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The Women's National Indian Association: A History
The Women's National Indian Association, formed in response to the chronic conflict and corruption that plagued relations between American Indians and the U.S. government, has been all but forgotten since it was disbanded in 1951. Mathes's edited volume, the first book to address the history of the WNIA, comprises essays by eight authors on the work of this important reform group.

The WNIA was formed in 1879 in reaction to the prospect of opening Oklahoma Indian Territory to white settlement. A powerful network of upper- and middle-class friends and associates, the group soon expanded its mission beyond prayer and philanthropy as the women participated in political protest and organized successful petition drives that focused on securing civil and political rights for American Indians. In addition to discussing the association's history, the contributors to this book evaluate its legacies, both in the lives of Indian families and in the evolution of federal Indian policy. Their work reveals the complicated regional variations in reform and the complex nature of Anglo women's relationships with indigenous people.

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The Women's National Indian Association: A History
The Women's National Indian Association, formed in response to the chronic conflict and corruption that plagued relations between American Indians and the U.S. government, has been all but forgotten since it was disbanded in 1951. Mathes's edited volume, the first book to address the history of the WNIA, comprises essays by eight authors on the work of this important reform group.

The WNIA was formed in 1879 in reaction to the prospect of opening Oklahoma Indian Territory to white settlement. A powerful network of upper- and middle-class friends and associates, the group soon expanded its mission beyond prayer and philanthropy as the women participated in political protest and organized successful petition drives that focused on securing civil and political rights for American Indians. In addition to discussing the association's history, the contributors to this book evaluate its legacies, both in the lives of Indian families and in the evolution of federal Indian policy. Their work reveals the complicated regional variations in reform and the complex nature of Anglo women's relationships with indigenous people.

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The Women's National Indian Association: A History

The Women's National Indian Association: A History

by Valerie Sherer Mathes (Editor)
The Women's National Indian Association: A History

The Women's National Indian Association: A History

by Valerie Sherer Mathes (Editor)

Overview

The Women's National Indian Association, formed in response to the chronic conflict and corruption that plagued relations between American Indians and the U.S. government, has been all but forgotten since it was disbanded in 1951. Mathes's edited volume, the first book to address the history of the WNIA, comprises essays by eight authors on the work of this important reform group.

The WNIA was formed in 1879 in reaction to the prospect of opening Oklahoma Indian Territory to white settlement. A powerful network of upper- and middle-class friends and associates, the group soon expanded its mission beyond prayer and philanthropy as the women participated in political protest and organized successful petition drives that focused on securing civil and political rights for American Indians. In addition to discussing the association's history, the contributors to this book evaluate its legacies, both in the lives of Indian families and in the evolution of federal Indian policy. Their work reveals the complicated regional variations in reform and the complex nature of Anglo women's relationships with indigenous people.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780826355638
Publisher: University of New Mexico Press
Publication date: 04/15/2015
Pages: 352
Product dimensions: 5.90(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Valerie Sherer Mathes is a professor emerita at City College of San Francisco, where for over forty years she has taught American Indian history, history of the American West, and U.S. history. She is the author of Helen Hunt Jackson and Her Indian Reform Legacy and Divinely Guided: The California Work of the Women's National Indian Association, and she is the coauthor of The Standing Bear Controversy: Prelude to Indian Reform.

Table of Contents

Illustrations viii

Foreword Margaret Connell Szasz ix

Introduction What Is a Woman Worth? Larry E. Burgess 1

Part 1 The Beginning 23

Chapter 1 Mary Bonney, Amelia Quinton, and the Formative Years Valerie Sherer Mathes 25

Chapter 2 "Shall We Have a Periodical?" The Indian's Friend Lori Jacobson 46

Part 2 The WNIA and Domesticity 63

Chapter 3 "Environed by Civilization": WNIA Home-Building and Loan Department Lori Jacobson 65

Chapter 4 Promoting Homemaking on the Reservations: WNIA Field Matrons Lisa E. Emmerich 84

Chapter 5 WNIA Missions in the South Rose Stremlau 102

Chapter 6 Making and Marketing Baskets in California Cathleen D. Cahill 126

Part 3 WNIA Auxiliaries 151

Chapter 7 The Banner Association: Twenty-Five Years in Massachusetts Valerie Sherer Mathes 153

Chapter 8 WNIA Chapters in the South Rose Stremlau 173

Chapter 9 The Redlands Indian Association: The WNIA in Southern California Valerie Sherer Mathes 192

Part 4 Contextualizing the History of Women's Indian Reform Work 211

Chapter 10 "Noble Women Not a Few": The Lake Mohonk Conferences Cathleen D. Cahill 213

Chapter 11 The WNIA in the Context of Women's History Helen M. Bannan 240

Chapter 12 The WNIA and the Erotics of Reform Lori Jacobson 268

Conclusion Valerie Sherer Mathes Helen M. Bannan Cathleen D. Cahill Lisa E. Emmerich Rose Stremlau 287

Afterword Gordon Morris Bakken 295

Appendix: WNIA Missionary Stations Valerie Sherer Mathes 301

Bibliography 313

Contributors 329

Index 333

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