American Indian Women
When viewing groups of people classified under the same racial label, it is all too easy to generalize and assume that these groups share culture, ideas, and beliefs. This is espeicially true in the study of American Indians. The countless tribes all tend to be grouped together as one "type" of people in the minds of those looking back on American history. However, to make the assumption that all tribes were the same would be like saying that, since they are all "European," French, German, and English people have the same culture and ideals. The truth is, American Indian tribes were very diverse in their customs, language, dress, and basically every other facet of life. An important difference to note is the role of women in Indian societies. If one traveled from geographic region to region during the early 1800's, as Meriwether Lewis and William Clark did in their exploration and surveyal of the West, he or she could note the vastly different ways women functioned, dressed, and were treated by the rest of the tribe. The farther the tribes were located from each other, the greater the distinction in this area. This page will discuss the role of women in American Indian societies of the Pacific Northwest (namely the Chinook and Sahaptin), the Plains (the Hidatsa), and the Missouri area (the Osage). Click on a link below to learn more about the Indians of that region.
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It is impossible to study American Indian women and their roles without mentioning one of the most well-known of them, Sacagawea, the Indian woman, originally a Shoshone and later captured by the Hidatsas, who served as a guide and interpreter to Lewis and Clark on their expedition. Click below to learn more about this fascinating woman.
This site was created by students in Professor Peter J. Kastor's Lewis & Clark and the American Challenge class, part of the American Culture Studies program at Washington University in St. Louis. Click below to meet the makers of this page:
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