Iroquoian Women: The Gantowisas - Paperback

by Elizabeth Delaney Hoffman (Editor), Malcolm A. Nelson (Editor), Barbara Alice Mann (Author)

Iroquoian Women: The Gantowisas provides a thorough, organized look at the social, political, economic, and religious roles of women among the Iroquois, explaining their fit with the larger culture. Gantowisas means more than simply woman - gantowisas is woman acting in her official capacity as fire-keeping woman, faith-keeping woman, gift-giving woman; leader, counselor, judge; Mother of the People. This is the light in which the reader will find her in Iroquoian Women. Barbara Alice Mann draws upon worthy sources, be they early or modern, oral or written, to present a Native American point of view that insists upon accuracy, not only in raw reporting, but also in analysis. Iroquoian Women is the first book-length study to regard Iroquoian women as central and indispensable to Iroquoian studies.

Author Biography

The Author: Barbara Alice Mann, Ph.D., is a noted author and speaker on Iroquoian history and culture. Affiliated with the University of Toledo (Ohio), she co-authored Debating Democracy (1998) with Bruce Johansen and Donald Grinde, Jr., co-edited the Encyclopedia of the Iroquois (2000), and has authored major articles on various aspects of the Iroquois League and its culture. She currently teaches, writes, and works in Toledo.