"The Chieftain's Weary Daughter": The Feminist Legacy and Mainstream Appropriation of Sarah Winnemucca
| dc.contributor.author | Albanis, Sophia Kendall | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2017-10-10T22:49:39Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2017-10-10T22:49:39Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2017 | |
| dc.description | 113 pages. A thesis presented to the Department of Women's and Gender Studies and the Clark Honors College of the University of Oregon in partial fulfillment of the requirements for degree of Bachelor of Arts, Spring 2017 | |
| dc.description.abstract | To say the least, Sarah Winnemucca of the Northern Paiute was controversial: she was a collaborator with the United States Army, she was an outspoken Native American rights activist and public figure, and she was, of course, a woman. This project investigates the political legacy of Sarah Winnemucca through the lens of her womanhood, employing as comparative tools the often-contrasting critical theories of “mainstream” feminism and Native feminism(s). Relying upon the understanding that Sarah Winnemucca constantly juggled a series of conflicting identities—and utilizing the theory of intersectionality to investigate those identities and their impact on her work—this research effort emphasizes the aspects of her identity that are often overlooked in the assumption that she was a “feminist heroine.” Popular imaginings of Sarah Winnemucca—like those found in the writings of her contemporary biographers—are often idealistic, oversimplified, and heavily influenced by feminist modes of thought that are distinctly white. Including the voices of Native feminists in the ongoing scrutiny of Sarah as an indigenous woman and thinker is necessary, both in understanding the real implications of her actions, and in doing justice to the narratives and perspectives of the Northern Paiute. Sarah Winnemucca was a mediator between settler society and the Paiute community, between the public realm and her traditional heritage, and between political assertiveness and conventional forms of femininity. Thus, in comparing mainstream feminism’s and Native feminism’s perceptions of Sarah Winnemucca, the complexity and contentiousness of her political legacy and modes of advocacy offer distinctive insight into what it means to be Native, female, and radical. | en_US |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/1794/22817 | |
| dc.language.iso | en_US | |
| dc.publisher | University of Oregon | |
| dc.rights | Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0-US | |
| dc.subject | Sarah Winnemucca | en_US |
| dc.subject | Northern Paiute | en_US |
| dc.subject | Native feminism | en_US |
| dc.subject | Native women | en_US |
| dc.subject | White feminism | en_US |
| dc.subject | Feminist history | en_US |
| dc.title | "The Chieftain's Weary Daughter": The Feminist Legacy and Mainstream Appropriation of Sarah Winnemucca | |
| dc.type | Thesis/Dissertation |