Women and Power in Native North America

Women and Power in Native North America

Author: Laura F. Klein

Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press

Published: 1995

Total Pages: 310

ISBN-13: 9780806132419

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Power is understood to be manifested in a multiplicity of ways: through cosmology, economic control, and formal hierarchy. In the Native societies examined, power is continually created and redefined through individual life stages and through the history of the society. The important issue is autonomy - whether, or to what extent, individuals are autonomous in living their lives. Each author demonstrates that women in a particular cultural area of aboriginal North America had (and have) more power than many previous observers have claimed.


Book Synopsis Women and Power in Native North America by : Laura F. Klein

Download or read book Women and Power in Native North America written by Laura F. Klein and published by University of Oklahoma Press. This book was released on 1995 with total page 310 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Power is understood to be manifested in a multiplicity of ways: through cosmology, economic control, and formal hierarchy. In the Native societies examined, power is continually created and redefined through individual life stages and through the history of the society. The important issue is autonomy - whether, or to what extent, individuals are autonomous in living their lives. Each author demonstrates that women in a particular cultural area of aboriginal North America had (and have) more power than many previous observers have claimed.


Native Women's History in Eastern North America Before 1900

Native Women's History in Eastern North America Before 1900

Author: Rebecca Kugel

Publisher: U of Nebraska Press

Published: 2007-01-01

Total Pages: 506

ISBN-13: 9780803227798

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How can we learn more about Native women?s lives in North America in earlier centuries? This question is answered by this landmark anthology, an essential guide to the significance, experiences, and histories of Native women. Sixteen classic essays?plus new commentary?many by the original authors?describe a broad range of research methods and sources offering insight into the lives of Native American women. The authors explain the use of letters and diaries, memoirs and autobiographies, newspaper accounts and ethnographies, census data and legal documents. This collection offers guidelines for extracting valuable information from such diverse sources and assessing the significance of such variables as religious affiliation, changes in women?s power after colonization, connections between economics and gender, and representations (and misrepresentations) of Native women. ø Indispensable to anyone interested in exploring the role of gender in Native American history or in emphasizing Native women?s experiences within the context of women?s history, this anthology helps restore the historical reality of Native women and is essential to an understanding of North American history.


Book Synopsis Native Women's History in Eastern North America Before 1900 by : Rebecca Kugel

Download or read book Native Women's History in Eastern North America Before 1900 written by Rebecca Kugel and published by U of Nebraska Press. This book was released on 2007-01-01 with total page 506 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How can we learn more about Native women?s lives in North America in earlier centuries? This question is answered by this landmark anthology, an essential guide to the significance, experiences, and histories of Native women. Sixteen classic essays?plus new commentary?many by the original authors?describe a broad range of research methods and sources offering insight into the lives of Native American women. The authors explain the use of letters and diaries, memoirs and autobiographies, newspaper accounts and ethnographies, census data and legal documents. This collection offers guidelines for extracting valuable information from such diverse sources and assessing the significance of such variables as religious affiliation, changes in women?s power after colonization, connections between economics and gender, and representations (and misrepresentations) of Native women. ø Indispensable to anyone interested in exploring the role of gender in Native American history or in emphasizing Native women?s experiences within the context of women?s history, this anthology helps restore the historical reality of Native women and is essential to an understanding of North American history.


