Women (59 resources)

Making Memories with Dolls

Making Memories with Dolls

Article

An NMAI fellow uses the senses to show how dolls can make and preserve memories.

Restoration and Honor for Osage Ballerina Sisters

Restoration and Honor for Osage Ballerina Sisters

Article

Honoring Osage sisters who leaped into ballet history.

"Shelley Niro: 500 Year Itch"

"Shelley Niro: 500 Year Itch"

Video

A Big Step for Kiowa Women Veterans

A Big Step for Kiowa Women Veterans

Article

The Kiowa Women Warriors are the first all-women Kiowa color guard-and the first to wear feathered war bonnets, a tradition long reserved for men.

Cycling Siblings Break New Ground

Cycling Siblings Break New Ground

Article

Oneida siblings are taking the professional cycling world by storm.

Scratching a 500 Year Itch: Mohawk Artist Shelley Niro’s Multimedia Creations Know No Limits

Scratching a 500 Year Itch: Mohawk Artist Shelley Niro’s Multimedia Creations Know No Limits

Article

An NMAI exhibition features the candid art of Six Nations Kanyen’kehá:ka (Mohawk) artist, photographer and filmmaker Shelley Niro—works that shine a harsh spotlight on society yet provide a healing outlet for her people.

Following Family Lines

Following Family Lines

Article

A Hopi pottery maker discovers her grandmother’s pot and inspiration in the NMAI’s Cultural Resources Center.

The Aunties of FX's "Reservation Dogs"

The Aunties of FX's "Reservation Dogs"

Video

A Sisterhood of the Sea

A Sisterhood of the Sea

Article

Shinnecock farmers are reviving kelp-growing traditions to restore a Long Island bay.

Artist Discussion: Ancestors Know Who We Are

Artist Discussion: Ancestors Know Who We Are

Video

Succinct Poetry with Long Roots and Reach

Succinct Poetry with Long Roots and Reach

Article

Donna Beaver’s Tlingit and Tsimshian cultures have inspired her powerful poems and imagery.

Lasting Impressions: Jennie Ross Cobb, First Female American Indian Photographer, Framed Cherokee Life in Indian Territory

Lasting Impressions: Jennie Ross Cobb, First Female American Indian Photographer, Framed Cherokee Life in Indian Territory

Article

Jennie Ross Cobb, the first known Native American female photographer, captured some of the earliest images of life in a Cherokee Nation in Indian Territory.

Women as Leaders and Nurturers

Women as Leaders and Nurturers

Article

Sičáŋǧu Lakota artist Dyani White Hawk’s screen prints honor the strength, leadership and care-taking roles of Native women and veterans.

Bolstering Artisans of the Americas

Bolstering Artisans of the Americas

Article

Heidi McKinnon set up shop to support and share the beautiful, handmade works of Indigenous artisans.

Showing Women of Strength

Showing Women of Strength

Article

Aymara photographer Sara Aliaga Ticona captures the essence of Bolivian women in her stunning images.

A View into Two Worlds

A View into Two Worlds

Article

Images in the Smithsonian archives of Zitkala-Ša show how this accomplished Yankton Sioux writer, violinist, composer and advocate for Indigenous rights and women’s suffrage lived in two very different cultures.

Museum's New Director Dr. Cynthia Chavez Lamar Says Her Goal Is 'Listening, Being Respectful and Asking for Help'

Museum's New Director Dr. Cynthia Chavez Lamar Says Her Goal Is 'Listening, Being Respectful and Asking for Help'

Blog

The Dreamscapes of Emily Johnson

The Dreamscapes of Emily Johnson

Article

This award-winning Yup’ik meta choreographer doesn’t simply break the conventions of contemporary dance; she ignores them.

National Women's History Month: Mitchelene BigMan

National Women's History Month: Mitchelene BigMan

Blog

Kay WalkingStick and Jaune Quick-to-See Smith in Conversation

Kay WalkingStick and Jaune Quick-to-See Smith in Conversation

Video

Native Women Making Change

Native Women Making Change

Video

A conversation with two young Native women who are currently working at local and state levels to make change.

