Without a Whisper
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- Reviews
- Citation
- Cataloging
- Transcript
WITHOUT A WHISPER - KONNON:KWE is the untold story of the profound influence of Indigenous women on the beginning of the women’s rights movement in the United States.
Before the first women’s rights convention in Seneca Falls in 1848, European colonial women lacked even the most basic rights, while Haudenosaunee women had a potent political and spiritual voice and authority in all aspects of their lives. The contact that the early suffragists had with Haudenosaunee women in New York state shaped their thinking and had a vital impact on their struggle for equality that is taken for granted today. The film follows Mohawk Bear Clan Mother Louise Herne and Professor Sally Roesch Wagner as they seek to correct the historical narrative about the origins of women’s rights in the United States.
"A testimony to a history that has been suppressed, this sensitive documentary is evidence of Haudenosaunee continuity and resurgence. It should be required viewing in US history and women’s/gender studies courses."
Patricia Richards, Professor Sociology and Women’s Studies, University of Georgia
Citation
Main credits
Fox, Katsitsionni (film director)
Fox, Katsitsionni (film producer)
Esson, Katja (film producer)
Other credits
Edited by Anima Megalli; cinematography, Marie-Cécile Dietlin; music coordination and composition, Robby Baier.
Distributor subjects
Activism, Feminism, Human Rights, Native American, Women's MovementKeywords
WEBVTT
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[underwater sounds]
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-[ Singing in Native language ]
00:00:33.083 --> 00:00:36.292
♪♪
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♪♪
00:00:46.459 --> 00:00:49.667
♪♪
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-I would pay a million dollars
to know what my grandmothers,
00:00:56.042 --> 00:01:00.125
great grandmothers were doing
when Columbus arrived,
00:01:00.125 --> 00:01:04.083
or when the Revolutionary War
was going on,
00:01:04.083 --> 00:01:07.626
or when the War of 1812
was going on through here.
00:01:07.626 --> 00:01:10.999
I would give anything to know
00:01:10.999 --> 00:01:12.584
what those women
were going through.
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It was never written about.
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We have to go in search of,
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and almost have to begin,
at this point,
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to tell our stories,
00:01:22.083 --> 00:01:23.834
so that we leave
a really rich inheritance
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for our great-great
granddaughters
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and our great-great grandsons.
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♪♪
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[ Horns honk in distance ]
00:01:31.876 --> 00:01:33.999
♪♪
00:01:33.999 --> 00:01:35.501
-Give me your arm.
-Yeah, take my arm.
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[ Indistinct conversations ]
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♪♪
00:01:42.042 --> 00:01:45.667
[ Conversations continue ]
00:01:45.667 --> 00:01:48.626
-Women\'s rights began
with suffragists.
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-That is a major myth.
00:01:52.042 --> 00:01:55.459
The reality is that women
had political voice on this land
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a thousand years ago.
00:02:00.792 --> 00:02:02.667
-[ Woman cheers ]
[ Scattered cheers ]
00:02:02.667 --> 00:02:04.250
[ Applause ]
00:02:04.250 --> 00:02:06.751
-And that is not past tense,
00:02:06.751 --> 00:02:09.542
because Louise carries on
00:02:09.542 --> 00:02:12.584
a thousand-year-old tradition.
00:02:12.584 --> 00:02:15.501
-Growing up, I learned about,
I think, Susan B. Anthony
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and Elizabeth Cady Stanton,
maybe.
00:02:18.709 --> 00:02:21.501
I had no idea
that Native women, in fact,
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had political power
in this country long before.
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-I remember growing up
and listening to the grandmas,
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and...
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them hearing about feminism.
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My grandma would say,
\"We\'re not feminists.
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We\'re the law.\"
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[ Laughter and applause ]
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-[ Singing in Native language ]♪♪
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♪♪
00:03:02.542 --> 00:03:06.125
-[ Speaking Native language ]
00:03:21.083 --> 00:03:24.999
-When the Statue of Liberty
was unveiled
00:03:24.999 --> 00:03:27.999
in New York Harbor
in 1886,
00:03:27.999 --> 00:03:31.501
they said,
\"Look at the hypocrisy here.
00:03:32.083 --> 00:03:35.918
Liberty is represented
as a woman
00:03:36.042 --> 00:03:39.999
in a country
where not a single woman
00:03:39.999 --> 00:03:43.459
has political liberty.\"
00:03:43.459 --> 00:03:45.999
[ Crowd cheering ]
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♪♪
00:03:48.999 --> 00:03:51.042
-The women\'s rights movement
was born here
00:03:51.042 --> 00:03:53.792
in Seneca Falls in 1848,
00:03:53.792 --> 00:03:56.918
and I\'m proud that we live up
to the legacy in New York.
