The article's lead section may need to be rewritten. Please help improve the lead and read the lead layout guide. (September 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

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.[citation needed]

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

References

  1. ^ a b 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. ^ a b 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. ^ a b 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

Categories