Gender Roles within Wampanoag Society

Synopsis:

The Wampanoag people’s way of making a living was organized on a family level. Meaning that it was the family’s sole duty to support itself and in essence be independent. Families supported themselves by having seasonal movements from the shores in the spring till the summer when they would move inland for the winter. In the spring, families came together to fish, in the winter they hunted game and in the summer they spread out to cultivate particularized planting fields. Boys were taught the ins and outs of the woods, where being a skillful hunter and the ability to survive under all conditions were vital to his family’s well-being. Women were taught to work diligently in the fields and around the wetu, which is a portable oval house that the Wampanoag people lived in; additionally, they learned to gather fruits, nuts, and other produce from the habitat.

            The production of food was also divided along gender lines. Men and women had specific tasks, and the women play and active role in most of the stags of food production. Women were responsible for up to 75% of all food production in Wampanoag societies. They took care of the farming and the gathering of fruits, nuts, berries, and so for, while Wampanoag men were mainly responsible for hunting and fishing. Since the Wampanoag society relies so heavily from this kind of work, women had socio-political, economic, and spiritual roles in their communities.

 

Reflection:

After reading several articles on the gender lines in Wampanoag society and composing this synopsis, I learned not only how resourceful they were but also how big of a role women played in their society. In today's world women are looked down as a lesser being, at least in western civilization, but women in Wampanoag tribes played such a vital role for food production and maintenance of their wetu. It was said in an article that Wampanoag women were responsible for 75% of all food production, and this in turn made them have a big socio-political and economic role in the community. I find this remarkable because without the help and the roles the Wampanoag women played, the tribes would suffer detrimentally.

Now on to how resourceful they were as a whole. The Wampanoag people were intelligent people, and knew that they had to migrate between the shores and inland to prevent over-exploitation of resources and animals. They did this by staying by the shore in the spring and then moving slowly towards inland for the winter. They also adapted to their lifestyle by creating a movable house they call a wetu. Finally, they were able to find and gather foods that grew naturally in their environment that they used to either grow crops, heal wounds, or feed themselves.

All in all, the Wampanoag people adapted well to their environment and showed how they broke down the gender barrier centuries before it even became a problem in western civilization. If I had to critic my work, I would say that I was able to provide substantial information of the gender roles within Wampanoag society; however, I wish I was able to find differences between the groups of Wampanoag people because not every tribe followed this generalized structure of defined gender roles.

 

Resources:

 

Eldredge, Wampanoag N, & Penobscot. “Who Are the Wampanoag?”. Plimoth Plantation. 2003. November 4, 2013. http://www.plimoth.org/learn/just-kids/homework-help/who-are-wampanoag

“The Wampanoag Tribe”. Abcteach.com. 2006. November 4, 2013. http://www.abcteach.com/free/r/rc_native_wampanoag_upperelem.pdf