Gender and Sexuality in Indigenous North America, 1400-1850

Gender and Sexuality in Indigenous North America, 1400-1850

Author: Sandra Slater

Publisher: Univ of South Carolina Press

Published: 2022-11-10

Total Pages: 218

ISBN-13: 1643363697

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Groundbreaking historical scholarship on the complex attitudes toward gender and sexual roles in Native American culture, with a new preface and supplemental bibliography Prior to the arrival of Europeans in the New World, Native Americans across the continent had developed richly complex attitudes and forms of expression concerning gender and sexual roles. The role of the "berdache," a man living as a woman or a woman living as a man in native societies, has received recent scholarly attention but represents just one of many such occurrences of alternative gender identification in these cultures. Editors Sandra Slater and Fay A. Yarbrough have brought together scholars who explore the historical implications of these variations in the meanings of gender, sexuality, and marriage among indigenous communities in North America. Essays that span from the colonial period through the nineteenth century illustrate how these aspects of Native American life were altered through interactions with Europeans. Organized chronologically, Gender and Sexuality in Indigenous North America, 1400–1850 probes gender identification, labor roles, and political authority within Native American societies. The essays are linked by overarching examinations of how Europeans manipulated native ideas about gender for their own ends and how indigenous people responded to European attempts to impose gendered cultural practices at odds with established traditions. Many of the essays also address how indigenous people made meaning of gender and how these meanings developed over time within their own communities. Several contributors also consider sexual practice as a mode of cultural articulation, as well as a vehicle for the expression of gender roles. Representing groundbreaking scholarship in the field of Native American studies, these insightful discussions of gender, sexuality, and identity advance our understanding of cultural traditions and clashes that continue to resonate in native communities today as well as in the larger societies those communities exist within.


Book Synopsis Gender and Sexuality in Indigenous North America, 1400-1850 by : Sandra Slater

Download or read book Gender and Sexuality in Indigenous North America, 1400-1850 written by Sandra Slater and published by Univ of South Carolina Press. This book was released on 2022-11-10 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Groundbreaking historical scholarship on the complex attitudes toward gender and sexual roles in Native American culture, with a new preface and supplemental bibliography Prior to the arrival of Europeans in the New World, Native Americans across the continent had developed richly complex attitudes and forms of expression concerning gender and sexual roles. The role of the "berdache," a man living as a woman or a woman living as a man in native societies, has received recent scholarly attention but represents just one of many such occurrences of alternative gender identification in these cultures. Editors Sandra Slater and Fay A. Yarbrough have brought together scholars who explore the historical implications of these variations in the meanings of gender, sexuality, and marriage among indigenous communities in North America. Essays that span from the colonial period through the nineteenth century illustrate how these aspects of Native American life were altered through interactions with Europeans. Organized chronologically, Gender and Sexuality in Indigenous North America, 1400–1850 probes gender identification, labor roles, and political authority within Native American societies. The essays are linked by overarching examinations of how Europeans manipulated native ideas about gender for their own ends and how indigenous people responded to European attempts to impose gendered cultural practices at odds with established traditions. Many of the essays also address how indigenous people made meaning of gender and how these meanings developed over time within their own communities. Several contributors also consider sexual practice as a mode of cultural articulation, as well as a vehicle for the expression of gender roles. Representing groundbreaking scholarship in the field of Native American studies, these insightful discussions of gender, sexuality, and identity advance our understanding of cultural traditions and clashes that continue to resonate in native communities today as well as in the larger societies those communities exist within.


Spider Woman's Web

Spider Woman's Web

Author: Susan Hazen-Hammond

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 1999-11-01

Total Pages: 268

ISBN-13: 9780399525469

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In the Americas, the oral tradition has created one of the oldest surviving bodies of literature on earth. Native American storytelling, in particular, stands out for its distinctive honoring of womanly power and the female forces of the universe. Gathered here are traditional versions of stories and songs that best portray this strength and vitality. Illuminating the scope of human behavior—from treacherous mates and medicine men to magical sages and murderous mothers—these tales offer universal truths. And for readers who wish to explore the transformative healing gifts of these stories in a more personal way, each is accompanied by thought-provoking exercises and meditations. Also included are brief introductions to provide historical and cultural context. Entertaining, educational, and inspirational, this collection of timeless wisdom will shed light on the lives of readers for generations to come.


Book Synopsis Spider Woman's Web by : Susan Hazen-Hammond

Download or read book Spider Woman's Web written by Susan Hazen-Hammond and published by Penguin. This book was released on 1999-11-01 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the Americas, the oral tradition has created one of the oldest surviving bodies of literature on earth. Native American storytelling, in particular, stands out for its distinctive honoring of womanly power and the female forces of the universe. Gathered here are traditional versions of stories and songs that best portray this strength and vitality. Illuminating the scope of human behavior—from treacherous mates and medicine men to magical sages and murderous mothers—these tales offer universal truths. And for readers who wish to explore the transformative healing gifts of these stories in a more personal way, each is accompanied by thought-provoking exercises and meditations. Also included are brief introductions to provide historical and cultural context. Entertaining, educational, and inspirational, this collection of timeless wisdom will shed light on the lives of readers for generations to come.


