Gender & the Cherokee Pre-Colonization

Gender and The Cherokee

Before Colonization and Removal

SELU: FIRST WOMAN AND CORN MOTHER

"In our traditional story of the first man, Kanati, and the first woman, Selu. Selu is also called the "Corn Woman." She lived with her husband, Kanati, and two sons," (Cherokee Nation 2019b) or the "Thunder Boys" (Johnston 2010, 26). Selu is considered a living spirit: the first woman, and the mother of corn. James Mooney, in his book Myths of the Cherokee (1900), recounts Selu's goddess-like connection to corn:

“There is no meat,” said Selu, “but wait a little while and I’ll get you something.” So she took a basket and started out to the storehouse. This storehouse was built upon poles high up from the ground, to keep it out of the reach of animals, and there was a ladder to climb up by, and one door, but no other opening. Every day when Selu got ready to cook the dinner she would go out to the storehouse with a basket and bring it back full of corn and beans. The boys had never been inside the storehouse, so wondered where all the corn and beans could come from, as the house was not a very large one; so as soon as Selu went out of the door the Wild Boy said to his brother, “Let’s go and see what she does.” They ran around and climbed up at the back of the storehouse and pulled out a piece of clay from between the logs, so that they could look in. There they saw Selu standing in the middle of the room with the basket in front of her on the floor. Leaning over the basket, she rubbed her stomach—so—and the basket was half full of corn. Then she rubbed under her armpits—so—and the basket was full to the top with beans. (Mooney 1900)

Above: The statue of Selu, Corn Mother, at the Cherokee museum in North Carolina. (Cacher 2007)

As described by the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma (Cherokee Nation 2019b), the story continues:

They then thought that their mother must surely be a witch; and that witches must die! Selu could read the boys' thoughts. She told them that after they put her to death, they would need to follow her instructions so that they would continue to have corn for nourishment. "After you kill me, you must clear some ground in front of our house. Then drag my body in a circle seven times. Then, you must stay up all night and watch."

The boys did this, but they got the instructions wrong. They cleared seven areas of ground, and drug her body twice in a circle. Corn began to grow, but only where her blood dropped to the ground. Because the boys were careless in listening to the instructions, corn must now be planted and taken care of in order for it to grow. And to this day, it only grows in certain spots and not the entire earth.

Visit any traditional Cherokee home, and the woman of the house will provide a delicious meal. As a matrilineal society, it is the woman who carries the clan, she who gives nourishment to the growing infant by providing it with her milk. She continues to nourish all who come to her home by providing lovingly prepared food. (Cherokee Nation 2019b)

Carolyn Ross Johnston (2010, 26-27), a modern-day Cherokee scholar, explains how the story of Selu embodies Cherokee gender norms and ideals:

Cherokees placed value and meaning on anomalies that occurred at the margins and in the interstices of their classification system. The story of these sons, the Thunder Boys, gave an explanation why Cherokees did not live in a perfect world. By being rule-breakers, the boys had introduced uncertainty into an ordered world. Yet, they also could serve as intermediaries between the human and the Upper World. The story taught that if the people showed respect and gratitude and did not break a taboo, the blessings of the Corn Mother might return. The story also portrayed a supernatural couple who shared power and were both essential in providing for the children. Selu sacrificed herself in order to perpetuate life. Selu and other female supernaturals both reflected and reinforced Cherokee women's beliefs about gender expectations. As opposed to a patriarchal religious system, in which the deities are male and women are considered subordinate to men, Cherokee women's and men's power derived legitimacy from myth and female and male supernaturals. Ceremonies, rituals, warfare, and sports helped construct gender meanings for the men and women of the Nation. (Johnston 2010, 26-27, emphasis added)

A MATRILINEAL AND MATRIARCHAL SOCIETY

"[W]omen had autonomy and sexual freedom,

could obtain divorce easily,

rarely experienced rape or domestic violence,

worked as producers/farmers,

owned their own homes and fields,

possessed a cosmology that contains female supernatural figures, and had

significant political and economic power."

(Johnston 2010, 3).

