They have stayed quietly in the background for
decades, watching as their men vainly tried to pound the round peg
of European governmental tradition into the square hole of tribal
culture. But no longer: The women of Indian Country are speaking
up, taking charge, and making things happen, according to a recent
series by Montana’s
Missoulian.
Michael Jamison’s
series of eight articles, titled “Northern Lights,” didn’t begin as
an overview of the revolution that is taking place on reservations
across the West. Jamison originally planned to profile seven women
who head tribal business development centers in Montana. But as he
dug deeper, he “kept finding new women doing new
things.”
One was Wilma Mankiller, the first woman
to become principal chief of the Cherokee Nation. During her first
tribal meeting as chief, Mankiller was constantly interrupted by a
male council member. Before the second meeting, she had all the
microphone controls rerouted to a master switch at her seat. The
next time he interrupted, she shut off his
microphone.
Each of the women profiled has her
own unique story, but a common purpose drives them all. As Sue
Masten, president of the National Congress of American Indians,
said: “We’ve started to look around and we’re saying, ‘We’re not
surviving, our children are at risk and we have to act now.’
“
You can read the series at
www.missoulian.com/specials/northernlights/.
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Letting their lights shine.
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