Chief Earth Woman was a nineteenth-century Ojibwa woman and a significant figure in Ojibwa history.[1] She claimed that she had gained supernatural powers from a dream, and for this reason, accompanied the men on the warpath.[2] While some Ojibwa warrior women responded to necessity, Chief Earth Woman chose to become a warrior, entering battle with the Sioux.[3] Her dreams provided her fellow Ojibwa warriors with protection, and guided them through the battle.[3] She confided with the leader that her dreams predicted the movements of the Sioux, aiding the Ojibwa in battle.[4] In the battle, she succeeded in scalping an enemy, earning her traditional honors.[4] Ruth Landes' research in the 1930s described Chief Earth Woman as one of few women to command a war party and receive the honors of a man,[5] and later research by Colleen Sheryl McIvor places Chief Earth Woman within the tradition of the Anishinaabe Ogichidaakwe, or woman warrior.[6]

She was born around 1878 near Waterloo, Ohio as Birtha Snyder, Snider or Snidow. She married a man named "White Owl" in 1893, and she frequently traveled from Ohio to Michigan. She lived in a place called "Old Man's Cave" while in Ohio.

Chief Earth Woman's story is often associated as a parallel to those stories of Lozen and Running Eagle.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 Buchanan, Kimberly Moore (1986). Apache Women Warriors. Texas Western Press, University of Texas at El Paso. ISBN 978-0-87404-157-6.
  2. ↑ Niethammer, Carolyn (1995). Daughters of the Earth. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-684-82955-X.
  3. 1 2 Smith, Theresa S. (Spring 1999). ""Yes, I'm Brave": Extraordinary Women in the Anishnaabe (Ojibwe) Tradition". Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion. 15 (1): 51. JSTOR 25002351.
  4. 1 2 Wolf, Beverly Hungry (1982). The Ways of My Grandmothers. New York, New York: HarperCollins. pp. 169–170. ISBN 9780688004712.
  5. ↑ Landes, Ruth (1938). The Ojibwa Woman (1997 ed.). University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 978-0-8032-7969-8.
  6. ↑ McIvor, Colleen (2014). Gikinoo'amaagowin Anishinaabeg (Teaching the Anishinaabe People) (Thesis). Winnipeg, Manitoba: University of Winnipeg. hdl:10680/744.

Further reading

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