Page 141 - Confronting Race Women and Indians on the Frontier, 1815 - 1915

F R O N T I E R P R O C E S S : H U MAN I Z I N G

interpretations o f American Indians. For some women this change
occurred rather quickly, often during the westward trek itself. For
others, especially those who were abruptly deposited in a raw f r ontier
settlement by a ship or a railroad, the metamorphosis came more slowly.
Whatever the timing, numerous women replaced their conception of
American Indians as a combination of saint and savage with a view of
natives as human beings to be empathized with, perhaps even liked.
Although white women and men were exposed to similar influences,
such as the f e rocity or the gentleness of the natives they encountered,
as well as whether or not their party had violent interchanges with
Indians, white men seldom exhibited a like degree of contradiction or
change in their interpretations of Indians.
W o men's perceptions fr equently altered because their perceptions
of American Indians were linked to changing ideas about themselves as
f e males.As women's beliefs about themselves modified, women thought
of themselves less as civilizers and more as physically adept people.
Consequently, they were able to see native peoples in a more humane
way. A woman who headed westward with trepidation regarding Native
Americans could, and often did, become sympathetic to those very
Indians.

-- Finding "Bad" Indians --

Like Indians, white women were considered by nineteenth-century
society to have two sides to their natures, one superior and the other
inferior. The superior side of women's character derived fr om their
exceptional moral abilities, the quality that made them moral guardians
of home and f a mily. In addition, women's superiority included other
admirable traits; they were kind, gentle, passive, religious, domestic, pure,
and refined. At the same time, the inferior aspect of women's nature
resulted f r om their weakness. Although morally superior, women were
believed to be physically and intellectually inferior. They had small brains
and weak muscles. They were helpless, childlike, nonassertive, indecisive,
and unable to protect themselves. I

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