00:03:57.999 --> 00:04:01.292
[ Crowd cheering ]
00:04:02.167 --> 00:04:05.999
-[ Speaking Native language ]
00:04:08.959 --> 00:04:12.292
Greetings to you today
00:04:12.292 --> 00:04:14.209
on behalf of
the Mohawk Nation
00:04:14.209 --> 00:04:17.000
and the Haudenosaunee
Confederacy.
00:04:17.000 --> 00:04:20.125
Truly,
today is a day of change.
00:04:22.918 --> 00:04:24.999
But it\'s not about history,
it\'s abouther story.
00:04:27.167 --> 00:04:30.626
[ Crowd cheering ]
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And in her story,
she\'s going to say
00:04:35.167 --> 00:04:37.250
youse all been lied to.
00:04:37.250 --> 00:04:40.626
Because it didn\'t begin here.
00:04:43.334 --> 00:04:46.876
We had the right
to choose our leadership.
00:04:46.999 --> 00:04:49.626
And men became leaders
only through the uterine voice
00:04:50.999 --> 00:04:54.292
that said it to be so.
00:04:54.292 --> 00:04:56.209
[ Cheers and applause ]
00:04:57.751 --> 00:05:01.584
Imagine if that was
in your Constitution.
00:05:01.584 --> 00:05:04.667
[ Laughter ]
00:05:04.667 --> 00:05:07.876
And for some reason,
00:05:07.876 --> 00:05:09.417
my grandmothers
00:05:09.417 --> 00:05:11.167
didn\'t even have
a whisper in her story.
00:05:11.999 --> 00:05:15.584
-[ Singing in Native language ]
00:05:17.042 --> 00:05:20.999
-When I just hang out
with Haudenosaunee women,
00:05:21.542 --> 00:05:25.042
I come away a different woman.
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[ Laughter ]
00:05:27.125 --> 00:05:29.209
Because there are ways
that you\'re strong.
00:05:29.209 --> 00:05:32.417
You know that you have a right
to be in the world.
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♪♪
00:05:41.709 --> 00:05:44.918
♪♪
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I didn\'t set out to look
for the influence
00:05:52.751 --> 00:05:56.626
of the Haudenosaunee
on the women\'s rights movement.
00:05:56.999 --> 00:06:00.876
It did not enter my mind
that Native women
00:06:02.417 --> 00:06:05.999
could teach women anything.
00:06:06.250 --> 00:06:08.876
How could this have gone on
with nobody writing about it?
00:06:14.626 --> 00:06:16.167
♪♪
00:06:19.250 --> 00:06:23.000
When Penguin Classics
came to me saying,
00:06:24.125 --> 00:06:28.042
\"We\'re thinking of doing
a suffrage anthology.
00:06:28.042 --> 00:06:31.876
What would you like to see?\"
00:06:32.667 --> 00:06:33.918
I want a story that begins
not with white women
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and not in Seneca Falls.
00:06:40.542 --> 00:06:43.375
I want the origins
of the women\'s rights movement
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on the soil of this land.
00:06:48.626 --> 00:06:49.999
My thought was,
00:06:51.999 --> 00:06:53.667
they\'re not going to publish
something like this.
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It is way too far out
of the mainstream.
00:06:56.375 --> 00:06:59.000
[ Dogs barking ]
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♪♪
00:07:01.709 --> 00:07:05.125
[ Barking continues ]
00:07:07.125 --> 00:07:07.999
-Hey!
-Hey!
00:07:10.584 --> 00:07:12.292
-[ Speaks indistinctly ]
-Hello.
00:07:12.292 --> 00:07:14.709
-Oh, how are you?
-How are you?
00:07:14.709 --> 00:07:16.876
-Good.
-Mm.
00:07:16.876 --> 00:07:19.667
Here you go, Sally.
It\'s my Peruvian slippers.
00:07:19.667 --> 00:07:22.417
-Oh, thank you.
Those are beautiful.
00:07:22.417 --> 00:07:24.209
-If you click it twice,
you\'ll --
00:07:24.209 --> 00:07:25.876
-Gee.
-...you\'ll go to...
00:07:25.876 --> 00:07:26.999
-I\'ll go to Peru?
-[Laughs] You\'ll go to Peru.
00:07:26.999 --> 00:07:29.792
[ Laughter ]
00:07:29.792 --> 00:07:31.584
But yeah, we just got done
a bear clan meeting, and...
