| dc.description.abstract | By the end of the American Revolution, the Stockbridge Nation of Mohican Indians found themselves pushed from their land in Massachusetts with their male population much reduced from service in the Continental Army. With a community to rebuild from scratch, headwomen of the tribe set about expanding their existing kin networks with the aim of better educating the women of the tribe and facilitating indigenous self-determination. Between 1790 and 1830, Stockbridge women achieved this goal as they established independent cloth manufacture in their town, opened several schools for Stockbridge and neighboring indigenous children, and acted as diplomats and attorneys on their tribe¿s behalf in front of major white institutions, including the New York State Assembly. By 1836, however, after their third removal, the tribe felt pressure from the federal government to further conform to gendered American legal norms in order to remain on their land in Wisconsin. In this context, the tribe adopted a constitution that limited women¿s access to land and prohibited their ability to vote for or hold office on the tribal council. This dissertation seeks to understand the evolution of Stockbridge female leadership during the tribe¿s removal era. From diplomats and attorneys to legally marginalized peoples within the United States, the story of Stockbridge Indian women speaks to the precariousness of female indigeneity in the early republic and reveals many of the precursors to the United States¿ policies of Indian removal, compulsory boarding schools, allotment, and termination. | |