The Role of Women in Native American Societies

The Role of Women in Native American Societies

Author: Kristina Maul

Publisher: GRIN Verlag

Published: 2007-11

Total Pages: 77

ISBN-13: 3638842134

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Seminar paper from the year 2000 in the subject American Studies - Culture and Applied Geography, grade: 1,7 (A-), Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg (Institute for American Studies), course: Native American Indian Stimulations and Philosophies, 32 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: When Europeans first set foot on the new continent they discovered that it had al-ready been settled. At some point ethnographers became interested in those aborigi-nal cultures. They intended to "cultivate" the "savages". During those times hardly anyone was interested, let alone wrote about Native American women and the not unimportant part they played in this unknown culture. If women were mentioned at all, only their duties in the household were described. It is exactly this lack of interest that today makes it hard to get valid information about the life of Native American women at that time. This ignorance caused the white society to form a distorted picture, where the role of American Indian women matched the rather passive one white women had in their own society. They did not comprehend the importance the family represented as the central institution of society, nor the part women played outside the family, or the freedom they had and the rules they needed to obey. It was only in the 1920s, when the image of the "vanishing race" was created, that more material was collected about American Indian women. Stereotypes developed, because the information about America's indigenous peo-ples was presented to us by a third person. This "medium" described the object of interest in his or her own Euro-centric terms and with a certain intention, in this case the want for the land the Natives inhabited. Then the information got generalized and eventually produced an image that mostly had nothing to do with the original object. The question therefore is: "How did and do Native women, along with others, cre-ate Native America?" (Klein & Ackerman: 3)


Book Synopsis The Role of Women in Native American Societies by : Kristina Maul

Download or read book The Role of Women in Native American Societies written by Kristina Maul and published by GRIN Verlag. This book was released on 2007-11 with total page 77 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Seminar paper from the year 2000 in the subject American Studies - Culture and Applied Geography, grade: 1,7 (A-), Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg (Institute for American Studies), course: Native American Indian Stimulations and Philosophies, 32 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: When Europeans first set foot on the new continent they discovered that it had al-ready been settled. At some point ethnographers became interested in those aborigi-nal cultures. They intended to "cultivate" the "savages". During those times hardly anyone was interested, let alone wrote about Native American women and the not unimportant part they played in this unknown culture. If women were mentioned at all, only their duties in the household were described. It is exactly this lack of interest that today makes it hard to get valid information about the life of Native American women at that time. This ignorance caused the white society to form a distorted picture, where the role of American Indian women matched the rather passive one white women had in their own society. They did not comprehend the importance the family represented as the central institution of society, nor the part women played outside the family, or the freedom they had and the rules they needed to obey. It was only in the 1920s, when the image of the "vanishing race" was created, that more material was collected about American Indian women. Stereotypes developed, because the information about America's indigenous peo-ples was presented to us by a third person. This "medium" described the object of interest in his or her own Euro-centric terms and with a certain intention, in this case the want for the land the Natives inhabited. Then the information got generalized and eventually produced an image that mostly had nothing to do with the original object. The question therefore is: "How did and do Native women, along with others, cre-ate Native America?" (Klein & Ackerman: 3)


Native American Women's Studies

Native American Women's Studies

Author: Stephanie A. Sellers

Publisher: Peter Lang Incorporated, International Academic Publishers

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 140

ISBN-13:

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"This introduction to the fundamentals of Native American women's studies first looks at several definitive topics created by the western cultural notion of feminism, and western historical and religious perspectives on women. These include ecofeminism, gender roles and work, notions of power, essentialism, women's leadership, sexualities, and spirituality in light of gender. The book then discusses these concepts and their history from a traditional Native American point of view. Foremost among the questions that Native American Women's Studies addresses are; How have Native American women governed their nations? How was/is the divine creatrix expressed in Native American social systems? Most significantly, this book sheds light on the radical differences between the indigenous understanding of human experience in terms of gender, and that held and created by western culture."--BOOK JACKET.