00:07:31.584 --> 00:07:34.792
-Ah.
-Just finished that.
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Caught my breath
for a half hour.
00:07:36.584 --> 00:07:38.125
-So busy.
-It is. It\'s super busy.
00:07:38.125 --> 00:07:40.834
You have to have
a drink of sap water.
00:07:40.834 --> 00:07:43.459
-Maple water.
-I\'d love to.
00:07:43.459 --> 00:07:45.876
[ Water pours ]
00:07:45.876 --> 00:07:47.959
-There you go.
-Ah.
00:07:47.959 --> 00:07:49.999
-Liquid gold.
-Thank you.
00:07:49.999 --> 00:07:51.501
Yeah.
-Right out of the --
00:07:51.501 --> 00:07:54.000
the wealth of our trees
that are really important.
00:07:58.542 --> 00:08:01.999
This is my world.
-Wow.
00:08:05.999 --> 00:08:09.375
-This is me as a baby.
00:08:09.375 --> 00:08:11.042
-Really?
00:08:11.042 --> 00:08:13.876
This is someone who is taking
the world pretty seriously.
00:08:13.876 --> 00:08:17.000
[ Laughter ]
00:08:17.792 --> 00:08:21.417
-That\'s my M.O.
-Oh, that\'s great.
00:08:21.417 --> 00:08:23.751
-We need to be serious
about this...life.
00:08:25.375 --> 00:08:28.584
♪♪
00:08:28.584 --> 00:08:30.792
[ Birds chirping ]
00:08:30.792 --> 00:08:32.250
Our creation story
begins with a woman.
00:08:32.250 --> 00:08:35.542
She fell from the sky world,
00:08:35.542 --> 00:08:37.667
pregnant and carrying
with her seeds and roots.
00:08:38.083 --> 00:08:41.667
The birds carried her
00:08:41.667 --> 00:08:43.083
and placed her
on a turtle\'s back.
00:08:43.083 --> 00:08:45.000
[ Birds squawking ]
00:08:45.000 --> 00:08:46.918
She spread a handful of dirt,
and danced,
00:08:46.918 --> 00:08:50.125
and the turtle grew
into our Mother Earth.
00:08:50.999 --> 00:08:52.999
Everything in our worldview
00:08:54.626 --> 00:08:57.709
is vested in the life-giving
force of women.
00:09:00.459 --> 00:09:01.667
She had a destiny to fulfill,
00:09:03.999 --> 00:09:08.000
and it was through her story
that the Earth came to be.
00:09:08.000 --> 00:09:10.918
So everything
in our longhouse,
00:09:10.918 --> 00:09:13.250
in our ceremonies,
replays that.
00:09:13.250 --> 00:09:16.334
-The sort of equivalent
of Sky Woman,
00:09:16.334 --> 00:09:19.584
the creation story --
00:09:19.584 --> 00:09:21.459
he is lonely.
00:09:21.459 --> 00:09:23.375
He creates woman
out of man\'s rib.
00:09:23.999 --> 00:09:27.834
So we don\'t have
an original identity.
00:09:27.834 --> 00:09:30.375
We are the helpmate of man.
00:09:31.501 --> 00:09:33.667
That set the stage for law.
00:09:34.999 --> 00:09:37.959
♪♪
00:09:38.999 --> 00:09:42.751
If we\'re looking
at the time period
00:09:42.751 --> 00:09:44.751
right before the first
women\'s rights convention
00:09:45.000 --> 00:09:48.626
in 1848 in Seneca Falls,
00:09:48.626 --> 00:09:51.999
they socially lived
in isolated households.
00:09:53.501 --> 00:09:56.999
They owned nothing.
00:09:56.999 --> 00:09:58.626
The children that they bore
were not theirs.
00:09:58.959 --> 00:10:02.334
Because once they married,
00:10:02.334 --> 00:10:03.959
everything became the property
of their husbands.
00:10:07.751 --> 00:10:10.999
It wasn\'t possible for women
to get divorced
00:10:10.999 --> 00:10:14.000
during this time period,
00:10:14.000 --> 00:10:15.667
and the idea was that marriage
was a covenant with God,
00:10:15.667 --> 00:10:19.042
and you couldn\'t break it.
00:10:19.042 --> 00:10:21.792
Husbands had the right
to beat their wives
00:10:21.792 --> 00:10:24.083
as long as they inflicted
no permanent damage.
00:10:27.709 --> 00:10:30.999
Women in the United States
had no political voice.
