Free Sisters in Spirit: Iroquois Influence on Early Feminists by Sally Roesch Wagner Page A

their interest is equal, they still cannot sign a treaty without the consent of two hirds of the mothers ! 17
     
    Myrtle also described the political authority women held in the traditional way:
    The emblem of power worn by the Sachem [chief] was a deer’s antlers, and if in any instance the women disapproved of the election or acts of a Sachem, they had the power to remove his horns and return him to private life. Their officers or runners from council to council were chosen by themselves and denominated women’s men, and by these their interests were always fully represented. If at any time they wished any subject considered, by means of their runners, they called a council in their clan; if it was a matter of more general interest there was a council of the nation, and if the opinions of the women or Sachems of other nations were necessary, a grand council was called as readily to attend to them as to the interests of men. Thus a way was provided for them to have a voice in the affairs of the nation, without endangering their womanly reserve or subjecting them to the masculine reproach of publicity, or a desire to assume the offices and powers of men! 18
     
     

    The emblem of power worn by the Sachem is a deer’s antlers.

     
    Gage’s first-hand knowledge of Haudenosaunee political structure came through her friendship with Harriet Maxwell Converse, known widely for her creation of cultural bridges between Native and EuroAmerican people. Converse, in turn, introduced Gage to Mohawk friends, who decided to give Gage an honorary adoption into their clan, the Wolf. Gage’s Mohawk sister told her that “this name would admit me to the Council of Matrons, where a vote would be taken, as to my having a voice in the chieftainship,” Gage wrote. 19 This was in 1893, the same year Gage was arrested for voting in a school board election in Onondaga County, New York. While offered the possibility of decision-making rights in her adopted nation, Gage was arrested for voting in her own community! Would this not have profoundly affected her vision?

Women’s Rights Support by Haudenosaunee Men
     
    The injustice of women’s lack of political freedom in the United States was recognized by Haudenosaunee men. Dr. Peter Wilson, a Cayuga chief, addressed the New York Historical Society in 1866, encouraging United States men to give everyone the vote, “even the women, as in his

Endnotes
     

Afterword
     
    1. Julius Cook, biographical sketch of Ray Fadden in New Voices from the Longhouse: an Anthology of Contemporary Iroquois Writing, edited by Joseph Bruchac. Greenfield Center, New York: The Greenfield Review Press, 1989, p. 96.

Bibliography
     
    Adams, Charles Francis, Familiar Letters of John Adams and His Wife, Abigail Adams, During the Revolution, 1876.
    Alexander, William, History of Women. Philadelphia: Published by J.H. Dobelbower, 1796.
    Allen, Paula Gunn, The Sacred Hoop:Recovering the Feminine in American Indian Traditions. Boston: Beacon Press, 1986.
    The (Washington, D.C.) Alpha, May 1880, p. 6.
    An Account of the Proceedings of the Trial of Susan B. Authony, on the Charge of Illegal Voting, at the Presidential Electionin November, 1872. Rochester: Daily Democrat and Chronicle Book Print, 1874; reprint ed., New York: Arno Press, 1974.
    Banner, Lois, Elizibeth Cady Stanton: A Radical for Woman’s Rights. Boston: Little Brown and Company, 1980.
    Barreiro, Jose, “Challenging the Eurocentric Notion” in Indian Roots of American Democracy. Ithaca, N.Y.: Northeast Indian Quarterly, 1988, pp. xii-xvi.
    Beauchamp, Mary Elizabeth, Letter to the Editor, Skaneateles Democrat, 10 April 1883, Beauchamp File, Onondaga Historical Association, Syracuse, New York.
    Beauchamp, William M., Iroquois FolkLore Gathered from the Six Nations of New York. Empire State Historical Publication 31, n.d.; reprint ed. Port Washington, N.Y.: Ira J. Friedman Division, Kennikat Press, n.d.
    _____________, “Iroquois Women,” The Journal of