Indigenous American Women: Decolonization, Empowerment, Activism

Thank yous to family, friends, and colleagues who have assisted, inspired, and encouraged me in the writing of these essays: Olyve Hall- mark Abbott, Rebecca Allahyari, Linda Beaverson, Mary Best, Joseph Boles, James F. Brooks, Elizabeth Castle, Duane Champagne, Diana Collier, Shannon Collins, Elizabeth Cook-Lynn, Gary Dunham, Clyde Ellis, Victoria Enders, Vicki Green, Curtis M. Hinsley, Eric Luke Lassiter, Deborah Maloney-Pictou, Denise Maloney-Pictou, Judith Michener, Billie Mills, Theda Perdue, Robert A. Pictou-Branscombe, Harald Prins, James Riding In, Victoria Sheffler, Delores Sumner, William Welge, Angela Cavender Wilson, Taryn Abbott Wilson, Terry P. Wilson, Donald Worcester, and Michael Yellow Bird, in addition to the everlasting patience of my husband, Joshua, and my children, Tosh and Ariana, and the Ford Foundation, Northern Arizona University's Office of Grants and Contracts, and the Smithsonian Institution.

The following chapters and essays have been reprinted or excerpted here or have been significantly revised: “Commonalty of Difference: American Indian Women in History, ” AIQ 20:1 (1996): 15—27, reprinted from the American Indian Quarterly by permission of the University of Nebraska Press. Copyright (c) 1996 by the University of Nebraska Press; “A Few Cautions at the Millennium on the Merging of Feminist Studies with American Indian Women's Studies, ” SIGNS 25:4 (2000): 1247—52, (c) 2000 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved; “Research Guidelines for Institutions with Scholars Who Study American Indians, ” reprinted from theAmerican Indian Culture and Research Journal 17:3 (fall 1993): 131—39 by permission of the American Indian Studies Center, UCLA, (c) Regents of the University of California; “Too Dark to Be Angels”: The Class System among the Cherokees at the Female Seminary, ” reprinted from theAmerican Indian Culture and Research Journal 15:1 (1991): 29—52 by permission of the American Indian Studies Center, UCLA, (c) Regents of