00:10:32.876 --> 00:10:36.250
They were dead in the law.
00:10:36.250 --> 00:10:37.999
And they could not sue
or be sued.
00:10:37.999 --> 00:10:39.999
They couldn\'t serve on a jury.
00:10:39.999 --> 00:10:41.999
They had no political influence
in the government in any way.
00:10:43.751 --> 00:10:47.292
-[ Singing in Native language ]
00:10:48.999 --> 00:10:51.999
♪♪
00:10:54.792 --> 00:10:58.250
-This belt that I\'m holding,
00:10:58.250 --> 00:11:00.542
it\'s referred to
as a wampum belt.
00:11:00.542 --> 00:11:03.167
This is the way in which
00:11:03.167 --> 00:11:04.999
we visually recorded
our important history.
00:11:06.167 --> 00:11:08.792
This confederacy is located
within what today
00:11:10.042 --> 00:11:13.083
we call New York State.
00:11:13.083 --> 00:11:15.542
We range all the way
00:11:15.542 --> 00:11:16.999
from the westernmost part
of New York State
00:11:16.999 --> 00:11:19.626
to the eastern part
of the state.
00:11:19.626 --> 00:11:22.959
Some call us the Iroquois.
00:11:22.959 --> 00:11:24.999
Some refer to us
as the Six Nations.
00:11:24.999 --> 00:11:27.417
To ourselves,
we are Haudenosaunee.
00:11:29.083 --> 00:11:30.167
Benjamin Franklin
and Thomas Jefferson saw that
00:11:33.000 --> 00:11:35.999
we have a representational
form of government
00:11:35.999 --> 00:11:38.501
because they attended
treaty councils
00:11:38.501 --> 00:11:40.334
and they saw
how we made decisions.
00:11:41.501 --> 00:11:43.959
The clan mothers are there
to make sure that the chiefs
00:11:45.542 --> 00:11:47.999
are acting in the best interests
of the people,
00:11:47.999 --> 00:11:51.000
sort of a balance of power
of men and women.
00:11:51.000 --> 00:11:53.999
And it\'s the women
who nominate these leaders.
00:11:53.999 --> 00:11:57.751
-The first generals
with Washington,
00:11:57.751 --> 00:12:00.042
in meeting with our chiefs,
00:12:00.042 --> 00:12:01.834
noted that our chiefs
would not make a decision
00:12:01.834 --> 00:12:03.999
without counseling
with the women.
00:12:03.999 --> 00:12:07.250
He called them
\"petticoat chiefs\"
00:12:07.250 --> 00:12:09.292
because he thought
it was a spectacle.
00:12:09.501 --> 00:12:13.459
His European mind could not
comprehend why it is
00:12:13.459 --> 00:12:16.209
that men would confer with women
00:12:16.209 --> 00:12:18.584
when trying to make
a political decision.
00:12:18.584 --> 00:12:21.501
♪♪
00:12:22.999 --> 00:12:26.417
-Before the year 1687,
00:12:26.417 --> 00:12:28.834
the year that it was destroyed
by the French,
00:12:28.834 --> 00:12:31.125
we would have seen,
first of all,
00:12:31.125 --> 00:12:32.792
about 150 bark longhouses.
00:12:33.042 --> 00:12:35.584
The domain of men,
it\'s really the woods.
00:12:37.250 --> 00:12:40.459
♪♪
00:12:40.459 --> 00:12:43.292
Everything inside
of the clearing --
00:12:43.292 --> 00:12:45.626
the gardens and the house --
belonged to the women.
00:12:46.209 --> 00:12:49.417
♪♪
00:12:49.417 --> 00:12:53.250
The duties and responsibilities
of a woman
00:12:53.250 --> 00:12:56.125
really centered around food
00:12:56.125 --> 00:12:58.083
because they were really
the primary agriculturalists.
00:12:58.083 --> 00:13:01.375
They grew our three sisters --
corn, beans, and squash.
00:13:02.999 --> 00:13:05.292
It\'s the central role of women
to bring life,
00:13:06.999 --> 00:13:09.834
you know, into this world,
and that is powerful.
00:13:14.999 --> 00:13:18.292
-I can only imagine
00:13:18.292 --> 00:13:21.042
what it was like
in the villages,
00:13:21.042 --> 00:13:23.542
in the fields
a long time ago.
00:13:23.542 --> 00:13:25.167
[ Crickets and birds chirping ]
00:13:25.167 --> 00:13:27.999
♪♪
00:13:27.999 --> 00:13:30.918
Our villages
were arranged by clients.
