A nation of women : gender and colonial encounters among the Delaware Indians / Gunlög Fur.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Fur, Gunlög Maria.

Series:

Early American studies

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Delaware women--Social conditions--17th century.

Delaware women.

Delaware women--Social conditions--18th century.

Delaware Indians--History.

Delaware Indians.

Delaware Indians--Social life and customs.

Sex role--Middle Atlantic States--History.

Sex role.

Middle Atlantic States--History--Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775.

Middle Atlantic States.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

viii, 251 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Philadelphia : University of Pennsylvania Press, ©2009.

Summary:

A Nation of Women chronicles changing ideas of gender and identity among the Delaware Indians from the mid-seventeenth through the eighteenth century, as they encountered various waves of migrating peoples in their homelands along the eastern coast of North America. In Delaware society at the beginning of this period, to be a woman meant to engage in the activities performed by women, including diplomacy, rather than to be defined by biological sex. Among the Delaware, being a "woman" was therefore a self-identification, employed by both women and men, that reflected the complementary roles of both sexes within Delaware society. For these reasons, the Delaware were known among Europeans and other Native American groups as "a nation of women."--Back cover.

Contents:

The power of life: gender and organization in Lenape society

Living traditions in times of turmoil: Meniolagomekah

Powerful women: disruptive and disorderly

Mapping the future: women and visions

Metaphors and national identity: Delawares-as-women

What the hermit saw: change and continuity in the history of gender and encounters.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 213-241) and index.

Local Notes:

The Indian Rights Association Complementary Collection.

ISBN:

9780812241822

0812241827

9780812222050

0812222059

OCLC:

278980783

Online:

Additional Information at Google Books