AHA Session 149
Coordinating Council for Women in History 7
Coordinating Council for Women in History 7
Friday, January 8, 2027: 3:30 PM-5:00 PM
Studio 8 (New Orleans Marriott, 2nd Floor)
Chair:
Preston McBride, Pomona College
Papers:
Session Abstract
This panel explores Indigenous resilience and political strategy in the face of federal policies designed to fragment communities, restructure governance, and limit sovereignty. Spanning the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, these papers center Native voices and decision-making in moments of profound pressure and change. The panelists explore the gendered consequences of the Dawes Act that imposed patriarchal “head of household” classifications that disrupted Indigenous gender systems rooted in balance and matriarchal authority. The development of the Federal Acknowledgment Process, tracing how the exclusion of southern New England tribes became embedded in administrative practice. And an examination of internal division of the Wyandot community in Ohio, during the era of Jacksonian removal. Together, these papers highlight Indigenous adaptability, legal acumen, and community-building in the face of policies intended to dispossess and divide.
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