00:13:33.959 --> 00:13:37.417
Inside each longhouse
was a network of women
00:13:37.417 --> 00:13:40.667
from one clan family.
00:13:40.667 --> 00:13:42.792
-[ Speaking Native language ]
00:13:42.792 --> 00:13:44.999
-There was a balance between
the roles of men and women.
00:13:45.375 --> 00:13:48.834
-[ Baby fusses ]
00:13:48.834 --> 00:13:49.999
-When daughters would marry,
00:13:49.999 --> 00:13:51.626
their husbands of
a different clan
00:13:51.626 --> 00:13:53.918
would move in with her
and her entire clan family.
00:13:56.167 --> 00:13:58.083
-Abuse of women
was almost nonexistent,
00:13:59.999 --> 00:14:03.209
and if a man could not follow
that sort of rule,
00:14:03.542 --> 00:14:07.501
he might come home
and find outside of the door
00:14:07.501 --> 00:14:09.999
all of his belongings,
00:14:09.999 --> 00:14:11.584
indicating it was time
for him to move on.
00:14:12.501 --> 00:14:14.501
-Elizabeth Cady Stanton
wrote with wonder
00:14:16.292 --> 00:14:19.542
about what it was
for Haudenosaunee women
00:14:19.542 --> 00:14:22.751
to be able to just
put the belongings
00:14:22.751 --> 00:14:25.709
outside the longhouse,
and that was the end of it.
00:14:25.709 --> 00:14:29.042
That if a husband misbehaved,
it was --
00:14:29.042 --> 00:14:31.792
that was a vision of,
00:14:31.792 --> 00:14:33.000
could that even be
possible in this world?
00:14:33.000 --> 00:14:36.584
-The suffragettes from,
you know,
00:14:36.584 --> 00:14:38.334
Mott to Cady Stanton,
00:14:38.334 --> 00:14:40.125
all of them have things written
and published about them.
00:14:40.125 --> 00:14:43.459
We simply don\'t because
our history
00:14:43.459 --> 00:14:44.999
has been left out
all these years.
00:14:44.999 --> 00:14:46.709
-Good afternoon.
00:14:46.709 --> 00:14:48.042
Thank you for coming
to Women\'s Rights National...
00:14:48.042 --> 00:14:50.834
♪♪
00:14:50.834 --> 00:14:52.459
-If you\'re so deeply embedded
00:14:52.626 --> 00:14:56.000
in being told religiously
00:14:56.000 --> 00:14:58.751
and socially and biologically
that you\'re inferior,
00:15:00.209 --> 00:15:03.999
and that\'s all you
see around you,
00:15:03.999 --> 00:15:07.209
you can\'t imagine
that things could be different.
00:15:07.709 --> 00:15:10.918
♪♪
00:15:10.918 --> 00:15:14.042
These women had to see something
that told them
00:15:14.042 --> 00:15:17.999
that it was possible
to have a different world
00:15:18.042 --> 00:15:21.999
and to be treated
in a different way.
00:15:21.999 --> 00:15:25.125
And so in 1848, Lucretia Mott
comes from Cattaraugus.
00:15:26.667 --> 00:15:30.250
She\'s met
with the Seneca women.
00:15:30.250 --> 00:15:33.167
And she would probably have been
pouring out the vision of,
00:15:34.292 --> 00:15:37.999
\"You know what I just saw?\"
00:15:37.999 --> 00:15:39.542
-[ Speaking Native language ]
00:15:39.542 --> 00:15:42.000
-\"I just saw women
having political voice.
00:15:42.000 --> 00:15:44.501
I just saw women
having spiritual voice.\"
00:15:44.501 --> 00:15:47.209
So she\'s seeing something
that is like,
00:15:47.209 --> 00:15:50.999
\"Here is a vision of the way
the world can be created.\"
00:15:50.999 --> 00:15:54.792
-Definitely,
you cannot deny the fact
00:15:54.792 --> 00:15:57.584
that many of their ideas,
00:15:57.584 --> 00:15:59.042
their philosophies
that they fought for
00:15:59.042 --> 00:16:01.292
for women\'s rights
came from Haudenosaunee women
00:16:01.292 --> 00:16:04.334
because the women\'s rights
movement,
00:16:04.334 --> 00:16:05.959
the suffragists were
from New York State.
00:16:05.959 --> 00:16:07.834
♪♪
00:16:07.834 --> 00:16:09.501
Their location
in Seneca Falls,
00:16:09.501 --> 00:16:11.542
right in the heart
of our indigenous territory.
00:16:11.542 --> 00:16:14.000
That has to be significant
in itself.
