Beloved Women: The Political Lives of LaDonna Harris and Wilma Mankiller / Edition 1

by Sarah Eppler Janda

Overview

In an era when minorities struggled for recognition, LaDonna Harris and Wilma Mankiller furthered the interests of Native Americans and forged a new place for women in politics by astutely playing accepted notions about ethnicity and gender to their own advantage. In Beloved Women, historian Sarah Eppler Janda examines the public identity these two women created for themselves and how, in turn, their respective identities shaped their political fortunes.

Moving beyond the conventional role of a 1950s U.S. senator's wife, Harris discovered opportunities to call attention to the inequalities facing Native Americans. A Comanche, Harris founded activist organizations, testified at congressional hearings, and served on scores of federal committees concerning both women and Native Americans. At the same time, by attributing her humanitarian efforts to tribal values, Harris asserted the relevance of Indian beliefs and customs in modern society.

During the heyday of the women's rights movement, Mankiller linked feminist ideas to Cherokee tradition. Indian culture, she asserted, esteems women, as proven by the legendary Beloved Woman who fulfills familial expectations yet also assumes political duties. Mankiller adopted this role when she became the first female chief of the Cherokee Nation in 1985, a position she held for a decade.

Harris and Mankiller became national leaders, Janda concludes, in large part because their complex persona—Indian and woman—enabled them to challenge social and political norms.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780875803722
Publisher:	Cornell University Press
Publication date:	02/08/2007
Edition description:	1
Pages:	242
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.94(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Sarah Eppler Janda is Assistant Professor of History at Cameron University.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Part I: Harris
Chapter One: "Freddie and the Indian"
Chapter Two: An Activist in Her Own Right
Part II: Mankiller
Chapter Three: Beloved Woman Politicized
Chapter Four: Tribal Governance and Indian Identity
Part III: Comparison
Chapter Five: Politics and Policy
Chapter Six: The Intersection of Feminism and Indianness
Author's Note
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

Enlightening... a thorough examination of the women and their contributions.

The Journal of American History

Highly recommended.

Choice

Janda offers a pivotal work that documents the contributions of American Indian feminists to politics.

Western Historical Quarterly

""Highly recommended."—Choice

"Janda offers a pivotal work that documents the contributions of american Indian feminists to politics."—Western Historical Quarterly

"Enlightening... a thorogh examination of the women and their contributions."—The Journal of American History"

From the Publisher