Ogimah Ikwe: Native Women and Their Path to Leadership

Much documentation gathered on Native American women's activities originated in the journals of European male missionaries and explorers. These first visitors observed Native societies through the eyes of their own culture, a culture in which male activities were the only happenings of note. ¹ This bias led to indirect and distorted descriptions of Native American women's activities and beliefs. ² Scholars who study Native American women today have made significant inroads into their histories; however, many interpretations remain incorrect and undeveloped. Devon Mihesuah states, "Because many authors write from a patriarchal or white feminist perspective, the value of Indian women is vastly underrated." ³ Gretchen Bataille and Kathleen Sands address this shortcoming, saying, "The portrayal of American Indian women in North America over the last four centuries offers an uneven body of documentary evidence about the lives of Native women as individuals and members of their group." ⁴

This study's purpose is to increase the visibility of Native American women in leadership roles by recording the voices and histories of nine Native American women leaders. It focuses on the experiences, perceptions, and beliefs of the women interviewed, giving a voice to nine of today's Native American female leaders, nine Ogimah Ikwe (leader women).

Centuries of silence surround Native American women's leadership roles following European contact. ⁵ The best information on what it was like to be a Native American woman in early America would have been from Native American women themselves, but few were asked. Considering the history of violence and oppression waged against Indian people by non-Indians, Native American women may not have trusted outsiders with the knowledge of their ceremonies, thoughts, or feelings. ⁶ Rayna Green states, "Our picture of how Native women really lived and functioned from the cradle to the grave, especially in a modern context, lacks clarity and realism." She poses the question, "Where is the serious study of [Native] women as culture brokers, working to create, manage, and minimize the negative effects of change on their people, working for Native people and with non-Indian women and men?" ⁷ Teresa LaFromboise, Anneliese Heyle, and Emily Ozer find that "there is a dearth of empirical research focused on American Indian women and written from an Indian cultural perspective." ⁸

Mihesuah tells us, "Aspects that have gone mostly unaddressed in historical works are the feelings and emotions of Indian women. . . . If writers want to find out what Indian women think, they should ask Indian women." ⁹ Changes that have taken place within Native societies to redefine gender roles need to be recorded: "Silence surrounds the lives of Native North American women. . . . We never hear their voices and are never told their tales." ¹⁰ This study addresses some of the issues of Native American women leaders in an emic manner, asking them about what they think and feel about their paths to leadership, adding to a steadily growing body of literature on today's Native American female leaders.

A History of Native Women's Roles

Native American women's roles were more powerful, important, and related to leadership than European men would have expected or understood, and their roles were as diverse as the tribes of North America. ¹¹ There was no universal standard regarding the status of Native American women; the role of each woman was unique to her own tribe. In general, prior to settler colonialism, women's power and status were based on their relative control over land, horticultural production, and nomination of chiefs, as well as on their participation in village and tribal decision making. ¹² Women's political power was the ability to influence who held office, not the more direct ability to hold office. ¹³

Through the decades since earliest contact, policies and laws directed at Native Americans have changed the manner in which centuries-old tribal leadership was practiced and maintained. There can be no question that, at the time of colonization, most tribes were egalitarian societies with complex clan systems. Women elders chose tribal leaders and had a voice in decisions important to the tribe's livelihood...