By Dr. Nichole S. Prescott, an enrolled member of the Miami Nation of Oklahoma and Assistant Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at The University of Texas System.
Published by American Studies Association of Turkey-Journal of American Studies of Turkey (ASAT-JAST)
Abstract: Using the lenses of colonialism and gender, this article explores the evolving nature and perception of Native American women’s leadership historically and in the present. Historically, women and men had different yet equally important leadership roles to play within the community. These roles were inextricably interdependent. Euro-American colonialism through conquest and religion brought concomitant gender ideologies that slowly tore at the fabric of indigenous communities and ultimately altered the nature of gender parity within community leadership. Today, Native American women are taking back a degree of the significant sociopolitical power they once exercised. Native women are rising to the top ranks of leadership in the nation as members of the US House of Representatives, in their states as executive officers and as state representatives in their state legislatures, as well as in their communities as tribal officials, education advocates, environmental activists, and as culturally empowered mothers, sisters, and daughters. Read more