"Her kindred have a prior right and can use that right to separate her from him or protect her from him, should he mistreat her….not only does the woman (under our white nation) lose her independent hold on her property and herself, but there are offenses and injuries which…would be avenged and punished by her relatives under tribal law, but which have no penalty or recognition under our lawas… At the present time, all property is personal…a wife is as independent in the uses of her possessions as is the most independent man in our midst….While I was living with the Indians, my hostess one day gave away a very fine horse….I asked, ,will your husband like to have you give the horse away?….I tried to explain how a white woman would act, but laughter and contempt met my explanation of the white man's hold upon his wife's property….As I have tried to explain our statutes to Indian women, I have met with one response. They have said, "As an Indian woman, I was free, I owned my home, my person, the work of my hands, and my children could never forget me.I was better as an Indian woman than under white law."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Women born in the 19th centuryAnthropologists from the United StatesWomen scientists from the United StatesSocial scientists from the United States
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
One of the First Female American Anthropologists American Indian Rights Advocate
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alice_Cunningham_Fletcher
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Alice Cunningham Fletcher
Alice Cunningham Fletcher (March 15, 1838 – April 6, 1923) was an American ethnologist, anthropologist, and social scientist who studied and documented Native American culture.
6 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Alice Cunningham Fletcher →
Related Quotes
"The Indian may now become a free man; free from the thralldom of the tribe; free from the domination of the reservati…"
"...the woman owns her horses, dogs, and all the lodge equipments; children own their own articles; and parents do not…"
"At the present time all property is personal; the man owns his own ponies and other belongings he has personally acqu…"
"Imperceptibly a change had been wrought in me until I no longer felt alone in a strange, silent country. I had learne…"
"When I was living with the Indians, my hostess, a fine looking woman, who wore numberless bracelets, and rings in her…"
"Shatter her beauteous breast ye may; The Spirit of England none can slay! Dash the bomb on the dome of Paul's, — Deem…"
"... Horticultural Show in the Temple Gardens. I go every year now, and should be sorry to miss it. How odd it seems, …"
"… Hassan promotes the BITE model as a scientific method for identifying “destructive cults,” claiming it can distingu…"
"Many people would say, 'So strict a way of would make life unbearable,' but after a time this strictness so changes t…"
"Charles and Theresa entertained many friends at ‘Woodlands’ including , , , Henry James, Thomas Croft, and members of…"