Being an Indigenous Woman

A brief telling of histories, nations, and today’s ways of being

I remember a recent news story about a rare white buffalo that was born in Missouri in 2020. There is even a video of it. I recalled several other births of white buffalo in this past decade. Yet, in my recollection I also remembered that such birth happens once for every one-million buffalo births. The entire time, while I think of these young white buffalos, White Buffalo Calf Woman is present in my thoughts. Then comes Sky Woman and Grandmother Moon. Then I remember Grandfather Sky and Rabbit Boy. Corn Woman comes along with the Old Woman of the Spring. I come back to White Buffalo Calf Women. She was a revered ancestor, a woman who came with gifts of insights and lessons on how to live in this world. She taught us about humility, kindness,  and responsibility. She, like Handsome Lake (a man), guides us on how to leave this earth for others. They remind us of our roles with all our kin: the star nation, the two-leggeds, four-leggeds, winged ones, creepy crawlies, Storm people, and great spirits, as well as all the others. Sky Woman reminds us of our place as we walk the earth. She helps us see the beauty and awe of our natural world. Native women are many teachers, guides, and leaders, as well as a few tricksters.

Women as Leaders

Women, men, boys, and girls—those who live with and between—have roles in our traditions, our beliefs, and our ways of being. Indigenous communities and Native nations are varied. Some historically and contemporarily have been led by men. However, many Tribes and nations have had women/female councils, clan systems, and ways of governing. In these systems, there were male and female chiefs or male chiefs who were selected by clan mothers who have the power to remove them. They fulfilled these roles for the collective, for our ancestors, and our futures.

While we, as Indigenous peoples, count on an individual’s expertise, gifts potentially from the Creator, many Indigenous societies seek to give back, sustain, and honor our place rather than focus on celebrations or status of an individual. Today we refer to these as egalitarian egalitarian systems, where values and care spread to everyone, all beings, and all parts of living. We began in some spaces with the good twin and the evil twin. We know of the creation of the animal people. These continually remind and hold us accountable to all.

Let us return to Native women more specifically, though. Native women have been leaders and warriors. They were and are chiefs, tribal council chairs, presidents, and CEOs of their nations and Tribes. They were historical fighters, warriors, and they are contemporary activists—all seeking to protect our peoples, our ways, and our lands. They are the protectors of water today. They were and are hunters providing food and sustenance. For every Pocahontas and Sacajawea story, there were thousands of Native women who were negotiators, interpreters, and naturalists. They pushed to preserve harmony when conflict seemed forthcoming. They sought paths to support sovereignty in the past and today. Native women were there, ever-present. Women in Indigenous/ Native American societies have always been vital to the well-being and continuance of tribal nations.

Indigenous women have been healers and medicine people. They carry on the traditions of midwifery and herbalism. For thousands of years, they have passed on and offered ancient knowledges of our natural world. They implicitly understand that key properties of an herb (supplement) include how we grew it, how we harvested it, and how we give thanks for what it provides and how it helps. Native women continue to teach others on the miracles and needs of pregnancy and birth. They run entire schools teaching these methods and practices. Today, Native women are surgeons, dentists, and many other health/medicine specialists. As such, they are local politicians, state representatives, and senators. And as of 2021, the US secretary of the interior is an Indigenous woman.

Indigenous Women Today

All these accomplishments and roles have often been hidden or invisible. Thus, we do call upon and broaden this awareness, these knowings. While the Western world has painted pictures, made films, and told stories of male chiefs and male warriors, they have often erased Indigenous women or kept them only as props in such illustrations. Pocahontas and Sacajawea are only known because of their relationships with white men. They are offered and occupy a backdrop or framing that seeks to deny and ignore the violence and exploitation by these new settlers and explorers of lands that had already been explored.

Rather, Indigenous women have been and continue to be innovators, changemakers, and trendsetters. Today, they run websites, create memes, and produce documentaries. They are sculptors, musicians, and writers. They are carpenters, electricians, and researchers. They are professors, lawyers, and construction workers. They run daycare centers, care for our elderly, and are veterinarians. They have served and continue to serve in the military.

And let us circle back: Native women are mothers and birth givers. They are also aunties. Aunties who spoke and speak to us as uncles, and aunties who were/ are mothers and grandmothers to a wide array of kin— biological and beyond. They love to ride horses and ski- doos. They garden and run cattle. They laugh. They cry. They celebrate. They carry our traditions and tease us. Indigenous women, Native women, are our ways of being.

What Do YOU Think?

• How have the contributions of Indigenous women been overlooked or misrepresented by the dominant culture?
• How have Indigenous women continued to defy these misrepresentations?

This article is an excerpt from The First Peoples Issue, Volume 1.6.