American Indian Women : Problems of Communicating a Cultural/Sexual Identity / Clara Sue Kidwell.

In traditional American Indian cultures, sex roles were clearly defined and women were the keepers of the home, child bearers, and food gathers. Sometimes, however, stereotypes and preconceptions become barriers to cross-cultural communication. For instance, feminists who see themselves as victims of a male-dominated society cannot assume that Indian societies are male-dominated in the same way as their own nor that the system of rewards for being a wife and mother is the same in Indian society as in the dominant society. In one survey, 61 Indian women college students indicated a wide latitude in their knowledge of or definition of women's roles in their tribal cultures. The factors involved in a sense of cultural/sexual identity for Indian women may include language differences, participation in tribal ceremonies, residence on a reservation, or attendance at week-end pow-wows. Within their own communities these strategies are generally associated with the respect for the role of wife and mother that persists in Indian communities. For college and professional Indian women, communication strategies may be those of trying to inform people about Indian values or traditions and of helping break stereotypes. (TJ)

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