Abstract
The reversal of matriarchal and female-centered Indigenist societies does not happen overnight. This case study focuses on one tribe in the United States as an example of Indigenous women’s resilience and resistance to societal constraints imposed by a context of settler colonial historical oppression. After reviewing research demonstrating women’s central and respected status in their communities prior to European contact, we show how colonization incrementally, persistently, and devastatingly constrained women’s roles. Despite such experiences of settler colonial historical oppression, the tribe today has demonstrated extraordinary survivance, and women within the tribe are experiencing a resurgence of the roles and status they previously enjoyed as they continue to resist historical oppression and demonstrate their resilience (Portions of this chapter published in Burnette, C. E. (2015). Indigenous women’s resilience and resistance to historical oppression: A case example from the United States. Affilia, 30(2), 253–258. (doi:10.1177/0886109914555215) and Burnette, C. E. (2013). Unraveling the web of intimate partner violence (IPV) with women from one Southeastern tribe: A critical ethnography [Doctoral dissertation, The University of Iowa] (http://ir.uiowa.edu/etd/2449). Copyright © 2013 and 2015 by C. E. McKinley).
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Notes
- 1.
Portions of this chapter were published in Burnette, C. E. (2015). Indigenous women’s resilience and resistance to historical oppression: A case example from the United States. Affilia, 30(2), 253–258.(https://doi.org/10.1177/0886109914555215) and Burnette, C. E. (2013). Unraveling the web of intimate partner violence (IPV) with women from one Southeastern tribe: A critical ethnography [Doctoral dissertation, The University of Iowa] (http://ir.uiowa.edu/etd/2449). Copyright © 2013 and 2015 by C. E. McKinley.
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McKinley, C.E. (2023). How Did It Happen? A Case Example of the Incremental, Cumulative, and Massive Efforts of Historical Oppression to Reverse Indigenous Women’s Roles and Statuses. In: Understanding Indigenous Gender Relations and Violence. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-18583-0_4
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