Though the worlds of native America and the Celtic lands seem drastically different, they share many characteristics and themes, especially two remarkable women in the throws of two revolutions against Britain. Molly Brant was a notable native woman who transcended the traditional roles for women to become not only a clan mother to the Iroquois but a loyalist chief. The Countess Markievicz was an aristocrat who joined the Irish independence movement and left her mark in the political sphere as a leading lady of Irish history. These two women demanded attention in the political sphere where women were not normally tolerated and were recognized by men and women around them however they dealt with their power in different avenues and allowed it to affect their personal lives differently.
Molly Brant___________________________________________________
Molly Brant was born in 1736 on a village near the Mohawk River in eastern New York. Her parents Peter and Margaret, having undergone a conversion to Christianity, christened her Mary Degonwadonti. A short while after her little brother Joseph was born, Peter died and Margaret remarried Canagaraduncka Brant, a man of Mohawk and Dutch heritage and Molly gained a step-brother Nikaus Brant. It was here that Molly Brant became somewhat assimilated into white culture by living in a European style house and wearing cloth clothing instead of the traditional Mohawk buckskin. She was exposed to the British colonists and the English language which she learned to write during her childhood. Nikaus Brant introduced her to her lifetime companion, a friend William Johnson. Johnson was an Irishman who endeavored to become a successful trader by learning the Mohawk language and treating them fair...
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...d ed. New York: Routledge, 2001.
Carson, James T. “Molly Brant: From Clan Mother to Loyalist Chief.” In Sifters: Native American Women's Lives, Theda Perdue, 48-59. Oxford: Oxford University Press, Inc, 2001.
Eichacker, Joanne M. Irish Republican Women in America: Lecture Tours 1916-1925. Portland: Irish Academic Press, 2003.
Feister, Lois M., and Bonnie Pulis. "Molly Brant: Her Domestic and Political Roles in Eighteenth-Century New York." In Northeastern Indian Lives, 1632-1816, Robert S. Grumet, 295-320. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1996.
Marreco, Anne. The Rebel Countess, the Life and Times of Constance. New York: Chilton Book Company, 1967.
Sonneborn, Liz. A to Z of Native American Women. New York: Facts on File, 1998.
Van Voris, Jacqueline. Constance de Markievicz. First Edition. states ed. New York: Feminist Press, 1972.
Owen, Narcissa, and Karen L. Kilcup. A Cherokee woman's America memoirs of Narcissa Owen, 1831-1907. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2005.
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.
St. Kateri Tekakwitha, who is also known as “Lily of the Mohawks”, “Genevieve of New France”, and “Pocahontas of the Catholic Church”, was born approximately in the year 1656 near Auriesville, New York, into the Mohawk tribe of the Iroquois Confederacy. Due to her being born such a long time ago, some details about her early life are uncertain. Her father was a mighty and well-respected Mohawk warrior, and some even suspect that he was chief of the tribe. Tekakwitha’s mother’s background is almost completely unknown. Some speculate that she was a Christian Algonquin, who was captured by an Iroquois, but saved by Tekakwitha’s father.
In Carol Berkin Revolutionary Mothers, Berkin goes beyond the history books, and argues that the Revolutionary period was not just a romantic period in our nation history, but a time of change of both men and women of race, social class, and culture. Berkin describes women involvement in boycotts, protest, and their experiences during the war and on the home front. She goes into a whole different level and focuses her views on women of lower social classes, the Native Americans and African Americans – groups whom faced difficult obstacle during the Revolution. She brings to life the importance of Revolutionary Women. Berkin gives us true stories introducing us to ordinary women of all social classes who were involved and affected by the Revolution War.
There have been many influential cultural leaders throughout the history of the world. These leaders worked to change and improve society for those without a voice of their own. Minorities often suffer miserable conditions until someone takes a stand to demand change. In the United States, Native Americans are treated as second-class citizens who don’t have the equality that all persons in this country should have. Many well known Native Americans have worked to achieve better education, healthcare, housing, and jobs for their people. One of the few women in this group, Wilma Mankiller, made many important accomplishments in modern Native American society. As a member of the Cherokee tribe, Mankiller overcame many obstacles to become the first female Deputy Chief, as well as the first female Chief of the Cherokee Nation. Wilma Mankiller has become one of the most important leaders in Native American history as well as an influential advocate for women's rights.
