Native American Women’s Studies: A Primer

This introduction to the fundamentals of Native American women's studies first looks at several definitive topics created by the western cultural notion of feminism, and western historical and religious perspectives on women. These include ecofeminism, gender roles and work, notions of power, essentialism, women's leadership, sexualities, and spirituality in light of gender. The book then discusses these concepts and their history from a traditional Native American point of view. Foremost among the questions that Native American Women's Studies addresses are: How have Native American women governed their nations? How was/is the divine creatrix expressed in Native American social systems? Most significantly, this book sheds light on the radical differences between the indigenous understanding of human experience in terms of gender, and that held and created by western culture.

The Author: Stephanie A. Sellers, a culturally identified woman of Native ancestry (Eastern Woodlands), received her Ph.D. in Native American studies, with an emphasis on women of the Eastern Woodlands, from Union Institute & University in Cincinnati. She teaches in the English and Women’s Studies departments at Gettysburg College, and has published numerous scholarly articles, fiction, and poetry. She is also the author of Native American Autobiography Redefined: A Handbook (Peter Lang, 2007).