Matriarchal Leaders Not New to Tribes

I’m writing in response to a statement made by Connie Koenenn in her article “Heart of a Nation” (Nov. 1). Wilma Mankiller may well be the first woman elected to a top leadership position in one of today’s patriarchal Indian nations, but to say she is the first woman to lead a major North American tribe is misleading.

Before the introduction of Christianity and patriarchal government intervention, many tribes were matriarchal and matrilineal with women as chiefs and warriors. As the conquered tribes were forced into being “civilized” the status of these women along with their goddess deities fell.

DEBORAH L. HAMM, Alhambra

*

“Heart of a Nation” was a deserved recognition for a woman of our times who straddles two worlds, an ancient one and the one we all face every day. Her success in raising the awareness of people regarding the plight of her nation led to her induction into the Women’s Hall of Fame at Seneca Falls, N.Y., on Oct. 9.

Do you realize the other Native American inducted into the Hall of Fame is working right here among us in Los Angeles? Katherine Siva Saubel has lived and worked among us for 73 years, saving her language and the memory of her people from oblivion and working with experts from USC and other institutes of learning. Her books are still used by people trying to learn about the ways of her Cahuilla people.

Maybe you should try to find her in Banning on the Cahuilla reservation or at the museum she helped found at Malki. She might just be home from saving Indian sacred sites from vandals, helping the California Indian Heritage Commission in Sacramento or testifying before the U.S. Congress, or teaching youngsters in kindergarten.

HILDEGARD W. HUNTSMAN, Sherman Oaks