Native American Women’s Studies: An Introduction
Bibliography of Resources
Citation format: Barbato, Joe and Jennifer Liethen Kunka. Using Modern Language Association Format. 2000 December. Purdue University. 20 April 2002.
1. Bales, Rebecca. “Native American Women: Living with Landscape”. OAH Magazine of History. 1996. Organization of American Historians. 20 April 2002. http://www.oah.org/pubs/magazine/women/bales.htm>.
In this article, Rebecca Bales describes the importance of the earth to Native American women and how it influences their view of the world. She also discusses creation stories and the role of women in Native American society and how the landscape affected those roles. This article is helpful in discovering why Native American women are so connected to the land and how the history of forced migration from their homes shaped the way they looked at themselves and American society.
2. Beaudin, Kim M. 2000. The Spirit of Winona LaDuke. 21 April 2002. <http://www.uwec.edu/Academic/Curric/greidebe/Indigenous/Student.Web.Pages/Contemporary.issues/spirit_of_winona_laduke.htm>.
Kim Beaudin does a nice job of describing the life and beliefs of the environmentalist Winona LaDuke in this article. She discusses LaDuke’s background and how she became interested in environmental issues and the White Earth Community in Minnesota. Also included are many LaDuke quotes and photographs of the woman who ran for vice-president on the Green Party ticket with Ralph Nader in 1996 and 2000.
3. Native American Women Poets. 2001 October. 18 April 2002. <http://www.berea.edu/ENG/womenpoets/nativepoets.html>.
This site was created for a class project at Berea College in Berea, Kentucky. It is not a sophisticated site, but it provides detailed information about seven of today’s most accomplished Native American women poets, including Luci Tapahonso and Kimberly Blaeser. Students of Native American women’s literature will find this a useful guide to six important figures in contemporary poetry.
4. DeFine, Michael Sullivan. “A History of Governmentally Coerced Sterilization: The Plight of the Native American Woman”. Native American Political Issues. 1997 May. 18 April 2002. <http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/9118/mike2.html>.
DeFine’s article details the history of sterilization by the United States government upon Native American women. He describes the philosophy of eugenics and how it impacted the thinking of the United States Congress during the 1920’s. DeFine also theorizes that the government, through the Indian Health Service, still supports the idea of sterilization for Native American women.
5. Denver Public Library. Native American Women. 2002. Western History/Genealogy Department. 18 April 2002. <http://gowest.coalliance.org/exhib/gallery4/leadin.htm>.
The Native American Women gallery on the website of the Denver Public Library is a beautiful assembly of photographs taken of Native American women during the late 1900’s. It present photographs of dwellings, children and of daily life, which includes photographs of women cooking and weaving. The photographs are annotated and provide a fascinating view of how Native American women lived more than 100 years ago.
6. Finnicum, Brenda. Native American Women with Military Service. 2002 April.18 April 2002. <http://www.indiantrailonline.com/nan.htm>.
A salute to Native American women serving in the Armed Forces, this site has photographs, a trivia and facts page, and an invitation for other Native American women serving in the military to submit their photos and information. This tribute provides an interesting look at the history of Native American women nurses and soldiers and is written by a veteran of the Army Nurse Corps.
7. Grandmother’s Wisdom Keepers. 5 January 2000. 18 April 2002. <http://www.wisdomkeepers.org/gwk/>.
I have included this site as an example of how young Native American girls are being exposed to the traditions of their ancestors in a positive way. Grandmother’s Wisdom Keepers is a group that was formed by the East Tennessee Indian League to promote cultural traditions to Native American girls and can be used in conjunction with Girl Scout activities or as a stand alone organization. The girls study such things as traditional cooking, medicine and arts.
8. Google. 2002. 18 April 2002. <www.google.com>.
Google is the search engine of choice for many individuals, including students and educators. To find more sources pertaining to Native American women, it would be a good idea to periodically enter your search terms into this search engine. Google gave me most of the resources found in this pathfinder.
9. Heavner, Jay. Broken Treaties, Empty Promises: An Introduction to Native American Women’s Reproductive Health Issues. 2000. 20 April 2002. <http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/lillithsrealm/myhomepage/Sterilization/BrokenTreaties.htm>.
In this brief introduction to the issues surrounding Native American women’s reproductive health, Jay Heavner explains some of the topics that Native American women confront in their efforts to obtain this health. He mentions the forced sterilization by the government and the urging of health officials for Native American women to use Depo-Provera and Norplant, sometimes to their detriment. At the end of the essay, he provides a list of recommendations for Native American women on how best to protect their reproductive rights and health.
