Changing Ones: Ch; 1 & 2

3rd and 4th gender roles were common in many tribes and were called berdaches. Male berdaches would often engage in women's activities, such as dressing like women, making clothes, baskets or cooking. Female berdaches engaged in mens activities like hunting, fighting in battle, dressing as men. Berdaches usually engaged in same sex relationships with non-berdaches. While European societies rejected and considered this behavior as immoral, Native Americans considered berdaches equal contributors to the community. Berdaches were accepted and often highly respected. "Berdaches were not failed men or women; and behaved according to cultural expectations for those roles"(pg 5, Roscoe).

Don't let the Sun Step Over You: Intro, CH 1&2

Eva and her family travelled around quite a bit in search of food and work in order to support themselves. She had a pretty hard life. Many of her siblings died and her father also died. She did not seem to have an attitude of resentment, but was grateful for the time she had with them. She spent a lot of time with her grandmother, who was a medicine woman and very skilled at using plants and herbs help sick people. She also talked about kids being required to attend school, but the kids were abused at the boarding schools. Apache children were not fed enough, they were whipped and were also punished for speaking their own language. Eva's grandmother would her from the police(who came to make sure kids were in school) because she was afraid Eva would get hurt at school. I 've found this book pretty interesting because the story is told from a Native American woman's point of view of what her childhood was like, how her family lived and supported themselves and worked together to survive.

Many Tender Ties: Intro. & Ch. 1

It seemed as though settlers in Canada were more accepting of native people and their culture and made an effort to get along with natives. In the fur trader society there were a lot of marraiges between fur traders and native women. This seemed to benefit both native women and white men; but daughters were encouraged to adopt European customs and break away from their own heritage. As in "The Squaw Drudge", settlers also had the opinion native women were worked too hard and not valued by native men.

Ch. 4&6

Native/indigenous women had more independence and power than European women. In this respect, native people(s) would be more civilized and advanced compared to their European counterparts, who seemed to pride themselves on being both more civilized and advanced than Native/Indigenous people.



One thing I noticed through-out the text so far is that Native people have had learn how to co-exist with people who have continuously tried to strip them of their identity as a culture, society,etc.

Ch. 5: Gendering, Racializing and Classifying: Settler Colonization in the United States

This chapter discusses the interactions between European settlers, Native Americans, African Americans, and Mexican Americans since the arrival of settlers in the 16th century. One of the many subjects covered is the formation and colonization of the present day United States mainly benefitted the Euro-American men who led it. African Americans were forced into slavery, and even after being freed, were not granted citizenship, treated as equals, and experienced severe racial violence. Native Americans and Mexicans Americans were forced off their lands through wars and legal manuevering and were also not treated as equals.

The Squaw Drudge: what native women were not

"The Squaw Drudge" focuses on misconceptions created by english colonizers of native people(s) in order to justify the displacement of native people from their lands/homes. Englishmen claimed native women were treated poorly and were forced to do all the work by native men, who according to english colonists were lazy and spent their time engaged in leisure activities such as hunting and fishing. Colonists also referred to native people in a derogatory manner with labels such as; "savages" , "barbaric", and "uncivilized". By creating this faulty image of native people english colonists rationalized even further their claim to colonize North America and to disregard native people(s) completely. In fact native women were more equal to men than white women were to white men. Perhaps englishmen were threatened by this, seeing women performing work thought men should be doing. English colonists did not consider native people to be equal to them simply because native men and women had a different way of living and culture which was their own. Natives' also posed a threat to colonists because they stood in the way of further colonization by settlers.

Native Women in the Labor Force

This focus of this paper is summarizing Native American women in the labor force. Annual earnings, labor force participation, and professional occupations compared to their male equivalents and women of other racial and ethnic groups.
Native American women are not only outearned by men, but also by Asian American and white women by as much as $6000 to $8000 annually. Native American women earn three-fifths of what white men earn(59.8 percent), while Asian American women earn 78 percent, white women earn 73.1 percent, and African American women earning 63.2 percent of what white men earn(Williams;May 20, 2008).
Although Native American women( along with white women) have the second highest labor force participation, they are significantly less likely to hold managerial and/or professional jobs than white women or whiteand Asian American men(Williams; May 20, 2008).
In conclusion; Native American women are at a distinct disadvantage compared to white men and women, as well as other ethnic groups with regards to income, managerial, and professional occupations.

References:
1.) Williams, E (2008, May 20). Data tables on the economic status of women of color in the united states. Institute for Women's Policy Research, Retrieved September 2, 2008, from http://www.iwpr.org/femstats/wocdata.htm