American Indian Females and Stereotypes: Warriors,Leaders,Healers,Feminists;Not Drudges,Princesses,Prostitutes

摘要

As an American Indian child growing up in Portland,Oregon,I was subject to racist stereotypical taunting by White students at the parochial school I attended-"squaw! stinkin' injun! Savage! Woo wooo woo!" Students walking by my desk would surreptitiously yank my long braids. I suffered in silence until my silence was noticed by the nuns and my parents. I was sent to a child psychologist and through therapy eventually regained my voice. I was moved to a public school,where taunting continued,but by then I learned to fight and developed a good upper cut. My parents,boarding school survivors (Adams,1995; Child,2000; Lomawaima,1994) had relocated to the West Coast. Victims of racist assimilation policies,they tried their best to assimilate our family into White culture (Berkey et al.,1992).