00:16:14.000 --> 00:16:16.459
Why didn\'t they choose
New York City or Washington?
00:16:16.459 --> 00:16:20.000
-Matilda Joslyn Gage,
who lived in Fayetteville,
00:16:20.000 --> 00:16:23.626
in 1893
was given an honorary adoption
00:16:24.626 --> 00:16:28.375
in the Wolf clan
of the Mohawk Nation.
00:16:29.999 --> 00:16:31.417
She writes to her daughter,
\"My sisters are considering me
00:16:34.999 --> 00:16:38.876
for a voice
in the Council of Matrons,
00:16:38.876 --> 00:16:42.584
which would give me a say
in the choosing of the chief,
00:16:42.584 --> 00:16:46.417
would give me a political voice,
as all the women have.\"
00:16:49.626 --> 00:16:50.501
She talks about
the Haudenosaunee
00:16:53.250 --> 00:16:55.999
and she says,
\"Never was justice more perfect.
00:16:55.999 --> 00:16:59.375
Never was civilization higher.\"
00:16:59.834 --> 00:17:02.999
♪♪
00:17:02.999 --> 00:17:05.876
It took women 72 years
00:17:05.876 --> 00:17:08.999
to finally be guaranteed
the right to vote
00:17:09.417 --> 00:17:13.250
in the Constitution
of the United States.
00:17:13.501 --> 00:17:16.709
♪♪
00:17:16.709 --> 00:17:18.167
[ Crowd cheering ]
00:17:18.167 --> 00:17:21.167
♪♪
00:17:21.167 --> 00:17:23.999
♪♪
00:17:30.751 --> 00:17:31.876
-[ Singing in Native language ]
00:17:35.918 --> 00:17:38.999
♪♪
00:17:41.999 --> 00:17:45.876
-As the women in America
were gaining power,
00:17:45.876 --> 00:17:49.584
the right to vote,
more freedom for speech,
00:17:49.584 --> 00:17:52.876
our women were losing
a lot of the power
00:17:52.876 --> 00:17:55.417
that they had held
traditionally.
00:17:55.417 --> 00:17:57.709
-[ Singing continues ]
00:18:00.542 --> 00:18:02.209
♪♪
00:18:08.999 --> 00:18:12.999
-The children who were here
were forcibly isolated
00:18:12.999 --> 00:18:15.999
from their families.
00:18:17.876 --> 00:18:20.999
They took away their culture,
00:18:20.999 --> 00:18:22.542
they stripped them
of their language,
00:18:22.542 --> 00:18:23.959
they didn\'t teach
their own history to them.
00:18:23.959 --> 00:18:26.292
♪♪
00:18:28.999 --> 00:18:32.792
This is a picture
that I actually found
00:18:32.792 --> 00:18:34.709
in the New York State Archives,
and what you see
00:18:34.709 --> 00:18:36.999
is my mother pictured here
in the second row,
00:18:36.999 --> 00:18:39.125
the second one from the left.
00:18:39.125 --> 00:18:41.999
One thing that she remembers,
00:18:41.999 --> 00:18:43.999
you could hear
the crying at night.
00:18:46.792 --> 00:18:50.584
And here\'s a picture
of where you can see
00:18:50.584 --> 00:18:53.250
how the boys
were taught farming skills.
00:18:53.250 --> 00:18:56.918
The women in
our Haudenosaunee society
00:18:56.918 --> 00:18:59.292
were always the ones who took
the seeds and planted them.
00:19:00.751 --> 00:19:04.626
That complete gender role
reversal happened
00:19:04.626 --> 00:19:07.501
as a result
of the boarding schools,
00:19:07.501 --> 00:19:09.501
and also partially as a result
of placing us on smaller
00:19:09.501 --> 00:19:12.918
and smaller pieces of land
called reservation.
00:19:12.918 --> 00:19:15.667
-[ Singing in Native language ]
00:19:17.042 --> 00:19:20.250
♪♪
00:19:21.375 --> 00:19:25.417
-Under this full moon here
under the winter solstice...
00:19:26.959 --> 00:19:29.999
♪♪
00:19:29.999 --> 00:19:32.876
...you know, we gather here
00:19:32.876 --> 00:19:34.999
in, like, a feminine force
00:19:34.999 --> 00:19:38.375
in order to share
with each other,
00:19:38.375 --> 00:19:40.999
to acknowledge each other.
