A Tribute to Navajo Women
Perhaps it is the honor and respect the Navajo hold for their women, that has enabled them to emerge as the largest remaining Native American culture
in the U.S. today.
Accounts of Native American life often tell of the almost slave-like position of traditional "squaws" in Indian tribal societies. These accounts are not always accurate. While some tribes did hold their wives and daughters in low esteem, the opposite was true for Navajo women. Unique among Native American tribes the Navajo culture is matrilineal. Basically this means that ones family identity is derived from their mother and not their father. Not only were Navajo women considered the head of their immediate family, they are well established as having a large control of both social and economical issues of Navajo life.
The Navajo people trace their ancestry through their mothers. This bestows great importance and reverence on the women in their society. Indeed, Navajo women were much more independent and "liberated" in the 1800s than their "white" counterparts. At that time, pioneer women were still essentially thought of as property of their husbands, without the right to vote, own land or sign contracts. While at the same time Navajo women commonly held positions of authority, participated in tribal decisions and owned their ancestral homes.
It was the Navajo women who tended the sheep that provided them with food and wool. Women processed the wool and made textiles which were often sold for income. It was the women that planted and gathered the corn and other crops for the table. Generally it was the Navajo women that were the potters and basket weavers; ancestral crafts that today provides additional income sources. Customarily it was the women who provided and controlled most of the money for the family's existence.
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