Question answered by Paige Leitnaker, Director of the School & Classroom Program at PTPI.
2. In the Cherokee communities, marriages began and ended simply, a Cherokee woman had more rights and power than European women and marriages were allowed across racial barriers. Today these are becoming cultural norms around the world. Were the Cherokee ahead of their time or has our society today regressed?
The Cherokee Nation has been recognized as one of the most progressive among American Indian tribes, in more ways than those listed above. As for women’s rights and marriage laws, I believe they were ahead of their time. Like the tale this book tells, the European immigrants came to the U.S. and believed the American Indians were lesser beings who needed to move west so they may take their land. Since then we have realized what a heinous crime this was.
Like this, I believe the rights given to women by the Cherokee were progressive, and though seemingly savage at the time, we have come to adopt many of these cultural norms, learning once again from our past. Not all traditions and beliefs need to remain the same when knowledge shows us otherwise.
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Tags: Cherokee Nation, Global Book Club, John Ehle, Trail of Tears
@Elizabeth – When we went to interview Dr. Wildcat (who we have featured on the blog) at Haskell Indian Nationsl University, we learned a lot about the boarding schools that the American Indians were sent to in order to “assimilate” quickly. They have a great museum on campus about the history of their schools (which was a boarding school) and various other like institutions. Very interesting! I don’t remember learning about this in school.
Cherokee women might have had more rights as far as marriage is concerned; however, I find it too optimistic to refer to the tribe as being progressive. Even though Cherokee women had the freedom to marry, divorce, and remain at home with their children the tribe as a whole was not progressive. Women in the Cherokee tribe had more freedom, in terms of marriage, than many women do today. As the previous post states, “…the men actually seemed to have been deprived of their rights as fathers and partners in the marriage,” it is apparent that the tribe was very different than what is acceptable today in the domestic realm. Men today are expected to play an active role in their child’s lives. I have currently been reading about how Native American children were sent to boarding schools in order to become assimilated into ‘American’ culture. These young children, girls mostly, were forced to cut their hair, dress a certain way, and learn the English language while being oppressed for their prior traditions. In the book, “The Trail of Tears” I was suprised to learn that women had as much freedom as they did. While Christian missionaries, in the books I am also reading, tried their best to teach the girls the proper way of living, or so they thought, the women were actually being more oppressed than I had thought. It continues to amaze me at how different the Native American culture and traditions are from the ways of thinking during the time period.
Cherokee marriage customs were vastly different from the customs and laws of marriage in other parts of the world at this time in history and even in today’s society. In terms of women’s rights in marriage and racial openness the Cherokee were ahead of their time. Cherokee women had more control over their own marriage and divorce than women today have. Cherokee women could simply leave their marriage without the risk of losing either their children or their home, whereas women today will often lose their home and will share custody of their children with the father.
I would not, however, agree that as a whole the Cherokee were ahead of their time in regards to marriage, because the men actually seemed to have been deprived of their rights as fathers and partners in the marriage. While it does not seem clear in the reading whether or not the men would have desired to remain in contact with their children, it does seem unfair that the children were automatically considered the property of the women. I would assume that this would mean that the men would have no right to have contact with the children should the mother choose to obtain a divorce. In the book the Trail of Tears John Ehle writes that the women even had the right to kill an unwanted infant, yet if the father were to kill the child it would be considered murder. This shows just how unbalanced the treatment of men and women were in terms of their marriage and childrearing. It seems that while the Cherokee women were ahead of their times, the men were not being treated as equals, at least in regards to their marital rights and their rights as a parent.
I agree! Fair and equal education is a symbol of progressive societies. I honestly didn’t take notice that the women were not in school when I was reading the book. I am so used to public education here in the U.S. being available to all that I didn’t notice the women were not in school in the book.
It is true that Cherokee women had more power and appears that they were ahead of their times. This progress, if we can call it as a progress seem to confine to the matrimonial issues though. Cherokee woman had the freedom to marry anyone she wanted across the board. But reading the book, I did not see a Cherokee girl learning English or going for a higher education the way the boys did. I wondered about that. The girls learnt to paint, knit and sow clothes and etc. I do not know whether this was by choice or the way the things were planned, or if I am missing something. Educated women are symbolic of a progressive culture I think.
It is interesting to know that marriage laws are very simple in tribal communities whether it is a marriage or a divorce. I am almost positive that this true around the world. For some reason tribal women have more power than women in a civilized society in this regard. I have heard that this is true in some tribes in India.
The cultural changes which have occurred in this society are, because of human evolution and because it is right thing to happen.
It is kind of cruel behavior of European immigrants to force American Indians to move to West and take their lands. On the happy note it is nice to know that US Govt has made/ making efforts to nullify some of those unkind acts.