Description

Immediate dispatch from Somerset. Nice older book in good condition. Pages in good condition. Some light pencil annotations. See images. Fantastic book.

About the book >.>.> Pioneer women going west carried distinct images of themselves and of American Indians. Their views reflected stereotypes pervad- ing the popular literature and journalism of the nineteenth century: women were weak and defenseless their westward trek was a noble mission and American Indians were savages. But as a result of their frontier experience many women changed or discarded their ear- lier opinions. This book is the first account of how and why pioneer women altered their self-images and their views of American In- dians. In Women and Indians on the Frontier Riley substantially revises the conventional melodramatic picture of pioneer women cowering when confronted with Indians. Frontier life required women to be self-reliant independent and hardy: as they learned to adapt frontierswomen also learned to reexamine stereotypes in the light of experience. In particular they came to see how much they had in common with American Indian women and that their prejudices about native life were unfounded. Interestingly Riley explains while pioneer women frequently changed their beliefs about In- dians they did not often revise their attitudes toward Mormon or Mexican women following contact with them. Frontierswomen also differed from men whose unfavorable impression of Indians seldom changed. (SP)