Gender roles in First Nations and Native American tribes

Traditional gender roles among Native American and First Nations peoples tend to vary greatly by region and community. As with all Pre-Columbian era societies, historical traditions may or may not reflect contemporary attitudes. In many communities, these things are not discussed with outsiders.

Traditional Apache have a number of gender roles, however the same skills are learned by both females and males. All children traditionally learn how to cook, follow tracks, skin leather and sew stitches, ride horses, and use weapons.

Eastern Woodland communities vary widely in whether they divide labor based on sex. In general, like in the Plains nations, women own the home while men's work may involve more travel. Northern tribes like the Algonquian had a tendency for all members to be nomadic at times. Narragansett men traditionally help clear the fields and cultivate the crops and assist with the harvesting, whereas women hold authority in the home. Among the Lenape, men and women have both participated in agriculture and hunting according to age and ability, although primary leadership in agriculture traditionally belongs to women, while men have more responsibility in the area of hunting. Whether gained by hunting, fishing or agriculture, older Lenape women take responsibility for community food distribution. Land management, whether used for hunting or agriculture, also is the traditional responsibility of Lenape women.

Historically, a number of social norms in Eastern Woodland communities demonstrate a balance of power held between men and women. Men and women have traditionally both had the final say over who they would end up marrying, though parents have usually had a great deal of influence as well.

The Hopi (in what is now the Hopi Reservation in northeastern Arizona), according to Alice Schlegel, have as a "gender ideology ... one of female superiority, and it operated within a social actuality of sexual equality." According to LeBow (based on Schlegel's work), in the Hopi, "gender roles ... are egalitarian .... [and] [n]either sex is inferior." LeBow concluded that Hopi women "participate fully in ... political decision-making." According to Schlegel, "the Hopi no longer live as they are described here" and "the attitude of female superiority is fading". Schlegel said the Hopi "were and still are matrilinial" and "the household ... was matrilocal".

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