00:19:40.999 --> 00:19:43.375
Besides being a wife,
a mother, a grandmother,
00:19:43.375 --> 00:19:45.501
I\'m a clan mother,
00:19:45.501 --> 00:19:46.999
so I take seriously my position
and I sincerely care
00:19:46.999 --> 00:19:50.501
about the maternal
child wellness in our community.
00:19:52.999 --> 00:19:56.999
And because of everything
that\'s happened to us,
00:19:56.999 --> 00:19:58.999
we have forgotten.
00:19:58.999 --> 00:20:00.959
We have forgotten our
rightful place in our societies.
00:20:01.417 --> 00:20:04.999
So in this generation,
00:20:04.999 --> 00:20:06.250
I want to make everybody reclaim
their rightful place.
00:20:06.250 --> 00:20:09.292
But part of reclaiming
that authority also means
00:20:09.292 --> 00:20:11.999
responsibility about how to be
responsible for that.
00:20:11.999 --> 00:20:14.999
-I notice a lot in,
at least as a youth,
00:20:14.999 --> 00:20:18.000
that there\'s a lot
of intergenerational trauma,
00:20:18.000 --> 00:20:20.709
but we don\'t realize it
until we\'re older,
00:20:20.709 --> 00:20:22.375
and we don\'t really know
how to deal with that.
00:20:22.375 --> 00:20:25.959
-Be part of this generation
that rethinks itself,
00:20:25.959 --> 00:20:29.709
redesigns itself, and get away
from those stereotypical norms
00:20:30.125 --> 00:20:34.083
of what everybody thinks
an indigenous woman is.
00:20:34.083 --> 00:20:37.999
You know, because there\'s
a lot of things amiss
00:20:38.542 --> 00:20:42.292
in societies,
from missing and murdered
00:20:42.292 --> 00:20:45.459
to the disrespect of our women.
00:20:45.626 --> 00:20:49.375
But nobody\'s going to
give that to us.
00:20:49.375 --> 00:20:50.999
We\'re going to give it
to ourselves.
00:20:50.999 --> 00:20:52.999
-Find some good women
to be around
00:20:52.999 --> 00:20:56.209
and keep them close
and support support each other
00:20:57.459 --> 00:21:01.250
because we\'re all going
to need each other
00:21:01.250 --> 00:21:03.167
at different points in our lives
and our children\'s lives
00:21:03.167 --> 00:21:06.999
and our grandchildren\'s
lives, like --
00:21:06.999 --> 00:21:09.167
maybe our
great grandchildren\'s lives
00:21:09.167 --> 00:21:10.751
if we get there, you know.
00:21:10.751 --> 00:21:12.125
-[ Singing in Native language ]
00:21:13.751 --> 00:21:16.959
♪♪
00:21:19.999 --> 00:21:23.042
♪♪
00:21:25.501 --> 00:21:28.709
♪♪
00:21:32.751 --> 00:21:36.250
[ Exclaiming ]
[ Chatter ]
00:21:37.584 --> 00:21:39.375
♪♪
00:21:41.626 --> 00:21:44.999
-Ms. Rock Star Sally.
00:21:44.999 --> 00:21:46.709
[ Laughter ]
00:21:46.709 --> 00:21:47.999
-Oh, thank you.
00:21:47.999 --> 00:21:49.667
Gloria Steinem says
this book,
00:21:49.667 --> 00:21:52.999
unlike most histories,
00:21:52.999 --> 00:21:55.542
doesn\'t begin with white women.
00:21:55.542 --> 00:21:58.083
And it begins, of course,
with the Haudenosaunee influence
00:21:58.709 --> 00:22:01.999
on women\'s rights.
00:22:02.292 --> 00:22:03.999
There are 500 people tonight
who are going to know
00:22:07.709 --> 00:22:11.375
that women\'s rights
did not start
00:22:11.375 --> 00:22:14.792
in Seneca Falls in 1848.
00:22:16.667 --> 00:22:18.042
-Makes my heart want to cry.
00:22:20.125 --> 00:22:22.834
Because of you.
00:22:22.834 --> 00:22:24.999
-No, it\'s because I got taught.
00:22:24.999 --> 00:22:26.959
[ Both laugh ]
00:22:26.959 --> 00:22:27.999
♪♪
00:22:27.999 --> 00:22:30.751
I\'ve anticipated
that I\'m going to get
00:22:30.751 --> 00:22:33.083
really strong backlash
to this book.
00:22:33.501 --> 00:22:36.709
♪♪
00:22:36.709 --> 00:22:38.167
People who are entrenched
in the university,
00:22:38.167 --> 00:22:40.999
and they\'ve been telling
a particular story,
00:22:40.999 --> 00:22:44.250
may end up
being threatened by this.
