Anacaona:
Anacaona (from Taíno anacaona, meaning "golden flower"; from ana, meaning "flower", and caona, meaning "gold, golden") was a Taíno cacica (chief), sister of Bohechío, chief of Xaragua. Her husband was Caonabo, chief of the nearby territory of Maguana. Her brother and her husband were two of the five highest caciques who ruled the island of Ayiti (now called Hispaniola) when the Spaniards settled there in 1492. She was celebrated as a composer of ballads and narrative poems, called areítos.
Let us be very honest about the
Conquistadors, from the Portuguese or Spanish conquistadores, meaning "conquerors" ... they were the ISIS/ISIL of those days. The Spanish ISIS
conquistadores offered Anacaona clemency if she became the concubine, or whore, of one of the Spaniards ISIS soldiers, common to the practices of the Spaniards in that era. She, like many women of the Yazidi in today's Iraq, chose death over becoming one of the whores of the Spanish ISIS.
Anacaona is the rare woman whose name is known from the numerous women (and most especially girls) of Haiti who were victimized by:
Sexual violence on the part of Christopher Columbus's soldiers began almost immediately upon the landing of on the island. When he established a fortress and left for Spain in 1493, Spanish soldiers he left behind sexually abused the native Taino Arawak women and girls. In some cases they held native women and girls as sex slaves. Spanish missionary Bartolomé de las Casas spoke out against the brutality of the Spaniards in a campaign against the enslavement of the Tainos. He quoted one Taino cacique (tribal chief) who said of the Spaniards, "They speak to us of an immortal soul and of their eternal rewards and punishments, and yet they rob our belongings, seduce our women, violate our daughters." In a 1500 letter Columbus wrote of the slave trade in Hispaniola, " ... there are plenty of dealers who go about looking for girls; those from nine to ten are now in demand."
On a happier note, the role of women within the many cultures of the First Americans must be examined. The women of agriculture who, over the centuries, nurtured the breeding and cultivation of corn, maize, one of present day America's biggest cash crops, were commemorated as the Corn Maidens. One of the legends credits women with the discovery of fire as well as creation of an edible maize, The Strange Origin of Corn.
The Iroquois:
In the Iroquois community, women were the keepers of culture. They were responsible for defining the political, social, spiritual and economic norms of the tribe. Iroquois society was matrilineal, meaning descent was traced through the mother rather than through the father, as it was in Colonial society. While Iroquois sachems (chiefs-leaders) were men, women nominated them for their leadership positions and made sure they fulfilled their responsibilities.
By and large, the many cultures of the First Americans do not seem to be permeated with loathing and deep hatred of women. Even that most dreaded aspect of women,
menstruation, was treated with honor and respect:
In today’s American culture, the onset of menstruation in young women has lost most of the luster it once carried. ... here’s a brief lesson on how and why some Native American cultures consider menarche (the first occurrence of menstruation) to be an experience that is to be honored, treasured and celebrated.
The Navajo tribes celebrate a girl’s first menstrual period with an elaborate four-day celebration called the “Kinaalda.” .. to symbolize a physical and spiritual closeness to Mother Nature, and a young girl’s transformation into the very image of Mother Nature.
.... The Apache tribes have a similar celebration called the “Sunrise Ceremony” that consists of many similar activities and rituals that signify a young girl entering into womanhood. ... Many other Native American tribes celebrate in a similar manner each time one of their own crosses the bridge into womanhood with their first menstruation. To them, becoming a woman is an honor, something sacred, a privilege and something to truly cherish and commemorate.
In contrast to what we see exhibited today, women as nasty and soiled, less than men, to be suffered as little more than breeders of children.