Book Synopsis Native American Women's Studies by : Stephanie A. Sellers

Download or read book Native American Women's Studies written by Stephanie A. Sellers and published by Peter Lang Incorporated, International Academic Publishers. This book was released on 2008 with total page 140 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This introduction to the fundamentals of Native American women's studies first looks at several definitive topics created by the western cultural notion of feminism, and western historical and religious perspectives on women. These include ecofeminism, gender roles and work, notions of power, essentialism, women's leadership, sexualities, and spirituality in light of gender. The book then discusses these concepts and their history from a traditional Native American point of view. Foremost among the questions that Native American Women's Studies addresses are; How have Native American women governed their nations? How was/is the divine creatrix expressed in Native American social systems? Most significantly, this book sheds light on the radical differences between the indigenous understanding of human experience in terms of gender, and that held and created by western culture."--BOOK JACKET.


Indigenous American Women

Indigenous American Women

Author: Devon Abbott Mihesuah

Publisher: U of Nebraska Press

Published: 2003-01-01

Total Pages: 272

ISBN-13: 9780803282865

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Oklahoma Choctaw scholar Devon Abbott Mihesuah offers a frank and absorbing look at the complex, evolving identities of American Indigenous women today, their ongoing struggles against a centuries-old legacy of colonial disempowerment, and how they are seen and portrayed by themselves and others. ø Mihesuah first examines how American Indigenous women have been perceived and depicted by non-Natives, including scholars, and by themselves. She then illuminates the pervasive impact of colonialism and patriarchal thought on Native women?s traditional tribal roles and on their participation in academia. Mihesuah considers how relations between Indigenous women and men across North America continue to be altered by Christianity and Euro-American ideologies. Sexism and violence against Indigenous women has escalated; economic disparities and intratribal factionalism and ?culturalism? threaten connections among women and with men; and many women suffer from psychological stress because their economic, religious, political, and social positions are devalued. ø In the last section, Mihesuah explores how modern American Indigenous women have empowered themselves tribally, nationally, or academically. Additionally, she examines the overlooked role that Native women played in the Red Power movement as well as some key differences between Native women "feminists" and "activists."


Book Synopsis Indigenous American Women by : Devon Abbott Mihesuah

Download or read book Indigenous American Women written by Devon Abbott Mihesuah and published by U of Nebraska Press. This book was released on 2003-01-01 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Oklahoma Choctaw scholar Devon Abbott Mihesuah offers a frank and absorbing look at the complex, evolving identities of American Indigenous women today, their ongoing struggles against a centuries-old legacy of colonial disempowerment, and how they are seen and portrayed by themselves and others. ø Mihesuah first examines how American Indigenous women have been perceived and depicted by non-Natives, including scholars, and by themselves. She then illuminates the pervasive impact of colonialism and patriarchal thought on Native women?s traditional tribal roles and on their participation in academia. Mihesuah considers how relations between Indigenous women and men across North America continue to be altered by Christianity and Euro-American ideologies. Sexism and violence against Indigenous women has escalated; economic disparities and intratribal factionalism and ?culturalism? threaten connections among women and with men; and many women suffer from psychological stress because their economic, religious, political, and social positions are devalued. ø In the last section, Mihesuah explores how modern American Indigenous women have empowered themselves tribally, nationally, or academically. Additionally, she examines the overlooked role that Native women played in the Red Power movement as well as some key differences between Native women "feminists" and "activists."


