Article 11: The Power of Indigenous Women

by Brie Phillips

Many Indigenous groups were traditionally matrilineal societies–women existed wholly sacred in many different Indigenous cultures; they were respected and honoured: their divine power was understood and held high. The power, wisdom, and importance that all women hold had been recognized, yet when European colonizers came they neither see this power, nor they didn’t want to recognize because they wanted to gain control of Indigenous peoples. They destroyed women’s power. Patrilineal society and its values were forced into Indigenous culture as assimilation attempts were started; consequently, the high level of respect and honor of women they had once received was slowly broken down. The three novels The Grass Dancer by Susan Power (1995), The Break by Katherena Vermette (2016), and Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko (1983) are all texts which highlight the high importance of women past and present. In terms of the women’s power, wisdom and importance, the three texts work in combination to show how their power has influence their families, communities and their own people.

Through The Break, readers are shown the power that women hold in two opposing ways: on the one hand, horrid things can happen when women feel powerless or misuse their wisdom; on another hand, women can rise above their difficult situations and heal their wounds when they have taken the power. The Break also teaches us the importance of family ties and how women can heal best when they are together. The Grass Dancer demonstrates how one of grandmothers, Mercury, misuses her “magic” power to help her granddaughter win the grass dancing competition. To offset that “magic” power, the author uses the spirit of Red Dress, the ancient power of women, to inspire Indigenous people to fight with the evil spirits within their societies. Ceremony features Tayo, the male character who has struggled after he returned from the Second World War. But it is the power from the women he lived with and witnessed that inspired him to rise again. The spirit of men and women exist within us; however Indigenous culture reminds us that we should respect women because their power could be never taken away easily.

The novel The Grass Dancer is a perfect example when it comes to analyzing the importance of women within Indigenous culture. The Grass Dancer features several extremely powerful, yet very different, women who work together to highlight the uniqueness of females in their strength. Three characters who hold powers are Charlene, Mercury, and the Red Dress. Mercury is extremely powerful, and she knows her strength, but her power is misused and unkind. Mercury, Charlene’s grandmother, understands the power of women, but she does not hold the respect for the earth, ancient history, humankind; instead she plays trick on people whom she thinks unfavourable to her own family members. She diminishes men in order to show women’s power. An example of this can be found when she speaks with Charlene, “You know what occurred to me?” Then she spits, “There is a devil-man, but there is no devil-woman. I could be a hot queen and blow fire kisses from the palm of my hand. I’d keep that old Devil Jack entertained, and if he turned on me, boy, wouldn’t I toast his slippers” (Power, 44)! Mercury sees herself in God, but she also sees herself in the Devil; she knows her powers are not pure, yet she holds them proudly. Charlene, on the other hand, is able to see the strength her grandmother holds, yet she is also able to see how she could become lost if her grandmother still exerts that influence on her. The anger her Grandmother has built up for humankind due to the poor treatment from men in her life disempowered her in a way, but Charlene is able to use her Grandmother’s downfalls as a lesson for her learn from. Instead of receiving her grandmother’s influence, Charlene can find healing through the powerful women in her ancestry instead: Red Dress. Red Dress acts as a spiritual guide for many characters in her family, and she fully represents the power the woman should hold. As a warrior who fought for her people, Red Dress watches over all the Sioux people, “My spirit never abandons the Dakota people” (Power, 281). The wisdom and guidance that Red Dress can give to her people, even she was no longer with them physically, indicates that the wisdom of women in Indigenous culture will never die. She reminds her own people again and again, “You are Dakota” (Power, 282). Dakota women are the protectors, the leaders, the guides, and the nurturers; they could hold the community together when it is falling apart.

Katherena Vermette’s approach to depicting the power of women in Indigenous society follows a similar technique as Susan Power does in her book. Although there are many differences between the two, the significance of women in Indigenous culture can be easily found again through two divergent women: Phoenix and Stella. Phoenix, like Mercury in The Grass Dancer has lost her control, therefore she uses her power in a harmful way in attempt to regain it from another woman. Phoenix is a young woman who has had a tough life due to generational trauma. Her relationship with both her mother–and consequently, also with men–has been tainted, like Mercury’s experiences with men. When Phoenix rapes and beats Emily she is actually showing her lack of power: overpowering another woman because she feels like she is less than her. Tommy, one of the police men overseeing the crime, receives advice from his mother about this evil power, “It’s a power thing. Rape is about power. She wanted power” (Vermette, 298). She tells him, “She was probably messed with. Kids that are messed with get messed up.” Phoenix’s lack of power does not mean that women are weak when they misuse their power. From the deep level, we could see that she has no power and she wants use gain power by hurting other women. In the end Phoenix is able to overcome her own hurt from her mother and family by imagining herself as a mother with her own baby. Phoenix’s strength is demonstrated is through her thoughts on her pregnancy and her imagination of being a mother. Phoenix does not want to give up her pregnancy, even though she currently is in jail, she continues to think about how she wants to care of her child herself: “Phoenix shrugs but doesn’t think about her kid in care. She thinks about being out, about having a kid, getting a real apartment, and a stroller” (Vermette, 320). She wants to create a better life for her child, the one she did not have. Phoenix is able to take responsibility for her actions; an act which requires deep strength from within. Phoenix’s life struggles show that women continue to rise, no matter what, as she prepares to bring a new life into the world. She thinks of her son; “He’ll be strong” – just like her (Vermette, 322). Many other women in this novel also maintain their power even when things are the hardest. The power comes from other women’s support. The sisters–Cheryl, Paulina, and Louisa–come together during an awful situation and use their combined strength to make it through together. They always hold together to overcome their difficulties. This is reiterated in the last chapter of the novel when Cheryl and Rita commit to quit drinking. The sisters are riding home together after a sweat and Paulina speaks, “We’re fucked up but not fucked…” And “I’m going to try and feel hopeful as much as I can” (Vermette, 349). Cheryl takes her sisters hands and thinks of “Hope” (349). By holding hands together, the sisters feel hopeful no matter what they have been through. In this case, women’s power come from being together to go through difficult times.