00:22:44.250 --> 00:22:47.209
[ Cheers and applause ]
00:22:49.542 --> 00:22:51.042
-In the Museum of the
American Indian in Washington,
00:22:53.584 --> 00:22:56.417
there is a lecture in the
beginning by a young scholar,
00:22:56.999 --> 00:23:00.918
Native scholar,
who starts out by saying,
00:23:00.918 --> 00:23:03.334
\"There are two things,
history and the past,
00:23:03.334 --> 00:23:06.334
and they are not the same.\"
00:23:06.334 --> 00:23:08.999
-History is not what happened,
it\'s who tells the story, right?
00:23:09.792 --> 00:23:13.667
-History was lived
by several different races,
00:23:13.667 --> 00:23:16.209
but only told from
one point of view.
00:23:16.209 --> 00:23:18.999
-And if you have a single lens,
00:23:18.999 --> 00:23:20.999
and especially if you have the
lens of people with privilege,
00:23:21.167 --> 00:23:25.167
you have the least effective
and truthful history.
00:23:25.999 --> 00:23:29.999
-Until you begin to put women
and life bearers
00:23:31.292 --> 00:23:34.999
to the forefront
on the currency
00:23:34.999 --> 00:23:37.501
and statues across the city,
00:23:37.501 --> 00:23:40.250
you return them to the podium,
you return them to leadership,
00:23:40.250 --> 00:23:42.999
you give them a voice
in your democracy,
00:23:42.999 --> 00:23:45.083
in your decision making --
00:23:45.083 --> 00:23:46.834
then not until then
00:23:46.834 --> 00:23:48.999
will this country be truly rich
and be truly a superpower
00:23:50.459 --> 00:23:54.167
and a leader
to the rest of the world
00:23:54.167 --> 00:23:55.918
to say, \"We include our mothers.
We include our sisters.
00:23:56.042 --> 00:24:00.000
We include our daughters
and our granddaughters.
00:24:00.292 --> 00:24:03.501
♪♪
00:24:08.918 --> 00:24:12.999
-So someday when they ask you
about where you\'re from
00:24:12.999 --> 00:24:15.334
and who your people are,
00:24:15.334 --> 00:24:16.999
you\'re not going to go
like this and hide,
00:24:16.999 --> 00:24:18.918
you\'re going to step into it
00:24:18.918 --> 00:24:20.292
because you had these lessons
[ speaks indistinctly ].
00:24:20.999 --> 00:24:24.501
-I just want to say, like,
00:24:24.501 --> 00:24:25.999
we should not
let go of our roots
00:24:25.999 --> 00:24:27.999
and we should not give up, even
if someone says it\'s too late.
00:24:27.999 --> 00:24:30.999
As a community, we need to work
together in unity
00:24:30.999 --> 00:24:34.083
to learn those things
and bring it back
00:24:34.083 --> 00:24:36.709
in order to heal ourselves
asago:nhgweh people,
00:24:36.709 --> 00:24:39.999
and in order
to heal ourselves as...
00:24:39.999 --> 00:24:44.083
a human race, because our Earth
is really sick right now.
00:24:44.292 --> 00:24:48.042
It is our job,
more than anyone else\'s,
00:24:48.209 --> 00:24:51.918
to be able to heal
each other
00:24:51.918 --> 00:24:53.667
and heal this Earth
we should be respecting.
00:24:55.999 --> 00:24:57.709
-[ Singing in Native language ]
00:25:01.417 --> 00:25:02.292
♪♪
00:25:10.292 --> 00:25:13.876
[ Singing continues ]
00:25:15.918 --> 00:25:18.999
♪♪
00:25:20.667 --> 00:25:23.876
♪♪
00:25:25.999 --> 00:25:29.334
[ Singing continues ]
00:25:30.334 --> 00:25:33.542
♪♪
00:25:39.876 --> 00:25:42.999
♪♪
00:25:47.751 --> 00:25:50.959
♪♪
00:25:53.751 --> 00:25:56.959
♪♪
00:25:56.959 --> 00:25:59.999
[ Singing continues ]
00:25:59.999 --> 00:26:02.292
♪♪
00:26:09.000 --> 00:26:12.209
♪♪
00:26:12.209 --> 00:26:14.834
[ Singing fades ]
00:26:33.083 --> 00:26:35.292
-Funding for \"Konnón:kwe --
Without a Whisper\"was made possible
by the following funders...
00:26:35.292 --> 00:26:37.334
And the Corporation
for Public Broadcasting.