Empowerment of North American Indian Girls: Ritual Expressions at Puberty / Edition 1

by Carol A. Markstrom

Overview

Empowerment of North American Indian Girls is an examination of coming-of-age-ceremonies for American Indian girls past and present, featuring an in-depth look at Native ideas about human development and puberty. Many North American Indian cultures regard the transition from childhood to adulthood as a pivotal and potentially vulnerable phase of life and have accordingly devised coming-of-age rituals to affirm traditional values and community support for its members. Such rituals are a positive and enabling social force in many modern Native communities whose younger generations are wrestling with substance abuse, mental health problems, suicide, and school dropout.

Developmental psychologist Carol A. Markstrom reviews indigenous, historical, and anthropological literatures and conveys the results of her fieldwork to provide descriptive accounts of North American Indian coming-of-age rituals. She gives special attention to the female puberty rituals in four communities: Apache, Navajo, Lakota, and Ojibwa. Of particular interest is the distinctive Apache Sunrise Dance, which is described and analyzed in detail. Also included are American Indian feminist interpretations of menstruation and menstrual taboos, the feminine in cosmology, and the significance of puberty customs and rites for the development of young women.

Carol A. Markstrom is a professor in the Department of Technology, Learning, and Culture in the College of Human Resources and Education at West Virginia University. She is the coauthor of The Adolescent Experience, fourth edition, and Adolescent Life Experiences, third edition, and has authored numerous scholarly works on adolescents and American Indians.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780803232570
Publisher:	Nebraska
Publication date:	03/01/2008
Pages:	456
Sales rank:	923,511
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Carol A. Markstrom is a professor in the Department of Technology, Learning, and Culture in the College of Human Resources and Education at West Virginia University. She is the coauthor of The Adolescent Experience, fourth edition, and Adolescent Life Experiences, third edition, and has authored numerous scholarly works on adolescents and American Indians.

Table of Contents

Introduction

1. Overview of Coming-of-Age Ceremonies
2. Contemporary Youth Concerns in Historical Perspective
3. North American Indian Perspectives on Human Development
4. Menstruation, Cosmology, and Feminism
5. Historical Overview of Coming-of-Age Practices
6. Description of the Apache Sunrise Ceremony
7. Interpretation of the Apache Sunrise Ceremony
8. Contemporary Navajo, Lakota, and Ojibwa Puberty Customs
9. Broader Perspectives on Coming-of-Age

Footnotes

References

Index

Editorial Reviews

"Carol Markstrom's book is a notable contribution to the literature on women in North American Indian societies."—Mary Jo Tippeconnic Fox, Journal of American Ethnic History

Journal of American Ethnic History - Mary Jo Tippeconnic Fox

"Carol Markstrom''s book is a notable contribution to the literature on women in North American Indian societies."—Mary Jo Tippeconnic Fox, Journal of American Ethnic History

— Mary Jo Tippeconnic Fox

Journal of American Ethnic History