It's tempting to think if you have grown up in a patriarchal society that one which is called "matriarchal" is the inverse of patriarchy. However, as we see in Johnston's (2010, 26-27) assessment, this is not the case. In Cherokee society, men and women were thought to be equals, and to provide balance to one another. The Cherokee language makes no gender distinctions, and therefore "implies no gender hierarchy" (23). It was not uncommon for a woman to go to war. Men, too, could choose to do work in the house or fields; although not many did, as they understood how hard such work was, and revered the women who performed it. Further, far from the trappings of Western gender norms, it was acceptable to choose to be of the other gender. Some people born with male-bodies lived entirely as females:

“There were among them formerly men who assumed the dress and performed all the duties of women and who lives full lives in this manner.” (Smithers 2014)

Prior to European contact, the Cherokee society was matrilineal and, thus, Cherokee women held general control of their family's land, possessions and although reports are mixed (perhaps because particular instances differed), generally speaking children remained with their mother's upon divorce, as they were part of their mother's clan. In Cherokee culture, because it was both matrilineal and matriarchal, keeping the house was thought of as a high status position. Like Selu, the corn mother, Cherokee women farmed the land, and provided staple crops. They also took part in council meetings, advising on when it was prudent to go to war, and when a battle should be walked away from. As Corolyn Ross Johnston (2010, 11) states:

In February 1757, the great Cherokee leader Attakullakulla arrived in South Carolina to negotiate trade agreements with the governor and was shocked to find that no white women were present. Because Cherokee women regularly advised his nation's council on matters of war and peace, he asked: "Since the white man as well as the red was born of woman, did not the white man admit women to their councils?" The governor was so taken aback by the question that he took two or three days to come up with a response. He evaded the question: "The white men do place confidence in their women and share their councils with them when they know their hearts are good." The Cherokees remained incredulous.

Just as Westerners were stricken by the importance of women's opinions in council meetings, they were were also confused about what farming meant to Cherokee Women. The modern-day Thanksgiving that so many Americans today celebrate is taken from the Green Corn Festival of the Cherokee and other Iroquois peoples, used to celebrate the most stability producing crop, planted, harvested and prepared by the women. In Cherokee culture:

"Cherokee women's power derived from their ability to give and sustain life. Sustaining life through farming was seen as a source of this power. However, blood was believed to be the ultimate symbol of this power. Selu's blood was shed as she sacrificed her life and gave the gift of corn." (Johnston 2010, 29)

CULTURE KEEPERS

Perhaps most importantly, Cherokee women were considered the culture keepers, teaching the young the ways of the world and Cherokee society. When I was young, my Grandmother, also a Cherokee woman, taught me to explore the earth with my bare feet. To sew it for planting, and how to harvest the garden when it was ready. Without her influence, I likely would not have waited for the nuts to fall from the tree behind our new house. Nor would I have learned that the outer hull of a black walnut produces a lovely dark colored dye. I would not have understood the importance of connecting to the land that I used for my living space and, certainly, I would not know to share these things with my children, and to ask them to give the utmost respect to the plants and animals we take from the earth.

Prior to European contact, and before removal, the Cherokee lands took up most of what is today known as Tennessee and Kentucky, the Eastern most parts of West Virginia, North and South Carolina, and northern Georgia and Alabama, and "Itsâtĭ, or Echota, on the south bank of the Little Tennessee, a few miles above the mouth of Tellico river, in Tennessee, was commonly considered the capital of the Nation," (Mooney 1900). The Cherokee knew this land so well, that they were able to avoid many bouts of warfare waged against them by retreating into the mountain ranges, where they were experts on the steep terrain, and then reinhabiting their villages below when the conditions were safe to do so.

DYES, MATERIALS AND PURPOSE OF EARLY CHEROKEE BASKETS

Like I sought to understand how to make use of the fruit born of the tree in my backyard, the Cherokee spent thousands of years learning to live off and with the land. This is how they found and perfected the materials used for basket making.

Baskets in these days were made by Cherokee women, and used practically. They could be designed to hold storage for the home, carry things, wash and strain (or haul) fish, collect crops, and more. Thus, the primary design consideration made before starting a basket was the shape it would require in order to fulfill its purpose (Cherokee Nation 2019a).

The original dyes used for Cherokee baskets often came from black walnuts. The topmost arrow pointing to the image below shows the deep red-brown color that can be achieved when one dyes a reed with black walnut dye. The other original color used in Cherokee baskets from before European contact was extracted from blood root, which created the yellowish color indicated above by the lower arrow. Cane, white oak, hickory and honeysuckle were used in the original Cherokee lands for the ribs and weaving pieces of the basket (Cherokee Nation 2019a).

Above: The old Cherokee lands. (Mooney 1900)

Above: A close-up look at the weave on a Cherokee Basket, and the how different traditional pigments looked upon river cane. (Cherokee Nation 2019a)

CHEROKEE BASKETS HELD COMMODITIES, CONTROLLED BY WOMEN

Cherokee women provided sustainable food for their families and communities. They also wove the baskets that kept these commodities safe and separated. Women taught the craft of basketweaving to their daughters, just as they did the art of farming and providing for their families and communities.

The basket nicely exemplifies the power and control that Cherokee women maintained in their communities prior to European contact, which was separate but very much equal to that of men.