Silko’s Ceremony represents the power of women in a different, yet equally important, way in comparison to Vermette’s The Break and Power’s The Grass Dancer. Both The Break and The Grass Dancer have strong female protagonists, which make it simple to see the strength of women within Indigenous society, but Silko uses a male protagonist to create the similar effect of women’s power. Tayo is connected with his divine femininity through his connection with Mother Earth to heal himself and create a new beginning for his own life. One of most influential women is a beautiful woman he meets during his journey. Her wisdom of the earth and her capability to manage the cattle farm is infinite and impressive. Tayo is touched by her strength and pure love of the nature and cattle. This woman reminds Tayo of the Mother Earth. Her capability to connect Tayo with spirits, ancestors, and culture through the earth and her sacred understanding is represented in one of her last moments with Tayo:
The end of the story. They want to change it. They want it to end here, the way all their stories end, encircling slowly to choke the life away. The violence of the struggle excites them, and the killing soothes them. They had their stories about us– Indian people who are only marking time and waiting for the end. And they would end this story right here, with you fighting for your death alone in these hills. (Silko, 215)

The woman understands how the white people have brought sickness to the Indigenous, and the poisonous stuff such as drugs and liquors infected the Indigenous world. She warms Tayo that he must not let them win. Her spiritual wisdom is illustrated, “Like old Betonie, she could see reflections in the sand rock pools of rainwater, images shifting in the flames of the juniper fire; she heard voices, low and distant in the night” (Silko, 216). To Tayo, this woman represents the infinite wisdom all women have. Although Silko does not hold her at the center of her narrative, her words are heard through the novel, “[A]s long as you remember what you have seen, then nothing is gone” (Silko, 215).

Women are infinitely powerful which has been reiterated over and over throughout history even though during the colonial time the power of Indigenous women was suppressed. The three postcolonial texts, The Grass Dancer, The Break, and Ceremony, highlight the rebirth of women’s power and wisdom of Indigenous culture. Reading the texts, we are inclined to remember importance of women within Indigenous society. The contrasting use of female power in The Grass Dancer and The Break reminds us that women’s power could be also influential in a damaging way if they misuse their wisdom or power. In Ceremony, Tayo–like many Indigenous men– lacks femininity due to the patriarchal impositions of the White world. This form of power is exercised through violence, yet a strong female reminds Tayo of the soft power women have: When Tayo learns to reconnect with Mother Earth through the wisdom of a woman he meets, he is then able to heal from the wound he got through the war. Women are always powerful and their power can never be taken away.

Works Cited
Allen, Paula Gunn. The Woman Who Owned The Shadows. San Francisco: Aunt Lute Books, 1983. Print.
Power, Susan. The Grass Dancer. New York: The Berkley Publishing Group, 1995. Print.
Vermette, Katherena. The Break . House of Anasani Press Inc., 2016. Print.

The Author’s Bio: Brie Phillips is a young Métis woman from Creighton, Saskatchewan. She spent most of her summers growing up camping and exploring nature around Saskatchewan with her parents and identical twin sister. She still enjoys being in nature as much as possible, and keeping active by kayaking, biking, or jogging. Brie enjoys painting and drawing in her free time and is an avid reader. She is currently in her fourth year in the Bachelor of Education and Interdisciplinary Studies program. Brie is passionate about Human Rights, Indigenous Justice, and classifies herself as a strong Feminist. Brie feels that she is a learner in her culture and is currently working on reclaiming her Indigenous identity.

Instructor’s Remark: Brie Phillips took Indigenous Women and Literature (ANS 3301) with me in Winter 2018. She always shared her critical readings with the class. “The Power of Indigenous Women” is one of her two essays for the final exam. She analyzes the power of Indigenous women from both negative and positive sides. She points out that women misuse their use power to hurt others because they feel their lack of power. She also reminds the reader that the power Indigenous women have are always there and they cannot be taken away. (Dr. Ying Kong)