The Agency of Iroquois Women through Corn Production

Abstract

Native American tribes often used food as a means of currency. Surpluses of food were often bartered with other tribes for food items or supplies. The most popular food that was bartered and traded was corn. Among the Iroquois, it was the woman’s responsibility to grow, harvest, and prepare the corn for both food and ceremonial services for the tribe and trade with others. This paper focuses on the importance of Iroquois women, with particular emphasis on the Mohawk and Seneca tribes. It will explain their role in farming the corn and how they gained agency within their tribes because of their responsibility for tending to the corn crops, an important commodity to the tribe. It will also briefly touch upon the ways that their creation myth was tied to Iroquois views of women and corn. This paper will analyze the firsthand accounts of Father Joseph Lafitau, Henry Hudson, and General John Sullivan. It will also utilize the works of scholars such as of Daniel K. Onion, John P. Hart, Judith K. Brown, Sara Henry Stites, and Arthur C. Parker to link the responsibility of women in corn production to the privileges they received in the tribe and their agency in Iroquois society.