Many months ago, we read a wonderful book by Paula Gunn Allen, The Woman Who Owned the Shadows. Paula passed away last week at 68. She was a key figure in "Native American literature" - an author and educator who advocated for the inclusion of First Nations voices in the mainstream of literature.
Her 1986 book, The Sacred Hoop: Recovering the Feminine in American Indian Traditions, broke new ground again, countering the stereotypical view of Native American women with provocative essays examining female deities, the honored place of lesbians and the importance of mothers and grandmothers to Native American identity.
One of the most anthologized essays -- "Who Is Your Mother? Red Roots of White Feminism" -- asserts that early feminists in the United States owe a debt to women of the female-centered Iroquois, who were their role models. The work, like much of Allen's writing, attracted a significant lesbian readership. Though she once identified as a lesbian, Allen said she later said she was a "serial bisexual," interested in a certain type of person, unconcerned "if it's male or a female body."
More info available at www.paulagunnallen.net.
*Info from article by Jocelyn Y. Stewart, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer June 7, 2008
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