Women in Cherokee society

Extract

[...] It happened that the Cherokee became interested in the white settlers' trade goods. So the Cherokee began to kill and trade the deer skins for guns and other items. As they traded more and came into contact more with the white settlers, the Cherokee began to sicken with diseases they had never seen. So the story goes that the disease and the warfare they knew after trading with the white settlers was because of the Cherokee peoples' greed and betrayal of the deer. [...]

[...] Female peace chiefs held sway in making social decisions.4 The strict division of gender roles in Cherokee society is emphasized in this traditional question, asked when a baby is born, it a bow or a sifter?”2 The bow, of course, refers to a boy, and the sifter to a girl. Cherokee culture has remained a matrilineal society, with women being the primary landowners and continuing to hold an even share of power within the tribe. Early settlers to the American southeast region reported amazement at what they perceived to be the ‘honored daughters' of the Cherokee tribes. [...]

[...] Being a matrilineal tribe also means that daughters can inherit property and women can own property separate from their husbands. In Cherokee society, women are traditionally the sole property owners.4 Along with being the sole property owners, women were responsible for farming agricultural land. To keep an even division of power in place, work within the community is traditionally divided along strict gender lines. Traditional roles and jobs assigned to men of the tribe include tasks such as the daily protection of the tribe, fishing, hunting, and preliminary skin dressing. [...]