Indigenous Women and Violence

Indigenous Women and Violence

Author: Lynn Stephen

Publisher: University of Arizona Press

Published: 2021-03-23

Total Pages: 281

ISBN-13: 0816539456

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Indigenous Women and Violence offers an intimate view of how settler colonialism and other structural forms of power and inequality created accumulated violences in the lives of Indigenous women. This volume uncovers how these Indigenous women resist violence in Mexico, Central America, and the United States, centering on the topics of femicide, immigration, human rights violations, the criminal justice system, and Indigenous justice. Taking on the issues of our times, Indigenous Women and Violence calls for the deepening of collaborative ethnographies through community engagement and performing research as an embodied experience. This book brings together settler colonialism, feminist ethnography, collaborative and activist ethnography, emotional communities, and standpoint research to look at the links between structural, extreme, and everyday violences across time and space. Indigenous Women and Violence is built on engaging case studies that highlight the individual and collective struggles that Indigenous women face from the racial and gendered oppression that structures their lives. Gendered violence has always been a part of the genocidal and assimilationist projects of settler colonialism, and it remains so today. These structures—and the forms of violence inherent to them—are driving criminalization and victimization of Indigenous men and women, leading to escalating levels of assassination, incarceration, or transnational displacement of Indigenous people, and especially Indigenous women. This volume brings together the potent ethnographic research of eight scholars who have dedicated their careers to illuminating the ways in which Indigenous women have challenged communities, states, legal systems, and social movements to promote gender justice. The chapters in this book are engaged, feminist, collaborative, and activism focused, conveying powerful messages about the resilience and resistance of Indigenous women in the face of violence and systemic oppression. Contributors: R. Aída Hernández-Castillo, Morna Macleod, Mariana Mora, María Teresa Sierra, Shannon Speed, Lynn Stephen, Margo Tamez, Irma Alicia Velásquez Nimatuj


Book Synopsis Indigenous Women and Violence by : Lynn Stephen

Download or read book Indigenous Women and Violence written by Lynn Stephen and published by University of Arizona Press. This book was released on 2021-03-23 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Indigenous Women and Violence offers an intimate view of how settler colonialism and other structural forms of power and inequality created accumulated violences in the lives of Indigenous women. This volume uncovers how these Indigenous women resist violence in Mexico, Central America, and the United States, centering on the topics of femicide, immigration, human rights violations, the criminal justice system, and Indigenous justice. Taking on the issues of our times, Indigenous Women and Violence calls for the deepening of collaborative ethnographies through community engagement and performing research as an embodied experience. This book brings together settler colonialism, feminist ethnography, collaborative and activist ethnography, emotional communities, and standpoint research to look at the links between structural, extreme, and everyday violences across time and space. Indigenous Women and Violence is built on engaging case studies that highlight the individual and collective struggles that Indigenous women face from the racial and gendered oppression that structures their lives. Gendered violence has always been a part of the genocidal and assimilationist projects of settler colonialism, and it remains so today. These structures—and the forms of violence inherent to them—are driving criminalization and victimization of Indigenous men and women, leading to escalating levels of assassination, incarceration, or transnational displacement of Indigenous people, and especially Indigenous women. This volume brings together the potent ethnographic research of eight scholars who have dedicated their careers to illuminating the ways in which Indigenous women have challenged communities, states, legal systems, and social movements to promote gender justice. The chapters in this book are engaged, feminist, collaborative, and activism focused, conveying powerful messages about the resilience and resistance of Indigenous women in the face of violence and systemic oppression. Contributors: R. Aída Hernández-Castillo, Morna Macleod, Mariana Mora, María Teresa Sierra, Shannon Speed, Lynn Stephen, Margo Tamez, Irma Alicia Velásquez Nimatuj


A Necessary Balance

A Necessary Balance

Author: Lillian Alice Ackerman

Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press

Published: 2003

Total Pages: 314

ISBN-13: 9780806134857

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In the past, many Native American cultures have treated women and men as equals. In A Necessary Balance, Lillian A. Ackerman examines the balance of power and responsibility between men and women within each of the eleven Plateau Indian tribes who live today on the Colville Indian Reservation in north-central Washington State. Ackerman analyzes tribal cultures over three historical periods lasting more than a century--the traditional past, the farming phase when Indians were forced onto the reservation, and the twentieth-century industrial present. Ackerman examines gender equality in terms of power, authority, and autonomy in four social spheres: economic, domestic, political, and religious. Although early explorers and anthropologists noted isolated instances of gender equality among Plateau Indians, A Necessary Balance is the first book-length examination of a culture that has practiced such equality from its early days of hunting and gathering to the present day. Ackerman's findings also relate to an examination of European and American cultures, calling into question the current assumption that gender equality ceases to be possible with the advent of industrialization.


