Within the history of the Navajo people, the roles of men and women have not really changed. From history text books that I read in high school, men were supposed to be the warriors and protectors of their families and their communities. The role of women was to perform household duties such as cooking, cleaning, and taking care of the children.
Since society has been advancing, things have been changing. In an article called Independent Lens, a woman named Billy Luther said "Navajo women wear the trousers in Navajo society. They work the land, they raise the kids, and they preserve the culture and the traditions. They even butcher the sheep! So you can see they are so much more than just a pretty face". (PBS). Women now a days do much more then men when it comes to household chores.
Women were the ones who traditionally owned land and livestock.
Women owned the property. Property was passed down from mother to daughter. Men spent their lives with a small group of relatives on their mother's side. Whey Navajo men traveled, they looked for members of their mother's clan. He knew these relatives would offer shelter, food, and entertainment. When a Navajo man married, he moved to this wife's home. (Southwest Navajo Indians).
Since the beginning of time, the roles of men and women have changed. Women do most of the work while men move into their wife's home. In textbooks, I have always read that it was the other way around. Where women would relocate to their husbands homes and make a new life there while leaving their original families.
Since society has been advancing, things have been changing. In an article called Independent Lens, a woman named Billy Luther said "Navajo women wear the trousers in Navajo society. They work the land, they raise the kids, and they preserve the culture and the traditions. They even butcher the sheep! So you can see they are so much more than just a pretty face". (PBS). Women now a days do much more then men when it comes to household chores.
Women were the ones who traditionally owned land and livestock.
Women owned the property. Property was passed down from mother to daughter. Men spent their lives with a small group of relatives on their mother's side. Whey Navajo men traveled, they looked for members of their mother's clan. He knew these relatives would offer shelter, food, and entertainment. When a Navajo man married, he moved to this wife's home. (Southwest Navajo Indians).
Since the beginning of time, the roles of men and women have changed. Women do most of the work while men move into their wife's home. In textbooks, I have always read that it was the other way around. Where women would relocate to their husbands homes and make a new life there while leaving their original families.
(PBS) (n.d). Retrieved September 8, 2014 http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/missnavajo/women.html
Southwest Indians - Navajo - Native Americans in Olden Times for Kids. (n.d.). Retrieved September 8, 2014.