Reactions From Indian Country to Deb Haaland’s Confirmation as Secretary of the Interior

Reactions From Indian Country to Deb Haaland’s Confirmation as Secretary of the Interior

Blog

Meet Three Native Women Combining Powwow Dance With Other Types of Fitness

Meet Three Native Women Combining Powwow Dance With Other Types of Fitness

Blog

How Do American Indians Celebrate Mother's Day?

How Do American Indians Celebrate Mother's Day?

Blog

Chief Warrant Officer Two Misty Dawn Lakota

Chief Warrant Officer Two Misty Dawn Lakota

Blog

Women's History Month Matters at the National Museum of the American Indian

Women's History Month Matters at the National Museum of the American Indian

Blog

From a Dance Performance on the Residential School Experience to a Symposium Celebrating Native Women's Art, Women's History Month Matters at the National Museum of the American Indian.

A Lasting Statement: An Exhibition Showcases the Range and Enduring Impacts of Native Women's Art

A Lasting Statement: An Exhibition Showcases the Range and Enduring Impacts of Native Women's Art

Article

Women have created the majority of Native art, but their individual creativity and influence has often been ignored by the art world. The exhibition Hearts of Our People: Native Women Artists could help change that.

Symposium—A Promise Kept: The Inspiring Life and Works of Suzan Shown Harjo

Symposium—A Promise Kept: The Inspiring Life and Works of Suzan Shown Harjo

Video Playlist

A Promise Kept

A Promise Kept

Article

Suzan Shown Harjo helped achieve the passage of the federal acts that affirmed American Indians' religious freedom, established the National Museum of the American Indian, and required federally funded institutions to repatriate cultural items and human remains.

Honoring Women as Strong as Bison Horn

Honoring Women as Strong as Bison Horn

Article

Oglala Lakota jewelry artists Kevin and Valerie Pourier create a belt that honors the resurgence of women power.

Winyan (Woman) Power: New Art by Kevin and Valerie Pourier Honors Women Who Stand Up for the Rights and Welfare of Others

Winyan (Woman) Power: New Art by Kevin and Valerie Pourier Honors Women Who Stand Up for the Rights and Welfare of Others

Blog

A Lot of Our Traditional Clothing, We Had to Fight to Keep—Fashion Designer Norma Baker-Flying Horse

A Lot of Our Traditional Clothing, We Had to Fight to Keep—Fashion Designer Norma Baker-Flying Horse

Blog

Symposium—Safety for Our Sisters: Ending Violence Against Native Women

Symposium—Safety for Our Sisters: Ending Violence Against Native Women

Video Playlist

Honoring Queen Liliʻuokalani

Honoring Queen Liliʻuokalani

Video

The REDress Project on the National Mall Draws Attention to Life and Death Situations in Indian Country

The REDress Project on the National Mall Draws Attention to Life and Death Situations in Indian Country

Blog

A Place for the Taken: The REDress Project Gives a Voice to Missing Indigenous Women

A Place for the Taken: The REDress Project Gives a Voice to Missing Indigenous Women

Article

Mary Golda Ross: She Reached for the Stars

Mary Golda Ross: She Reached for the Stars

Article

Trajectory of the remarkable and still partly secret career of Mary Golda Ross (Cherokee), the first Native aerospace engineer and member of the top-secret team planning the early years of space exploration.

Fulfilling Her Promise: Museums Honor Native Rights Advocate Suzan Harjo

Fulfilling Her Promise: Museums Honor Native Rights Advocate Suzan Harjo

Blog

On the Western Front: Two Iroquois Nurses in World War I

On the Western Front: Two Iroquois Nurses in World War I

Article

The story of Cora Elm (Wisconsin Oneida) and Edith Anderson (Grand River Mohawk), veterans of the Nurse Corps of the Army Medical Department in France during 1918.

