"Philomena Little Sioux, my grandmother, was a warrior woman who lived during very dangerous and trying times. She wasn't taught that, as a female, her life's role was lesser than men. In fact, women have the power of life. They are sacred at different stages of their lives, she was told. They can stand supportively behind their companions or take the lead role in ceremony.

So, it was amazing for me to read in journals that Indian women's roles were the drudgery of the village - they were secondary to men. From those non-Native early explorers, that may have been the way they looked at Indian women because that is how they saw the women in their societies."

Get the Story:
DORREEN YELLOW BIRD COLUMN: Tales of strong women offer the inspiration to carry on (The Grand Forks Herald 4/3)

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