moccasins and snowshoes for the business that added economically. Due to this, the traders noticed …show more content…
An example was the Indian wife of Brunet, who was a jealous and headstrong woman; she was able overshadow him with promises and caresses. Another example was Madam Lamallice, who abused her position by going against the regulations by carrying out private trade provisions (pg 35;2). The women who knew their importance to the white men could threaten that they would leave if she felt mistreated. The Indian women who preferred to stay with the white men because certain task which they would have to perform when they were with native husbands ended, like, carrying of heavy loads which was used when they had to move from camp to camp, the European men would pity the women because the loads were heavy. Also, her domestic duties were reduced because she had to have time to perform economic functions, such as making moccasins and snowshoes. With time, Indian wives were clothed with Canadian fashion. The women were also freed from certain traditional taboos and customs. An example the best part of the animal was reserved for men, and it was believed any woman who dared to eat it would die. The traders also found that the Indian women preferred a monogamy to polygamy
Shoemaker, Nancy. “ Native-American Women in History.” OAH Magazine of History , Vol. 9, No. 4, Native Americans (Summer, 1995), pp. 10-14. 17 Nov. 2013
Beginning in the mid sixteenth century, French explorers were able to establish a powerful and lasting presence in what is now the Northern United States and Canada. The explorers placed much emphasis on searching and colonizing the area surrounding the St. Lawrence River “which gave access to the Great Lakes and the heart of the continent”(Microsoft p?). They began exploring the area around 1540 and had early interactions with many of the Natives, which made communication easier for both peoples when the French returned nearly fifty years later. The French brought a new European desire for fur with them to America when they returned and began to trade with the Indians for furs in order to supply the European demands. The Natives and the French were required to interact with each other in order to make these trades possible, and, over time, the two groups developed a lasting alliance. However, the French began to face strong competition in the fur trading industry, which caused many problems between different European nations and different native tribes. Therefore, the trading of fur allowed early seven- teenth century French explorers to establish peaceful relations with the Natives, however, com- petitive trading also incited much quarreling between competing colonies and Indian tribes.
In the text “Seeing Red: American Indian Women Speaking about their Religious and Cultural Perspectives” by Inés Talamantez, the author discusses the role of ceremonies and ancestral spirituality in various Native American cultures, and elaborates on the injustices native women face because of their oppressors.
The French offered protection from neighboring enemies while the Indigenous people offered resources such as fur trade, and education of European settlers on how to use the land. In creating this mutual alliance, the differences between the two cultures of people led to a natural formation of gender and power relationships. To better understand the meaning of these gender and power relationships, we can look at Joan Scott’s definition. Scotts states that “Gender is a constitutive element of social relationships based on perceived differences between the sexes and gender is a primary way of signifying relationships of power (SCOTT, 1067).” By incorporating these two ideas from Scott, we can better understand the different perceptions of social relationships between the French and the Indigenous people and how the misunderstood conflicts created a hierarchy and struggle for
The contrast between the two groups of women was tremendous. Haudenosaunee women held prominent, decision-making positions in their matriarchal political system. They had the power to choose their clan’s chief, and their authority as clan mothers was respected by Haudenosaunee law. Spiritually, these women were viewed as being connected to Mother Earth and were responsible for leading various religious ceremonies, alongside of men. Haudenosaunee women also shared agricultural work with men, dealing with the work load on a communal basis. Not only did they have control of their own property, but women also had authority over their own bodies, including the responsibility of childbearing. This authority was developed in the Haudenosaunee matriarchal system of family in which children were considered members of the mother’s clan and husbands were brought into the wife’s longhouse upon marriage. Women had final domestic control; violence against women and children was not tolerated because wives had the power to kick their husbands out, ordering them to “pick up [their] blanket and budge” (Wagner, p. 47).
Significantly, Welch deconstructs the myth that Plains Indian women were just slaves and beasts of burden and presents them as fully rounded women, women who were crucial to the survival of the tribal community. In fact, it is the women who perform the day-to-day duties and rituals that enable cultural survival for the tribes of...