To Indigenize the Western World—Artist and Organizer Jordan Cocker

To Indigenize the Western World—Artist and Organizer Jordan Cocker

Blog

Inuit Women's Survival Skills, Which Kept Arctic Explorers Alive, Help Heal Residential School Survivors

Inuit Women's Survival Skills, Which Kept Arctic Explorers Alive, Help Heal Residential School Survivors

Blog

Never Underestimate the Power of Your Mind—Artist Caroline Monnet

Never Underestimate the Power of Your Mind—Artist Caroline Monnet

Blog

Language Breathes Life: Women Directors' Roundtable

Language Breathes Life: Women Directors' Roundtable

Video

Just doing "what I could," Wilma Mankiller changed Native America

Just doing "what I could," Wilma Mankiller changed Native America

Blog

Writing as Cathartic Practice and with Intention toward the Audience: Autumn White Eyes on Poetry

Writing as Cathartic Practice and with Intention toward the Audience: Autumn White Eyes on Poetry

Blog

Marking the 400th Anniversary of Pocahontas's Death

Marking the 400th Anniversary of Pocahontas's Death

Blog

The broad strokes of Pocahontas’s biography are well known—unusually so for a 17th-century Indigenous woman—yet her life has long been shrouded by misunderstandings and misinformation. The conference “Pocahontas and After,” organized by the University of London and the British Library, sought a deeper understanding of Pocahontas’s life and the lasting impact of the clash of empires that took place in the heart of the Powhatan Confederacy during the 17th-century.

The Continuing Saga of Louise Erdrich

The Continuing Saga of Louise Erdrich

Article

The career and inspirations of award-winning writer Louise Erdrich, from the Turtle Mountain Chippewa Band of Indians

Symposium—Strong Women/Strong Nations: Native American Women and Leadership

Symposium—Strong Women/Strong Nations: Native American Women and Leadership

Video Playlist

Remembering the Vanished

Remembering the Vanished

Article

The crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada, and the Sisters in Spirit campaign

A World Made by Women

A World Made by Women

Article

An overwhelming percentage of the ancient and historic American Indian art in museums, both across the United States and abroad, was produced by women.

A Talk with Pena Bonita

A Talk with Pena Bonita

Article

Seminole/Apache artist Pena Bonita's art attracts fans across the generations.

Zuni Olla Maidens

Zuni Olla Maidens

Video Playlist

Symposium—Kay WalkingStick, Seizing the Sky: Redefining American Art

Symposium—Kay WalkingStick, Seizing the Sky: Redefining American Art

Video Playlist

They Also Served: American Indian Women in the War of 1812

They Also Served: American Indian Women in the War of 1812

Article

The role of Six Nations women in the War of 1812

Native Chilean Women: Challenges and Opportunities (bilingual)

Native Chilean Women: Challenges and Opportunities (bilingual)

Video

The Role of Women in the Preservation of Indigenous Culture and Language

Pocahontas' First Marriage: The Powhatan Side of the Story

Pocahontas' First Marriage: The Powhatan Side of the Story

Article

In 1614, Pocahontas, daughter of the chief of the Powhatan Indians, married planter John Rolfe; but tribal oral tradition speaks of Pocahontas's first marriage to an Indian warrior named Kocoum.

Elouise Cobell: A Small Measure of Justice

Elouise Cobell: A Small Measure of Justice

Article

Elouise Cobell holds the federal government accountable for mismanagement of billions in Indian Trust Funds.

The Power of Protest Songs

The Power of Protest Songs

Article

Buffy Sainte-Marie reflects on the history and power of protest songs.

Complexity of Ecstasy: The Life and Sainthood of St. Kateri Tekakwitha

Complexity of Ecstasy: The Life and Sainthood of St. Kateri Tekakwitha

Article

Kateri Tekakwitha, "Lily of the Mohawks," had a profound impact on the People of the Flint.