LIVING INDIGENOUS FEMINISM

Women’s strength.

Literary scholar Baker and historian Johnston examine the lives and challenges of Native American women, focused on their feminism, activism, and power. Their book asks “what southern and western history would look like if viewed through the eyes of a diverse sample of Indigenous women.” Women’s traditional power in many tribal nations was undermined by contact with Europeans, in part because of forced removal from their traditional lands, in part from attending boarding schools that were focused on “educating the Indian out of the Indian,” and in part because of the allotment system that parceled tribal lands to individual Native American men. Geraldine Hull McKinney (1916-2005) recalls spending seven years at a Christian mission boarding school, sent by her mother, who was struggling financially, but instead of distancing Geraldine from her roots, her education inspired a strong connection to the tribe. Geraldine’s daughter, Terri McKinney Baker (1948-2022), learned from her mother “that passing on responsibility, skills, worldview, identity awareness, network building, and coalition development is fundamental to Native American women’s power.” She became an ethnohistorian, designed courses in Native American studies, and worked to create an American Indian community for her students. Other voices include Terri’s friend, Wilma Mankiller, the first female chief of the Cherokee Nation, an “unapologetic feminist”; Indigenous feminist LaDonna Harris and her daughters, Kathryn Harris Tijerina and Laura Harris; artists, including writers, potters, basket weavers, painters, and singers; and Indigenous activists who work to promote tribal sovereignty and cultural survival through their leadership in politics, education, and health care. “Medicine,” the authors write, “is that essence of a person which is a unique spiritual gift or talent. Good medicine is sacred, healing power,” which these women have in abundance.

A revealing look at Native American lives.