Awesome Stuff Women Did

xicanagrrrl:

i wonder how many Mayan, Mixtec, indigenous to the Americas women like this had their legacies erased in patriarchal colonialism. 

That is a fascinating question, and it goes both ways too.  I remember in college, we read a biography of Kateri Tekakwitha, a Mohawk woman from the 17th century who has been nominated for sainthood.  Her French priests and hagiographers considered her worthy largely because she was an enthusiastic convert who had once rejected a suitor.  They considered the latter a sign of her dedication to chastity even before she was a Catholic.  It did not occur to them, nor did they bother to find out, that Mohawk women actually were given agency over their marital options and were not forced to marry whomever their fathers chose.

How many other indigenous people were killed instead of beatified for sticking with the practices of their people?

(Source: awesomestuffwomendid)