The Role of Women in Iroquoian Society

Abstract

Three primary sources (Gabriel Sagard, Joseph-Francois Lafitau and Lewis Henry Morgan) written in three different centuries are consulted to discover what information they contain on the economic, social and political role of women in Iroquoian society. This information is analyzed with respect to its reliability and credibility. Recent interpretations of the ethnohistoric record (Brown, Tooker and Trigger), as well as the primary sources are considered in terms of the role of women in the authors' societies. These sources show that the role of Iroquoian women changed over time; however, the record may have been influenced by the role of women in the authors' societies at the time.