10. Jensen, Joan M. Native American Women Photographers as Storytellers. 1998. 18 April 2002. <http://www.sla.purdue.edu/WAAW/Jensen/NAW.html>.
Native American Women Photographers as Storytellers is an essay written by Joan M. Jensen, a professor emerita at New Mexico State University. In this essay, Jensen describes the types of art work that Native American women have traditionally created and tells how those arts have influenced Native American women photographers. Jensen discusses the works of such photographers as Pena Bonita and Cam Little Turtle and the themes that have emerged in their works.
11. Marks, Tracy. Becoming Woman: Apache Female Sunrise Ceremony. 15 January 2000. 20 April 2002. <http://www.geocities.com/tmartiac//yupanqui/apachesunrise.htm>.
With this website Tracy Marks presents a riveting look at the Apache Female Sunrise Ceremony. This is a puberty ritual undertaken by newly menstruating girls in the Apache tribe. There is a description of the purpose of the ceremony, the symbolism of the ceremony and lovely pictures of Apache girls taking part in the ceremony. This is a site that illustrates how rituals can be an important element of Native American women’s lives.
12. National Museum of the American Indian. Recommended Books About Native American Women. 1996 October. Smithsonian Institution. 18 April 2002. <http://www.si.edu/resource/faq/nmai/women.htm>.
This website supplies an extensive list of books that pertain to Native American women. The list includes biographies, autobiographies, anthologies and histories of Native American women from a variety of tribes. This list could be used by educators to select readings for women’s studies courses.
13. Native American Authors. 21 January 2002. Internet Public Library. 20 April 2002. <http://www.ipl.org/ref/native/>.
The Native American Authors site provides a comprehensive listing of important and influential Native American authors. The site contains bibliographies of works, biographies, and links to additional information on mainly contemporary authors. The site can be searched by name, titles of works or by tribe. This site gives helpful information on many of today’s most respected women authors. I found information about Louise Erdrich, Paula Gunn Allen, Leslie Marmon Silko, Joy Harjo and Bea Medicine, among many others. This site will help students who are studying Native American women’s literature.
14. Native American Authors – Teacher Resources. 2000 January. 18 April 2002. <http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/natauth.htm>.
A part of the Internet School Library Media Center, this site out of James Madison University provides a number of resources for teachers using Native American literature in their courses. There are links to bibliographies, lesson plans, and extensive additional information on selected authors. Some of the notable women authors it includes are Paula Gunn Allen, Louise Erdrich and Anna Lee Walters. This is an invaluable source for educators and for students.
15. Native American Women Playwright’s Archive. Native American Plays. 2000 April. 18 April 2002. <http://staff.lib.muohio.edu/nawpa/>.
Produced by the Native American Women Playwright’s Archive at Miami University, this website gives a listing of published plays by Native American women playwrights. Again, an invaluable source for educators and students. It lists such playwrights as Terry Gomez, Vera Manuel, and Wende Williams. This list also includes selected plays by Native American Male playwrights.
16. Watchful Eyes: Native American Women Artists. 1997. Heard Museum. 18 April 2002. <http://www.heard.org/exhibits/watchfuleyes/>.
The Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona hosts the Watchful Eyes exhibit and this is the virtual information about that exhibit. There are artist essays and bibliographies of such artists as Pamela Shields, Otellie Loloma and Melanie Andrew Yazzie. Disappointingly, there are no images on this site, but it offers important information about Native American women artists.
17. Waters, Anne. Native American Women. 18 April 2002. <http://www.csubak.edu/~awaters/NativeAmericanWomenCourse.htx>.
Anne Waters is a professor at California State University Bakersfield and this is the syllabus for her Native American Women class in the Women’s Studies Department of the university. This is a great example of the subjects and themes that are explored in a Native American women class. Dr. Waters presents topics in her class including reservations, genocide and power. It includes a required reading list and a course description that could possibly help educators formulate their own syllabi.
18. Wilma Mankiller Former Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation. Powersource. 18 April 2002. <http://www.powersource.com/gallery/people/wilma.html>.
This is a very short, but thorough biography of Wilma Mankiller, the influential Native American woman who became the first female chief of the Cherokee Nation. It includes depictions of the trials she faced when running for chief and important quotes about the process from Mankiller herself. Also includes a nice photograph of Ms. Mankiller.
19. Yahoo!. 2002. 18 April 2002. <www.yahoo.com>.
Yahoo does not have the reputation that Google does, but I found this search engine to be very helpful while I was conducting my search for Native American women websites. It produced many returns that I did not see on Google and that turned out to be sites I selected for this pathfinder. I would recommend it as a backup search engine to Google.