Theda Perdue: Cherokee Women

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Cherokee Women Essay Cherokee Women: Gender and Culture Change, 1700-1835 In Theda Perdue’s novel Cherokee Women: Gender and Culture Change, 1700-1835 the last remark in her conclusion stated “The story of Cherokee women, therefore, is not one of declining status and lost culture, but one of persistence and change, conservatism and adaption, tragedy and survival (p.195) was a statement to justify how the life of Cherokee culture thrived in numerous ways from the beginning of their generations to the time when the Europeans came and conformed their ways of living. The Cherokee culture faced numerous transitions under the rule of the Europeans, which they could not control. Women especially, during this time made several sacrifices in order to belong to a new world they were so foreign to. Many may argue how the Cherokees changed their ways of living to abide by European satisfaction; however it wasn’t a sense of change, though a matter of making provisions for a better life, while preserving values and traditions which emphasized who they will always be as a society. Such provisions allowed Cherokee Indians to adapt to an unknown world, where their gender roles and culture, heritage, and concepts changed tremendously. The Cherokee tribes were not easily convinced about changing their ways of living; however they adapted to this new world in order to be seen as an equal to the European nation. In many ways the Cherokees changed their culture from what was once a matrilineal society, where the women were the base of the household, caring for the children, farming, cooking and providing the essentials for survival. Men on the other hand were the primary hunters, leaving for long periods of time allowing women to gain more of a control over homely duties and making decisions for the family. Being that matrilineality placed women at a higher position than men,
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