Fur trading started between the Europeans along with the Aboriginals when the most valuable beaver pelts was a substituted for metal and clothing goods such as iron knives and axis, copper kettles, blankets and trinkets. The beaver pelts were well desired by the Europeans for the reason that using this fur for headgear provided an elegant way to keep dry. However these pelts were for fashion, as men and women could be instantly noted within the social hierarchy by according to their beaver hats. It was so valuable that the sand on the floor was filtered to save every hair that has fallen off. For the Europeans, captivating advantages of the rich furs from the Indians in the New World was a major factor in generating handsome profits, and there is no other pelt exchanging business enterprise like the Hudson's Bay Company. It is the oldest venture of Canada and it inspired many by its domination in the fur trading industry during its early years. They equipped their own armies, minted its own coins and even issued its own medals. The company had controlled fully one-third of present-day Canadian territory and were thought by many as a kingdom by itself in the fur industry. They had trading posts from the very north Arctic Ocean to Hawaii and as far south as San Francisco. HBC's revenue didn't generate simply from this one way trade in furs to Europe; it also consists of large amounts of European goods to North America. These goods incorporated many other products that local people cannot construct such as gunpowder, bullets, weapons, tobacco, kettles, pots, beads, fishing hooks, needles, scissors, and so much more. The Hudson's Bay Company showed a great measure of success since its formation, but it didn't come without s...
This paper addresses the results of interviews, observations, and research of life in the Ottawa tribe, how they see themselves and others in society and in the tribe. I mainly focused on The Little River Band of Ottawa Indian tribe. I researched their languages, pecking order, and interviewed to discover the rituals, and traditions that they believe in. In this essay I revealed how they see themselves in society. How they see other people, how they see each other, what their values were, what a typical day was etc. I initially suspected that I would have got different responses from these questions but in reality the results in the questions were almost completely the same. I studied this topic because mostly all the people that are close to me are associated in the Ottawa tribe. I additionally love the Native American culture, I feel it is beautiful and has a free concept.
However, Brown claims on how gender roles and identities shaped the perceptions and interactions of both English settlers and the Native American civilizations. Both Indian and English societies have critical social orders between males and females. In addition, their culture difference reflexes to the English and Indian males and females’ culpabilities as well. However, the Indian people put too much responsibility to their women. Women were in charge as agriculturalists, producers and customers of vital household goods and implements. They were also in control for providing much of the material culture of daily needs such as clothing, domestic gears and furnishings like baskets, bedding and household building. Native American females were expected to do a range of tasks. On the other hand, the Indian men only cleared new planting ground and constantly left the villages to fish and hunt. Clearly, Native Indian women had more tasks than the men did. Therefore, Indian males’ social and work roles became distinctive from females’ at the moment of the huskanaw (a rite of passage by which Virginia Indian boys became men) and reminded so until the men were too old to hunt or go to war. English commentator named George Percy underlines, “The men take their pleasure in hunting and their wares, which they are in continually”. “On the other hand the women were heavily burdened with”, says other commentator, John Smith. Gender is directly referential in an important sense, describing how sexual division was understood in the social order. Consequently, Native American people prescribed the gender social practice that women should be loaded with range of liabilities than the
Prior to 15th century colonization, indigenous peoples of North America enjoyed a gender system that included not only women and men, but also a third gender known as Two-Spirit. In Native American culture, individuals who identified as Two-Spirit were revered by society and held important roles among tribes. In their article “The Way of the Two-Spirited Pe...
Examination of the female experience within indigenous culture advanced the previous perceptions of the native culture experience in different ways. This book's nineteen parts to a great extent comprise of stories from Pretty-Shield's
As stated before, Aboriginal women played an essential role not only as bed partners, but in the fur trade industry as well. Without the help of their intelligent skills and diligent hard work ,the fur trade would not be such a success. The fur traders of this time married Aboriginal women. These women put in tons, and tons of work at the posts. They often went with their husbands on fur-trading trips and acted as guides. They were far from lazy individuals. They worked with their husbands and men in general to maneuver the canoes and they also helped to carry the heavy loads a...
What happens in the life of a circus freak doesn’t seem like the kind of thing a middle class woman from the south would ever dream of concerning herself with, and yet Keela, the Outcast Indian Maiden was produced by exactly one such a woman. In the short story, Welty exposes a technique of naming and disguise that has always been effective in the blatant dehumanization bigots use to degrade specific members of our social hierarchy. Welty's title character in the story never manages to escape from the diminutive appellation, Little Lee Roy, which is more or less his actual name. Because of his appearance and the persistence of this deplorable nickname it is virtually impossible for him to achieve the status of being a ‘real person’ within the
The position of women in India is extremely complicated because of paradoxical statements in ancient India. The Indian women faces lot of violation the status of women is described by “From equal Rights as men “in the ancient time through the low points of the medieval period. The history of women in India has been eventful. It is a myth that women held very important positions in ancient Indian society. Indian cultural history gave the name for women called “Devi” (goddess). They gave the status of the name but never treated as a “Devi”. Women lives pathetic life and had a low status in society throughout all stages of their life in ancient India but the effects are still there, they faces discrimination from birth to adult. There are many categories such as before birth, as a child, adolescent, before marriage, after marriage, as a widow and many more.
Terrell, John Upton, and Terrell, Donna M. Indian Women of the Western Morning. New York: The Dial Press, 1974.