Date of Award

4-21-2025

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

History, MA

First Advisor

Joseph Key

Committee Members

Edward Salo; Erik Gilbert

Abstract

Native American history has become more present in modern day curriculums, both in secondary schools and in higher education; however, not all aspects of native society nor all participants are studied equally. Native American women in particular are often overlooked, their actions misinterpreted, and are overall difficult to find in their own history, especially when it comes to their participation in warfare. Historians frequently leave Native women out of their own history, citing the absence of women in historical records as justification; however, just because something is difficult to find does not mean that it is not there. There are a multitude of sources that either reference women directly or provide hints to their contributions to native life beyond the typical gender roles they are often associated with. When analyzing the primary sources discussing Southeastern Native American groups such as the Choctaw, Chickasaw, Cherokee, and Quapaw, one can discover that Native women’s participation in warfare through torture, ritual, and combat was crucial to the survival of these Native groups.

Rights Management

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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