Native Americans and American Indians
How the Iroquois and Other Indian Nations Helped to Shape the Vision of Women as Equals
Iroquois women of the Six Nations Confederacy and the matrilineal culture of the Haudenosaunee exerted a profound influence on early feminists Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Matilda Joslyn Gage and Lucretia Mott — and helped to shape their vision of women as equals.
Iroquois Women Inspire 19th Century Feminists
"The inspiration to imagine the possibility of a more equal society came from the women of the six Iroquois nations — Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, Mohawk and Tuscarora — the Haudenosaunee, as they called themselves." — Sally Roesch Wagner READ MORE +
Woman, Church and State
“The line of descent, feminine, was especially notable in all tribal relations such as the election of Chiefs, and the Council of Matrons, to which all disputed questions were referred for final adjudication." — Matilda Joslyn Gage READ MORE +
Iroquois Confederacy: 1st democracy of the Americas
This 20 minute video tells the story of the formation of the League of Five Nations. "Their story contains a great deal of life-promoting intelligence for those of us not familiar with this area of American history." READ MORE +
How the Founding Fathers Ignored the Clan Mothers
The Iroquois Confederacy transformed five, warring Indian tribes — the Mohawk, Oneida Cayuga, Seneca and Onondaga — into a peaceful alliance of nations. A sixth nation, the Tuscarora, joined in later. READ MORE +
The Great Law of Peace
For centuries, the Great Law of Peace was transmitted orally from generation to generation until written down, in English, in the late 19th century. A provocative line of thought argues that its democratic principles influenced the writing of the U.S. constitution. READ MORE +
The Constitution of the Iroquois Confederacy
Resolution 331 of the 100th Congress acknowledges the contributions made by the Iroquois Confederacy and other Indian nations to the formation and development of the United States. READ MORE +
America's Great Indian Nations
This educative documentary retraces the struggle of the Iroquois, Seminole, Shawnee, Navajo, Cheyenne, and Lakota Sioux nations to protect their lands, cultures and freedoms, through dramatic reënactments filmed on location at native tribal lands across the U.S. READ MORE +
Life Among the Piutes, their wrongs and claims
In this remarkable autobiographical account, Sarah Winnemucca, a Paiute princess, peacemaker and interpreter, documents the life of the Northern Paiute Indians and the impact of white settlement on their way of life in 19th century America. READ MORE +
Sisters in Spirit
In Sisters in Spirit, distinguished historian and contemporary feminist scholar Sally Roesch Wagner has compiled extensive research to analyze the source of the revolutionary vision of the early feminists.Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Matilda Joslyn Gage, and Lucretia Mott had formed friendships with their Native neighbors that enabled them to understand a world view far different, and in many ways superior, to the patriarchal one that existed at that time. READ MORE +
The Women's Suffrage Movement
Dr Sally Roesch Wagner's new anthology of works – by known and lesser known women – that shaped and established the women's suffrage movement. READ MORE +