Oklahoma Choctaw scholar Devon Abbott Mihesuah offers a frank and absorbing look at the complex, evolving identities of American Indigenous women today, their ongoing struggles against a centuries-old legacy of colonial disempowerment, and how they are seen and portrayed by themselves and others. ø Mihesuah first examines how American Indigenous women have been perceived and depicted by non-Natives, including scholars, and by themselves. She then illuminates the pervasive impact of colonialism and patriarchal thought on Native women?s traditional tribal roles and on their participation in academia. Mihesuah considers how relations between Indigenous women and men across North America continue to be altered by Christianity and Euro-American ideologies. Sexism and violence against Indigenous women has escalated; economic disparities and intratribal factionalism and ?culturalism? threaten connections among women and with men; and many women suffer from psychological stress because their economic, religious, political, and social positions are devalued. ø In the last section, Mihesuah explores how modern American Indigenous women have empowered themselves tribally, nationally, or academically. Additionally, she examines the overlooked role that Native women played in the Red Power movement as well as some key differences between Native women "feminists" and "activists."

Whether looking back to a troubled past or welcoming a hopeful future, the powerful voices of Indigenous women across North America resound in this book. In the same style as the best-selling Dreaming in Indian, #Not Your Princess presents an eclectic collection of poems, essays, interviews, and art that combine to express the experience of being a Native woman. Stories of abuse, humiliation, and stereotyping are countered by the voices of passionate women making themselves heard and demanding change. Sometimes angry, often reflective, but always strong, the women in this book will give teen readers insight into the lives of women who, for so long, have been virtually invisible.

Native women have filled their communities with strength and leadership, both historically and as modern-day warriors. The twelve Indigenous women featured in this book overcame unimaginable hardships––racial and gender discrimination, abuse, and extreme poverty––only to rise to great heights in the fields of politics, science, education, and community activism. Such determination and courage reflect the essence of the traditional Cheyenne saying: “A nation is not conquered until the hearts of its women are on the ground.” The impressive accomplishments of these twelve dynamic women provide inspiration for all. B/W photos. Featured individuals: Ashley Callingbull Burnham (Enoch Cree Nation) Henrietta Mann, PhD (Southern Cheyenne) Ruth Anna Buffalo (Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara Nation) Elouise Pepion Cobell (Blackfeet) Loriene Roy, PhD (Anishinabe, White Earth Reservation) Sharice Davids (Ho-Chunk Nation) Roberta Jamieson (Kanyenkehaka, Six Nations-Grand River Territory) Deb Haaland (Pueblo of Laguna) Elsie Marie Knott (Mississauga Ojibwe) Mary Golda Ross (Cherokee ) Heather Dawn Thompson (Lakota, Cheyenne River Sioux Emily Washines (Yakama Nation with Cree and Skokomish lineage).

Many people know that some Native American tribes are matrilineal. That means that historically, women had power in governance and some control in her home life. For the European patriarchs that came to North America, that was quite a shock! Through short, surprising, and often amusing facts, readers learn the role of Native American women in their tribes. Including tribes from across North America, the main content emphasizes their daily lives, clothing, and marriage customs, and introduces important female figures in history. A colorful layout and full-color photographs showcase the power of the Native American woman, a power that still resonates today.

A powerful presentation of the impact of colonization of American Indian tribes on the safety of Native American women and the changes to address such violence under the Violence Against Women Act. This essential reading reviews through the voices and experiences of Native women the systemic reforms under the Act to remove barriers to justice and their safety. It places the historic changes witnessed over the last twenty years under the Act in the context of the tribal grassroots movement for safety of Native women. Legal practitioners, students and social justice advocates will find this book a powerful and inspirational resource to creating a more just, humane, and safer world.

Power is understood to be manifested in a multiplicity of ways: through cosmology, economic control, and formal hierarchy. In the Native societies examined, power is continually created and redefined through individual life stages and through the history of the society. The important issue is autonomy - whether, or to what extent, individuals are autonomous in living their lives. Each author demonstrates that women in a particular cultural area of aboriginal North America had (and have) more power than many previous observers have claimed.

This pathbreaking book documents the transformation of reproductive practices and politics on Indian reservations from the late nineteenth century to the present, integrating a localized history of childbearing, motherhood, and activism on the Crow Reservation in Montana with an analysis of trends affecting Indigenous women more broadly. As Brianna Theobald illustrates, the federal government and local authorities have long sought to control Indigenous families and women's reproduction, using tactics such as coercive sterilization and removal of Indigenous children into the white foster care system. But Theobald examines women's resistance, showing how they have worked within families, tribal networks, and activist groups to confront these issues. Blending local and intimate family histories with the histories of broader movements such as WARN (Women of All Red Nations), Theobald links the federal government's intrusion into Indigenous women's reproductive and familial decisions to the wider history of eugenics and the reproductive rights movement. She argues convincingly that colonial politics have always been--and remain--reproductive politics. By looking deeply at one tribal nation over more than a century, Theobald offers an especially rich analysis of how Indigenous women experienced pregnancy and motherhood under evolving federal Indian policy. At the heart of this history are the Crow women who displayed creativity and fortitude in struggling for reproductive self-determination.