“One of the problems is speaking of “Indian culture”, as if all tribes were the same. They were NOT. In the Cherokee culture, it was matriarchal and women always held places of high regard.”
That’s a really good point Aunt B. I am still learning about the Choctaws, but am somewhat familiar with the pueblo tribes of New Mexico (my family is from near the Isleta pueblo) and the pueblo folks don’t “enslave” their women. In fact, given the problems there, the women seem to be the ones holding a lot of that culture together. As a kid, I remember the pueblo girls having to go to inside the house to help with make pottery, which was inevitably taught to them by grandmothers and moms.
I believe the Navajo are also matriarchal like the Cherokee you cite.
Dang, see what you miss when you broad brush people.
The Choctaw and Cherokee were very close, often intermarrying, and both were part of the so called ‘five civilized’ tribes.
It all was a story that needed to be told, so I did.
“Jesus Wept” An American Story
http://jesusweptanamericanstory.blogspot.com/