Chief Earth Woman

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. 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. 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. 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

• Smith, Theresa S. (Spring 1999.) ""Yes, I'm Brave": Extraordinary Women in the Anishnaabe (Ojibwe) Tradition." Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion: 15(1).