Book Synopsis A Necessary Balance by : Lillian Alice Ackerman

Download or read book A Necessary Balance written by Lillian Alice Ackerman and published by University of Oklahoma Press. This book was released on 2003 with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the past, many Native American cultures have treated women and men as equals. In A Necessary Balance, Lillian A. Ackerman examines the balance of power and responsibility between men and women within each of the eleven Plateau Indian tribes who live today on the Colville Indian Reservation in north-central Washington State. Ackerman analyzes tribal cultures over three historical periods lasting more than a century--the traditional past, the farming phase when Indians were forced onto the reservation, and the twentieth-century industrial present. Ackerman examines gender equality in terms of power, authority, and autonomy in four social spheres: economic, domestic, political, and religious. Although early explorers and anthropologists noted isolated instances of gender equality among Plateau Indians, A Necessary Balance is the first book-length examination of a culture that has practiced such equality from its early days of hunting and gathering to the present day. Ackerman's findings also relate to an examination of European and American cultures, calling into question the current assumption that gender equality ceases to be possible with the advent of industrialization.


Peace Came in the Form of a Woman

Peace Came in the Form of a Woman

Author: Juliana Barr

Publisher: Univ of North Carolina Press

Published: 2009-11-30

Total Pages: 416

ISBN-13: 9780807867730

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Revising the standard narrative of European-Indian relations in America, Juliana Barr reconstructs a world in which Indians were the dominant power and Europeans were the ones forced to accommodate, resist, and persevere. She demonstrates that between the 1690s and 1780s, Indian peoples including Caddos, Apaches, Payayas, Karankawas, Wichitas, and Comanches formed relationships with Spaniards in Texas that refuted European claims of imperial control. Barr argues that Indians not only retained control over their territories but also imposed control over Spaniards. Instead of being defined in racial terms, as was often the case with European constructions of power, diplomatic relations between the Indians and Spaniards in the region were dictated by Indian expressions of power, grounded in gendered terms of kinship. By examining six realms of encounter--first contact, settlement and intermarriage, mission life, warfare, diplomacy, and captivity--Barr shows that native categories of gender provided the political structure of Indian-Spanish relations by defining people's identity, status, and obligations vis-a-vis others. Because native systems of kin-based social and political order predominated, argues Barr, Indian concepts of gender cut across European perceptions of racial difference.


Book Synopsis Peace Came in the Form of a Woman by : Juliana Barr

Download or read book Peace Came in the Form of a Woman written by Juliana Barr and published by Univ of North Carolina Press. This book was released on 2009-11-30 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Revising the standard narrative of European-Indian relations in America, Juliana Barr reconstructs a world in which Indians were the dominant power and Europeans were the ones forced to accommodate, resist, and persevere. She demonstrates that between the 1690s and 1780s, Indian peoples including Caddos, Apaches, Payayas, Karankawas, Wichitas, and Comanches formed relationships with Spaniards in Texas that refuted European claims of imperial control. Barr argues that Indians not only retained control over their territories but also imposed control over Spaniards. Instead of being defined in racial terms, as was often the case with European constructions of power, diplomatic relations between the Indians and Spaniards in the region were dictated by Indian expressions of power, grounded in gendered terms of kinship. By examining six realms of encounter--first contact, settlement and intermarriage, mission life, warfare, diplomacy, and captivity--Barr shows that native categories of gender provided the political structure of Indian-Spanish relations by defining people's identity, status, and obligations vis-a-vis others. Because native systems of kin-based social and political order predominated, argues Barr, Indian concepts of gender cut across European perceptions of racial difference.