Native Americans

Paper Summary:

This paper briefly explores the cultural differences between the Cherokee and the Blackfoot in relation to sex and gender. It looks at their attitudes towards a woman's role in the family, education, the duty of the husband and wife to reproduce, and discusses how their cultures were also affected by exterior forces.

From the Paper:

"Many Native American Indians maintained a gender division of labor and social roles "long before the arrival of Europeans on the North American continent (Hill, 1995)." These tribes varied in how they viewed the importance of women. Most tribes, such as the Cherokee, kept a division of labor and social roles, while encouraging "each person to value the opposite gender as an integral part of the whole-the family, clan and tribe (Hill, 1995)." Most women were valued for their ability to reproduce and their ritualistic knowledge. As the woman aged, her status in the tribe increased. The elders of the tribe, both men and women, were mainly responsible for educating the youth. Women were held in high regard by the Cherokee and tribal law stated "the penalty for killing a woman was double that for killing a man because of the children she might have borne (unknown, 1998)." "

More papers on Native Americans:

• Essay # 32072 : "Who Are The Native Americans?"
• Term Paper # 140582 : "Appropriation of Land From Native Americans"
• Essay # 85275 : "Native Americans in Slavery"
• Research Paper # 93904 : "Native Americans and the Colonists"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: