Talk:Gender roles among the Indigenous peoples of North America

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment
This article is or was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Ms976312.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 21:40, 17 January 2022 (UTC)

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment
This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 11 January 2021 and 9 April 2021. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Rambhu, Jeyonce.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 21:40, 17 January 2022 (UTC)

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment
This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 23 August 2021 and 10 December 2021. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Sharksarerad. Peer reviewers: Xyz2345.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 21:40, 17 January 2022 (UTC)

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment
This article is or was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Harley.jarrett.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 22:08, 16 January 2022 (UTC)

Gender Not Body
I really feel the majority article talks more about the roles of a physical sex rather than a gender. The Apache have nine different genders, but this is not discussed. Two-Spirit is mentioned, but only that it is recognized as a third gender. Nowhere does it mention the role they played in their society. If you are going to talk about what a physical woman did in a tribe, that's fine, but it belongs on the tribes page not in a discussion of gender roles. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Spiel (talk • contribs) 21:52, 11 July 2013 (UTC)


 * Hi Spiel, I'm thinking of making some edits to this article for a class assignment. I'm new to Wikipedia but learning about the history of gender systems, especially pre-colonial ones. You mentioned that the Apache have nine different genders, which would make a great edition to this article. I also agree that Two-Spirit is more than just a third gender. In the words (timestamp is 0:24) of a two-spirit hoop dancer/activist Ty DeFoe, it's a way of "transcending gender". This concept is obviously multifaceted, has a lot of history, and is difficult to find reliable sources on, which is why I am curious where you learned this information - I'd love to dig deeper. I also must ask, what is the difference between a role a woman played and what she did in a tribe? I'm interested in learning how to navigate the presentation of such important information and contribute to a clearer structure of this article as well as any merges that may need to take place. --Harley.jarrett (talk) 02:05, 13 March 2016 (UTC)

Empty Comparison
The phrase "beyond contemporary Anglo-American definition limits of homosexuality" is used nearly every time, but this is neither explained nor does the comparison "beyond" help much in terms of actually knowing what their connection is. Moreover, it assumes a readership familiar with Anglo-American definitions. It gives no information, and is restricted to judging it against a particular different cultural group. 74.240.193.188 (talk) 13:04, 22 September 2012 (UTC)

Also, homosexuality is not a gender, and so the comparison, in addition to being empty, does not make sense. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.224.91.4 (talk) 21:45, 12 March 2014 (UTC)

Untitled
what were some of the roles of the male crow indians

Original Research
This article smacks of original research which is forbidden in Wikipedia. The conclusions which the author reaches also sound very overly general and simplistic. Gender roles in Native American tribes did, indeed, vary greatly from tribe to tribe so any kind of overall summary is inappropriate. But this sounds too much like original research. (Taivo (talk) 19:38, 27 November 2008 (UTC))


 * I agree. The section discussing the Osage tribe suggests very few ideas without any citations. I'm researching for more information about this tribe to contribute, as this section is very vague. I also think most of the "Eastern Woodland Societies" section is original research - the section is so much longer than the others, and features only six citations (and another one is needed). It doesn't name any tribes or groups either - most of this information doesn't seem to come from secondary research, and conclusions should not be drawn in the article either. I argue that this section should be removed. --Harley.jarrett (talk) 01:47, 20 March 2016 (UTC)

Sources improvement needed
In order to really try and appraise this, we need to see more details in the bibliographical data at the end of the article. The current sources are stated in a kind of 'hazy' way in my opinion, I did a quick search on them and based on what's currently supplied, I'm still not exactly clear what sources are actually being cited here. cheers Deconstructhis (talk) 21:06, 27 November 2008 (UTC)

Stereotypical Propoganda
As an Osage, I am telling you that the Osage were rigidly sexist. I have never heard of an Osage woman ever accompanied the men on a bison hunt. Though the men did help, it was seldom. They helped them set up the houses more on nomadic travels then they did farm. If the men did help farm, it was due to the burdens placed upon them by colonial powers.

I haven't bothered to read the full article, and I don't feel like wasting my time doing so. But this article seems support the stereotype that Native Americans were gender equal: which is entirely false in a majority of the societies. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Artheartsoul1 (talk • contribs) 21:37, 5 April 2015 (UTC)

Overall Improvement Intentions
As various editors have mentioned, this article has vague (or sometimes no) sourcing, seems composed (at least partially) of original research (In the Eastern Woodland Societies and Osage section), and uses phrases like "Anglo-American limits of gender" that are not further clarified. I want to research and contribute as much as I can to the existing sections of this article, or add more. I'm thinking of merging some content from this article with Native Americans in the United States as well as Third Gender, or even the respective pages of each tribe mentioned. Much of this information is too general (in my opinion) to have its own page, but if the references are improved then I feel this can be taken somewhere. --Harley.jarrett (talk) 23:15, 20 March 2016 (UTC)


 * Your addition was a Copyright Violation and has been removed. You need to get consensus before merging anything. - Co rb ie V    ☊ ☼ 23:26, 29 March 2016 (UTC)
 * The pdf the text was swiped from is not loading so I can't grab the url, but it's visible in the google preview if you just copy and paste in any of the text added by Harley.jarrett. I searched on, "Over time, the Non’-hon-zhin-ga made contributions to Osage cosmology by first pondering the source of life. Over time, they observed a connection between celestial cycles and seasonal agricultural changes. The Non’-hon-zhin-ga also concluded that celestial bodies operated under a governing power, the Wa-kon-da (mysterious power)." - Co rb ie V    ☊ ☼ 23:44, 29 March 2016 (UTC)


 * Articles like this one are a mess under the best of conditions; with hundreds of tribes and dozens of culture groups, it is pretty tough to even create a summary. I have to comment that some of the material trying to be added isn't even spell-checked...  Montanabw (talk)  06:18, 31 March 2016 (UTC)


 * what part of "engage on the talk page before proceeding with these types of edits" was unclear? Your recent addition used four or five commercial links in the sourcing, and you used emoticons for ref names. The Osage section starts with the "after a flood" bit, but with no historical context. The PDF from which the text was taken seems to be offline now [ETA: Here's the plagiarised PDF: OSAGE GENDER: CONTINUITY, CHANGE, AND COLONIZATION, 1720s-1870 I'm still looking at it but so far] it looks to me you only tweaked a few words. It's not fair to expect other editors to keep cleaning this stuff up. Your course instructor needs to be doing more here. - Co rb ie V    ☊ ☼ 19:56, 1 April 2016 (UTC)


 * Harley.jarrett If I do a text search on the second and third paragraphs of the additions you made it brings up the pdf for the Brownard Collection, within it a report by Mr. Francis La Flesche for the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. You seem to have plagiarized previously plagiarized work.Indigenous girl (talk) 20:15, 1 April 2016 (UTC)

You know, I'm really starting to question the usefulness of this article at all. As Montana touched on, these articles were usually started as gross generalisations that by their very nature are either inaccurate or too vague to be useful. I've found they tend to include the type of (often offensive) content found in Plains/Hollywood-based stereotypes sourced from the equivalent of 1960s K-12 schoolbooks (Men hunted. Women foraged. Two Spirits maybe existed maybe. Past Tense. War Cry.). The recent student edits have largely replicated this problem. I think we should keep the sections brief and put most of this type of content in the articles about the particular nations. That way there will (hopefully) be more eyes on the content by people familiar with the individual cultures. - Co rb ie V    ☊ ☼ 22:22, 1 April 2016 (UTC)


 * I honestly do not see the need for this article. Relevant information could and should be included within the context of the articles on specific Nations and Peoples. Too many editors are including gross generalizations and inaccuracies. The Iroquois section is written from the perspective of this being a single Nation however it is a confederacy and roles are not always the same. The Eastern Woodland section should be cut, there are too many Nations involved for it to be remotely accurate. Indigenous girl (talk) 17:41, 5 April 2016 (UTC)


 * I also have concerns about source jumping. Refs mentioned on the talk page do not coincide with refs used in sections that have been reverted. I am not making accusations, just raising concerns.Indigenous girl (talk) 18:25, 5 April 2016 (UTC)


 * Yes, this is definitely an issue in this article. I just removed a bunch of things, and at least one of them was taken from a personal website that mentioned a couple books at the end of their editorializing. The site owner's content was then cited to the book that is mentioned on the page. In academia, this would get someone expelled. It's considered academic fraud and has no place on the 'pedia. - Co rb ie V    ☊ ☼ 18:55, 5 April 2016 (UTC)
 * I'm going to say it again - if people are too unfamiliar with the subject matter to evaluate the sources, and are just googling and putting in the first thing they find, they should not be editing on said topic. WP:CITE - understanding how to source articles to WP:RS standards is not optional. - Co rb ie V    ☊ ☼ 18:58, 5 April 2016 (UTC)

recent contributions reverted
I have reposted My edit. I have made changes to the tense and I am sorry you found this offensive I was not trying to be so. I am working on this as a project for college as a student editor. I would like to work with you in order to improve my writing. I wrote in past tense as this era in Indian culture I am referring to is in the past. Ms976312 (talk) 17:06, 4 April 2016 (UTC)


 * We have admins who are younger than you, so I don't think it is extraordinary to ask anyone who wants to contribute to the 'pedia to become a Wikipedian - just like any other editor. It's not enough to take some outdated anthro info and just change it to the present tense. I'm sorry, but you need to know enough about the subject to know which things were only done in the past and which are part of the current culture, and then source that adequately. If you can't do that, and your instructors can't help you with your writing, maybe this is not the right article for you to focus on. You also need to engage with other editors, not just to keep your favoured edits in, but on the other issues facing the article, such as whether this article, with it's massive over-generalizations, is even needed on the 'pedia at all. - Co rb ie V    ☊ ☼ 17:51, 4 April 2016 (UTC)


 * Hi Ms976312, Matthewvetter. There is nothing showing the context of era in the additions that you attempted to make to the article. Simply changing the tense does nothing to improve what was added aside from being polite and not attempting to disappear living culture (which I do appreciate). Perhaps you could locate some solid usable sources that indicate the era in which you have decided to write about to provide some much needed context or perhaps consider another topic. I suggest you work on your contributions in your sandbox prior to entering them in the 'pedia. You may wish to look at other articles to figure out how to make usable improvements rather than having to have your edits repeatedly reverted. In looking back at what you actually contributed I have to question your sources. The role of women in Nez Percé culture was no where near traditional roles of white women. Women held and hold prominent roles. Historically they were involved with politics and doctoring (and still are). Teachings were and are traditionally passed down by the grandparents, not the mother. There are a lot of excellent sources available. Use google. A lot. Verify your sources, making sure that they are reputable. You can use more than one source. Indigenous girl (talk) 23:27, 4 April 2016 (UTC)


 * Hi Indigenous girl. Thank you for your feedback. One of the sources Ms976312 used was this: "Wurtzburg,, Susan J (2015). Native American gender relations and roles. Salem Press Encyclopedia." Could you help us better understand why this is unsuitable? We value your feedback, but I think a more targeted approach that works with the new editor would be appropriate here, rather than wholesale rejection. Thanks! Matthewvetter (talk) 13:23, 5 April 2016 (UTC)


 * Hi Matthewvetter. I tried searching on the source but was unable to find it. Do you have a direct link? I think I was pretty clear about the issues. The addition to the article did not show context regarding era. How is an individual who is using the 'pedia for perhaps research to know the time period Ms976312 is writing about? When were these supposed roles in place? I am not going to perform a students homework. I will say that there are a vast number of sources that are era specific and are far more specific and accurate as to the roles of men and women throughout Nez Percé history. While I understand your desire to be supportive of your student you are not helping them by (in my opinion) suggesting that editors give leeway simply because an editor is inexperienced. The body of content the user submitted is so overly general it is to the point of being inaccurate. If you take the time to read my response above you will see where I pointed out specific inaccuracies. These make up almost the entire body of content that was submitted.Indigenous girl (talk) 14:01, 5 April 2016 (UTC)


 * Hi Indigenous girl - I would never ask you "to perform a students (sic) homework." All I am asking is that you take a more focused look at this student's edits, rather than rejecting them wholesale. This is the same request that I made of CorbieV. I am also not suggesting that other editors give leeway to someone just because of inexperience. I do, however, have trouble believing your critiques of the sources used by Ms976312 if you have not even looked at them (re: Wurtzburg). These other sources you mention sound good. Maybe you could make them available to others interested on working on this article here on the Talk page. I am not interested in trading jabs any longer. I do hope we can create a space that welcomes new editors, though. Thanks! Matthewvetter (talk) 14:37, 5 April 2016 (UTC)


 * At no time was I trading jabs, I am not sure how you inferred this from what I stated above. What I did do was clarify issues and offer advice. Again, I am unable to find the source you indicated so I am unsure how I am supposed to evaluate it. I will once again request that you please share the link. Thanks.Indigenous girl (talk) 14:48, 5 April 2016 (UTC)


 * What I inferred as somewhat hostile was your insistence that you will not do someone's homework. No one asked you to do so. Thank you for clarifying these issues and offering your advice. I would continue to try to advocate for this new editor, but it is becoming clear, after another round of reverts, that her work will not be accepted. Thank you for having this discussion with us. We are learning a lot about the culture of individual articles and the obstacles facing new Wikipedians. Matthewvetter (talk) 13:21, 6 April 2016 (UTC)


 * Hi Matthewvetter. With regard to my comments about not doing a students homework, I'm not exactly sure what it was that you expected of me. You asked that I take a more focused look at the edits, I did and there was nothing salvageable. I asked repeatedly for a direct link to the source you state the student used but you refused to provide it. The only location I was able to find it would not allow me access as I do not have access here - https://millennium.seals.ac.za/iii/cas/login?service=https%3A%2F%2Fencore.seals.ac.za%3A443%2Fiii%2Fencore_nmmu%2Fj_acegi_cas_security_check&lang=eng Withour access to said article it is difficult to evaluate it. Evaluated or not the edits themselves had no context what so ever as to the era in which these roles occurred. Such information is relatively simple to find as I was able to easily construct the Nez Perce section in a short period of time. I believe Corbie and I made repeated attempts as to what would benefit the article and this simply wasn't done. I am not sure how it is that you wanted us to work around these issues. Indigenous girl (talk) 19:48, 6 April 2016 (UTC)

To all of the above, it is also not our job to grade someone's homework; WP is pass/fail. And citations to closed database links are useless. If they had a proper full citation, we might be able to pull the source from a different university's database (many of us have such access) but as it sits, what we seem to have here is yet another class where the instructor doesn't understand wikipedia and sends his students off to be discouraged from editing because they have no clue what they are doing. (sigh). Montanabw (talk) 07:16, 8 April 2016 (UTC)

Ojibwe - pre-Columbian gender roles (brief summary)
I will be posting a brief description of pre-Columbian Ojibwe gender roles, as required by my university class. I have done the best work that I can; I spent 7 hours on this paragraph and used the database from our school; I also followed the direction of our visiting librarian regarding citation. I was vigorous in my citation to avoid any type of plagiarism. Please note: this is being written in past tense because it is regarding pre-Columbian times. Thelbee (talk) 16:30, 30 June 2019 (UTC)
 * See above, by Montana, your talk page, and my edit summary. Same issues. - CorbieV  ☊ ☼ 19:22, 30 June 2019 (UTC)

Hi I understand. Please forgive the inconvenience. I will not be posting again -- please understand that I had to do this for a class and did not mean to offend anyone or make your job harder. Thank you. Thelbee (talk) 20:33, 30 June 2019 (UTC)

General Feedback for the Kalapuya Section
The structure of this section is solid, it isn't messy or unorganized, each paragraph sticks to talking about a certain topic which is nice. The content itself is concise and not full of unnecessary language, it gets a lot of information across in surprisingly few words. The information is also stated in a formal tone that is maintained throughout, and it doesn't feel biased. There are some grammatical errors, but they can be easily fixed. Plenty of sources are used which gives the reader more confidence in the information being provided, and they seem to be reliable sources as well. My biggest gripe with this section is that some pieces don't flow well and feel stiff to read, try to add more introductory words like "alternatively" or "also" to the beginning of some sentences to improve the flow. The direct inclusion of text is a nice touch. If you find the time, it would nice to see an image of the mentioned accessories. Overall a great addition to the article!Liamb14 (talk) 00:13, 7 March 2020 (UTC)Liamb14

Student edits
Student editors. I'm addressing this on talk rather than individual pages as, too often, students don't check their talk pages and don't stick around. Please read the article thoroughly before editing, and name references rather than using the automatic, numbered system (because two of you used it, and wound up with different references having the same numbers; you would have been notified of this problem with a red notice in the preview). Preview your changes and check the references section. Everything that was added needed cleanup in these areas, and there were also problems with overly-broad generalizations. The generalizations had one source that sort of held some of those theories, but it wasn't enough for those sorts of sweeping statements. There were the perennial problems with past-tensing what are vibrant, living cultures, and the mislabeling of the photo that was added. All of this could have been avoided by simply looking more carefully at the material before adding it. - CorbieVreccan  ☊ ☼ 21:37, 27 February 2021 (UTC)

For the article as a whole I thought it had a lot of good information. I read over the entire article before going back and rereading the only part I actually had to read. Generally, I learned more from other the rest of the article than the one I was originally supposed to review. It's true that most of this article was focused of gender roles and not actually sex or gender identity. I was hoping there would be more about the Two-Spirit than what was mentioned.

My colleague's article covered gender roles fairly well but ended with a random piece not about gender roles but about gender identity which threw me off a little. It seemed to written very objectively and without bias, I appreciate that they didn't throw in any opinions on the gender roles and stated in a very straight forward way what was what. Overall, I think the article was well written, had good information, used citations well, highlighted the more important viewpoints, and had reliable sources. --The Dragon Igneel (talk) 17:10, 5 March 2021 (UTC)

Edits to Apache Section
Hello, I am researching more about the gender roles for Apache peoples, I am looking forwards to collaborating with everyone!Sharksarerad (talk) 19:44, 18 November 2021 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: Gender and Technoculture 320-01
— Assignment last updated by ACHorwitz (talk) 20:20, 8 March 2023 (UTC)

New additions
Before the introduction of the Indian Act in 1876, Indigenous peoples in Canada had various roles within their communities, especially depending on what region and community. These roles were well established in their cultural, social, and economic practices. They were shaped greatly on longstanding traditions and spiritual beliefs that governed their interactions with each other and the land. Indigenous communities were often organized around family clans or bands, where leadership and decision making were community-based. Men and women had distinct responsibilities that often contributed to the overall well-being of their communities. Elders also held positions as wisdom keepers that helped to guide younger generations with their experiences and knowledge. The gender roles of both males and females reflected the resilience and adaptability of the Indigenous culture prior to the inflicting policies of the Indian Act.
 * Lead

The Haudenosaunee are a matriarchal society. Traditionally, the Clan Mother has held the ultimate power over all decisions, though her specific role has varied by Nation. In this structure the men under her are the Chiefs, serving primarily in a diplomatic capacity. Tradition holds that she has the power to veto any idea proposed by her chiefs, and that both the naming traditions and transfer of political power are matrilineal.
 * Haudenosaunee

Historically, Haudenosaunee peoples come together to form groups they call clans and run their society based on a mother clan system. Each clan is linked by a common female ancestor, which is the leader on the clan. This female ancestor would be called the Clan Mother. Before the Indian Act was introduced, the Haudenosaunee peoples were comprised of five nations. These included the Seneca, Cayuga, Oneida, Onondaga, and Mohawk. Throughout these nations, the number of clans would vary among them. For example, the Mohawk has only three clans, while the Oneida nation has nine.

The Haudenosaunee are a matriarchal society. Traditionally, the Clan Mother was usually the oldest woman of the clan and they have a clan mother because of a woman who lived long ago called the mother of Nations. Before colonialism and European contact, the mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents would all live together in a house called a long house. This created a strong cooperative family dynamic, with the clan mother as the head. If and when a couple got married, the man would move into his new wife's longhouse to be with her and her family. However, if a man moved into a new longhouse, this did not mean he changed clans. He would remain responsible for his mother's family and would help raise any nieces and nephews he might have.

Haudenosaunee peoples would obtain their name by it being passed down from the mother to the child. The child would not take the fathers name, the name would always come from the mother. Each clan is represented by a bird of an animal that are further broken down into three elements: water, air, and land. The bear, wolf, and deer represent the land element, the turtle, eel, and beaver represent the water element and finally the snipe, hawk and heron represent the air element. Within each clan family there are also different types of each animal. Within the turtle clan there are three different types of turtles that Haudenosaunee peoples could be part of. This is so that marriage can happen between turtle clan as long as it is between different types of turtles. This is so that when Haudenosaunee peoples would travel, they would be welcomed by relatives of their same clan and would be able to differentiate between each clan.

Clan mothers held a very important role in the community. She also held great responsibilities to her clan which included making all of the major decisions that could affect her clan directly, assign names to people in her clan, nominate the male leader of the clan who was known as the Hoyaneh, and she also helped ensure that all members of her clan were always fed. The Hoyaneh meant "caretaker of the peace" and the man that was chose was the chief of his clan. He oversaw representing his clan in the Haudenosaunee government and to help make decisions that would affect the other Haudenosaunee Nations. When a Hoyaneh is selected, it is for life not just a moment in time. Traditionally, clan mothers would watch young boys as they grew up and that is how they would choose what men would make the best clan chief.

The roles of men and women were very much based on equality and both genders held real power throughout the Nations. The way the Haudenosaunee peoples operate their society and the gender roles that both male and females have, greatly impacted feminists later in life. In the book Sisters in Spirit: Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Influence on Early American Feminists by Sally Roesch Wagner, she states Matilda Joslyn Gage, a leader of the women's rights cause wrote extensively about the Haudenosaunee, specifically the position of the women in what she termed "matriarchate" or system of "mother-rule". Gage and Elizabeth Stanton wrote that "the Haudenosaunee society was organized to maintain a balance of equality between women and men" (29). This can be seen through the social, economic, spiritual and political world of the Haudenosaunee peoples in 1848. For the social aspect children were members of the mother's clan, violence against women was not part of the culture, and was dealt with seriously if it ever occurred, clothing fostered health, freedom of movement, and independence and finally, women's responsibilities had a spiritual basis. In the economic world work was satisfying and done communally, women were responsible for agriculture as well as home life, work was done under the direction of the women, always working together and lastly each woman controlled her own personal property. For the spiritual aspect the "sky woman" was the spiritual being and was a catalyst for the world to see, Mother Earth and women spiritually interrelated, women have responsibilities in ceremony and responsibilities in balance with those of men. Finally, in the political world women would choose their chief, women held key political offices, confederacy law ensures women's political authority and decision making was done by consensus and made sure everyone had a voice. Women's work always complemented the men's work and men's work always complemented the women's. A woman never did the work of a man and vice versa. Women were said to be chosen by the creator to represent the land and because of this, they held the dwellings, horses and the farmland. Women were responsible for the farming, which included everything from sowing to harvesting. They gathered plants, herbs, nuts, berries, collected maple sap and prepared meals. Women were also in charge of preparing animal skins to later be used for clothing. They also made objects that would be used in everyday life such as jars, vases, sacks, and baskets.

Men were seen as a very important part of each clan. They were the ones that would be responsible for building the long houses that would be the central home for each clan. They were also seen as very important because they were the ones that hunted and did most of the activities outside. Men cleared the fields for farming, while the women did the farming. To supplement the food that came from farming, men also were responsible for hunting and fishing. This would mean men would have to leave the village for a short period of time so he could go and hunt. Going to war was also the responsibility of the man. This also required them to leave the village for various lengths of time, which meant women were in charge of the long house and raising the children. Men played a huge role in politics as well. Relationships that would take place with other nations were the responsibility of the man.

The matrilineal system and the significant influence of women in Haudenosaunee society were distinctive features that set them apart from many other Indigenous cultures in North America.

Each Ojibwe community had its own reserve or reservation, and each was managed by its respective tribe. The Ojibwe communities maintain a government-to-government relationship with the U.S. government. The Ojibwe peoples typically belong to a specific clan which is a group of Ojibwe families who may or may not be blood related but claim a common ancestry either way. An Ojibwe family clan comes from his or her father's side of the family. Although clan members may or may not be related by blood, one should avoid intermarrying within one's own clan. Ojibwe peoples were divided into independent and politically autonomous bands that shared culture, common traditions. Each Ojibwe clan is made up of over 20 different clan totems which included the crane, loon, bear, turtle, bullhead, otter, eagle, marten, lynx, wolf, and kingfisher.

The Ojibwe culture is not strictly matriarchal like some might think, but Ojibwe women are often seen as the ones who keep everything together. Traditionally, Ojibwe chiefs were seen as the primary political leader of their respective bands and would have their own hunting grounds. These bands would disperse into family-based hunting groups for the winter, reforming as a band in late-spring or early summer villages. The chiefs were chosen from among the last chief's male relatives, which could have included their sons, nephews, or sons-in-law.
 * Ojibwe

Historically, most Ojibwe cultures believe that men and women are usually suited towards specific tasks. Hunting is usually a men's task, and first-kill feasts are held as an honor for hunters. Men would also be responsible for going to war when needed in order to protect their families and communities. The gathering of wild plants is more often a women's occupation; however, these tasks often overlapped, with men and women working on the same project but with different duties. Despite hunting itself being more commonly a male task, women also participate by building lodges, processing hides into apparel, and drying meat. In contemporary Ojibwe culture, all community members participate in this work, regardless of gender. Men were responsible for hunting large game, while women were responsible for tanning and processing hides into moccasins, leggings, breach cloths and dresses.

Men were the major participants in trade ceremonies and were recipients of credit from traders. Given the flexibility of Ojibwe gender roles, women also sometimes participated in these roles. Although, the women's role in the trade was as a supplier of food and supplies, pieces that were exchanged in barter transactions. Women being able to participate and having roles in the trade process were because of the Ojibwe belief that women's roles were ultimately shaped by spiritual power rather than any gender category based solely on a rigid division of labor. The role of women in the traditional life depended on various aspects. Primarily, this would be concentrating on the care of the children and family. This role would involve full responsibility of the household, which included food preparation, drying and storage. They would also oversee caring for their lodge by making rugs, mats, and blankets as furnishings. Outside of the house the women would also chop wood, fish, harvest wild rice, gather maple sugar, berries, and cedar bark. The jobs and roles of men and women would always complement each other's work.

Wild rice (Ojibwe: manoomin) harvesting is done by all community members, though often women will knock the rice grains into the canoe while men paddle and steer the canoe through the reeds. For Ojibwe women, the wild rice harvest can be especially significant as it has traditionally been a chance to express their autonomy:

Wild rice (Ojibwe: manoomin) harvesting is done by all community members, though often women will knock the rice grains into the canoe while men paddle and steer the canoe through the reeds. For Ojibwe women, the wild rice harvest can be especially significant as it has traditionally been a chance to express their autonomy:

While the Ojibwe continue to harvest wild rice by canoe, both men and women now take turns knocking rice grains.

While the Ojibwe continue to harvest wild rice by canoe, both men and women now take turns knocking rice grains.

Both Ojibwe men and women create beadwork and music, and maintain the traditions of storytelling and traditional medicine. In regards to clothing, Ojibwe women have historically worn hide dresses with leggings and moccasins, while men would wear leggings and breechcloths. After trading with European settlers became more frequent, the Ojibwe began to adopt characteristics of European dress. Both men and women would both wear their hair in long braids. Traditionally, to mourn a death of a loved one, some Ojibwe men would cut their long hair.

Both Ojibwe men and women create beadwork and music, and maintain the traditions of storytelling and traditional medicine. In regards to clothing, Ojibwe women have historically worn hide dresses with leggings and moccasins, while men would wear leggings and breechcloths. After trading with European settlers became more frequent, the Ojibwe began to adopt characteristics of European dress.

It is important to note that while there were general roles and responsibilities associated with gender, individual roles could vary based on a person's skills, talents, and personal choices. Additionally, the roles and status of women in Ojibwe society were highly respected and held significant influence within their communities. Moxy 🍁 03:36, 15 April 2024 (UTC)