Difference between revisions of "Week 2 Questions/Comments-327 09"
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After reading this article, I believe that Charlevoix was surprised at what he saw amongst the Iroquois women. I think he was fascinated by the fact that they held roles in the government and had more power in some areas, which Charlevoix was not accustomed to seeing. although Charlevoix speaks of women's power in the tribe, he does say at the end, "On some occasions, the women have an orator, who speaks in their name, or rather acts as their interpreter." This poses the question, did women really have that much power and leniency among the tribe as everyone thought? Or was it just in certain circumstances that they needed a male to speak on their behalf? --- Alex Mankarios | After reading this article, I believe that Charlevoix was surprised at what he saw amongst the Iroquois women. I think he was fascinated by the fact that they held roles in the government and had more power in some areas, which Charlevoix was not accustomed to seeing. although Charlevoix speaks of women's power in the tribe, he does say at the end, "On some occasions, the women have an orator, who speaks in their name, or rather acts as their interpreter." This poses the question, did women really have that much power and leniency among the tribe as everyone thought? Or was it just in certain circumstances that they needed a male to speak on their behalf? --- Alex Mankarios | ||
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| + | I thought one of the most interesting aspects of Pierre de Charlevoix's account of Iroquois women in government was in his opening paragraph, in which he states, "...the nearer we view our Indians, the more good qualities we discover in them: most of the principles which serve to regulate their conduct, the general maxims by which they govern themselves, and the essential part of their character, discover nothing of the barbarian..." (p.12) His representation of the Native Americans he encounters as being in a large manner very civilized (he continues on in his account to describe their proceedings as carried on with a "wisdom and coolness" and that "those violent passions, which have so much disgraced the politics even of Christians, have never prevailed amongst the Indians over the public good...") differs in great measure to Mary Rowlandson's description of the Native Americans as "ravenous Wolves" (p.17), which implies a sort of barbarianism. I'm not sure if these two different perspectives are a result of the difference in gender on the part of the observers, or simply different experiences with different native groups, or perhaps a combination of both. - Allison | ||
== Mary Rowlandson’s account (1681) and Mary Jemison’s account (1824) == | == Mary Rowlandson’s account (1681) and Mary Jemison’s account (1824) == | ||
