Cherokee Women
The Roles and Duties of Native American Women in their Spiritual Society By Jillian Brunsting Women in America 140: Section 8 Dr. ... Meija 29 February 2004 The Roles and Duties of Native American Women in their Spiritual Society With Native Americans being the first inhabitants of North America, many people often question what traditions they have created on their own, before the ideas of the pale settlers. ... Even their society had a special way of doing things, including gender roles of both men and women. ... Native American women had some power over men, they were restricted to maintain their roles and duties in their tribe, and were expected to continue the spiritual ways of Native American life. ... A girls first period marked an occasion for her seclusion to a tepee with other menstruating women to separate them from the rest of the tribe. ... Men even avoided traveling paths that might be walked on by menstruating women (Schulz). ... The roles of men and women were very distinct throughout a tribe. ... The role of women was to gather and prepare food, provide clothing and shelter, bear and raise children, and maintain the home. Depending on the amount of food that women produced, their status in their society was greater or lesser.