...higan, they are The Little River Band of Ottawa Indians. The Little River Band is full and rich in culture. Some people don’t acknowledge the Ottawa tribe here in Manistee Michigan, or really even know who they are or how they feel. I feel as though that the Ottawa tribe has a huge positive impact on Michigan’s history. Thereby, I have written this essay to discuss and reveal the culture and the day-to-day of the Ottawa tribe with observations, interviews and research.
Warren, Nagucyalti. "Black Girls and Native Sons: Female Images in Selected Works by Richard Wright." Richard Wright - Myths and Realities. Ed. C. James Trotman. New York: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1988.
Dorothea M. Susag, Roots and Branches: A Resource of Native American Literatures--Themes, Lessons, and Bibliographies (1998).
The Book deals with Female influence in contemporary Native American tradition, specifically selected for Allen’s insight into Leslie Marmon Silko’s analogy in her book Ceremony
In the 1950’s becoming a wife, having and raising children and taking care of the home was the primary goal for most women. Post war brides were marrying young, having children at significant and unrivaled rates, and settling into roles that would ultimately shape a generation. This ideal notwithstanding, women were entering the workplace like never before and changing the face of American business forever. In the movie The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit directed in 1956 by Nunnally Johnson, we get an inkling of the type of voice American women would develop in the character of Betsy Rath. We are introduced to a wife and mother who leverage her role in the family to direct and influence. The decade of the 50’s signify the beginnings of the duplicity that women would embrace in America, being homemakers and independent women.
Indian women had played roles in the beginning of American history. The two famous women were La Malinche and Pocahontas. Both of them were not educated, that’s why their stories were written by others. Bernal Diaz, Spanish conquistador and Cortez’s companion, wrote about Malinche. Whereas, John Smith, English soldier wrote about Pocahontas. Malinche played the role of translator, advisor and lover of Cortez, while, Pocahontas played the role of peacemaker. There are also some contradictions in Smith writings about Pocahontas saving his life. Malinche and Pocahontas made the link between colonist and native population, they married to Europeans; but Malinche was from South America (Mexico) and she had contacted with the Spanish, whereas, Pocahontas lived in North America (Virginia) and related to English. Both of them very intelligent women, Malinche had the skill of speaking multicultural languages and Pocahontas was the peace creator between Indians and English.
Mary Rowlandson, in the beginning of her captivity, was treated terribly by the Native Americans who that pillaged her village and took her captive. She was torn from her
In “A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson,” Mary Rowlandson, a Puritan mother from Lancaster, Massachusetts, recounts the invasion of her town by Indians in 1676 during “King Philip’s War,” when the Indians attempted to regain their tribal lands. She describes the period of time where she is held under captivity by the Indians, and the dire circumstances under which she lives. During these terrible weeks, Mary Rowlandson deals with the death of her youngest child, the absence of her Christian family and friends, the terrible conditions that she must survive, and her struggle to maintain her faith in God. She also learns how to cope with the Indians amongst whom she lives, which causes her attitude towards them to undergo several changes. At first, she is utterly appalled by their lifestyle and actions, but as time passes she grows dependent upon them, and by the end of her captivity, she almost admires their ability to survive the harshest times with a very minimal amount of possessions and resources. Despite her growing awe of the Indian lifestyle, her attitude towards them always maintains a view that they are the “enemy.”
Amelia Bloomer:Amelia Bloomer was born in Cortland County, New York, in 1818. She received an education in schools of the State and became a teacher in public schools, then as a private tutor. She married in 1840 to Dexter C. Bloomer, of Seneca Falls, New York. Dexter C. Bloomer was editor of a county newspaper, and Mrs. Bloomer began to write for the paper. She was one of the editors of the Water Bucket, a temperance paper published during Washingtonian revival. Mr. Bloomer lived in Seneca Falls in 1848, but did not participate in the Women’s Rights Convention. In 1849, Bloomer began work with a monthly temperance paper called The Lily. It was devoted to women’s rights and interests, as it became a place for women advocates to express their opinions. The paper initiated a widespread change in women’s dress. The long, heavy skirts were replaced with shorter skirts and knee-high trousers or undergarments. Bloomer’s name soon became associated with to this new dress, and the trousers became known as Bloomers. She continued to new dress and continued advocating for women’s rights in her paper. In 1854, Mrs. Bloomer began giving numerous speeches and continued to fight for equal justice for women.
Project, Harvard. The State of the Native Nations. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008. 221-222.