The purpose of my research paper is to discover if there are any links between the roles Native American women play in their creation stories and the responsibilities they held in tribal life. One of the main issues when researching Native American mythology is that there are many versions of the same story.  So therefore, the purpose of this pathfinder is to help organize the wealth of information that is out there and the different variations of the tribal creation stories.

Primary - Book Sources

Hazen-Hammond, Susan. "Ataensie, the Woman Who Fell from the Sky." Spider Woman's Web: Traditional Native American Tales About Women's Power. New York: Perigee, 1999.

Hazen-Hammond, Susan. "First Woman and the People."  Spider Woman's Web: Traditional Native American Tales About Women's Power. New York: Perigee, 1999.

Susan Hazen-Hammond's book is a good source to look into if someone is interested in Indian mythology.  However, her text is geared toward helping women through the use of native myths.0 Therefore, this book has a good collection of tales about Native American women, but is geared towards women's empowerment. I chose to use this source because it has two stories that I was interested in researching for my paper, the story about Sky Woman and the story about First Woman.  I would suggest this book for someone who was interested in Indian woman's mythology, but not if they just wanted a general overview of Indian mythology.

Marriott, Alice and Rachlin, Carol. "The Creation."  Plains Indian Mythology.  New York: Thomas Y. Corwell, 1975.

Alice Marriott's book would be very interesting to anyone who is interested in the mythology and folklore of Plains Indians.  It gives some good background information on the Plains Indians, as well as detailed depictions of their legends.  I chose to use this source for my paper because it contained one of the myths that I was interested in, the Pawnee's creation story.  I believe that it would be a good starting point for anyone that wanted to know more about Native American mythology, or the history of the Plains Indians.

Secondary - Book Sources

Gourse, Leslie.  Native American Courtship and Marriage Traditions.  New York: Hippocrene, 1995.

This book covers the Native American courtship and marriage customs.  It is very interesting for anyone who wants to look into Indian marriage ceremonies and traditional courtship.  However, this book is geared for people of today who are getting married and are interested in incorporating Native American traditions.  I chose this book in the hopes of giving me some insight into the "intimate"� relationships of the Navajo and Iroquois tribes.

White, Jon.  Everyday Life of the North American Indians.  New York: Dorset, 1979.

This book gives a great over view of the culture and life of the North American tribes.  It discusses everything from "The Spirits of The Ancestors"� to "The Reservation."  I chose it because it covers aspects of Navajo and Iroquois life, including the roles of women within these tribes. It describes the roles of women in the home as well as within the villages, and shows how important these roles were to the tribes.  It also has comparisons between the different tribes.

Wood, Raymond and Liberty, Margot. , ed.  Anthropology on the Great Plains. USA: U of Nebraska P, 1980.

I chose this book particularly because it addresses women's roles and because it discusses a lot of aspects of the Pawnee Indians.  This book is worth reading because it has a lot of information on a verity of topics concerning the Great Plains Indians.  It discusses many different aspects of the Indian tribes and tribal life.  It would be a great place to start for someone who is interested in Plains Indian life and culture.  I will definitely be using this as a source in my paper

Primary - Website Sources

Mann, Barbara. "The Lynx in Time: Haudenosaunee Women's Traditions and History." American Indian Quarterly. 21 (1998): 423-427. Academic Search Complete.  ABSCO. Austin Community Coll. Lib., Austin, TX.  1 April 2008 <http://www.lsproxy.austincc.edu.>

Barbara Mann's article explains the many different versions of the Iroquois creation myth of Sky Woman.  This article would be useful for anyone who is interested in this story.  Mann is very knowledgeable in the different versions of this myth, as well as the different roles that are depicted in the varying versions.  I used her article to compare the different versions of this story. (I found her paper by searching "Iroquois women"� in Academic Search Complete.)

Secondary - Website Sources

Bales, Rebecca. "Native American Women: Living With Landscape."  OAH Magazine of History 10.  n.p.  Winter 1996.  n.pag.  Rpt. in Organization of American Historians.  1 April 2008  <http://www.oah.org/pubs/magazine/women/bales.htm>.

Bales' article addresses the roles of Native American women within the tribes across North America.  She explains how women held power, in many ways, within their tribes and how these powers were ignored and eventually shifted with the coming of the white man.  She explains how both male and female roles changed, but that the Indian women of today are fighting to regain these powers.  This is an interesting article that gives a brief overview of how women's roles have changed over the years. I did quote from this article to show the strength and influence of Indian women.

Belgrad, Daniel. "The Southwest." Encyclopedia of American Cultural and Intellectual History. 3 vols. Charles Scribner's Sons, 2001. Reproduced in History Resource Center. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale. 1 April 2008 <http://galenet.galegroup.com.lsproxy.austincc.edu/servlet/HistRC/>.

"The Southwest"� gives a good general overview of the cultures of the Southwest.  It takes a look at the Pueblo, the Spanish conquest, the Navajo and their traditional culture, the Anglo-American conquest, and other aspects that changed the cultures of these people living in the Southwest.  It is a good article for anyone looking for some background information on the Southwest Native Americans and how those cultures changed and why. I used this article to show some of the roles of Navajo women.  (To search for it, type "The Southwest" and it shows up on pg. 5.)

Crystal, Elli. "Native American Myths: Creation by Women."� 1995.  n.p.  1 April 2008 <http://www.crystalinks.com/>.

Elli Crystal's website is very interesting. I did not find her creation myths (at least not the ones that were focused on women) very helpful.  However, her website has a wealth of information on all kinds of things. She does include a brief overview of many of the North American tribes, but I would compare the information with other, more reliable, sources before using it.  However, I would suggest browsing it just for fun.  I will not be using her site as a source in my paper.

Eddy, Steve. "Native American Myths & Native American Myths in Brief."  Living Myths.  2001.  n.p.  1 April 2008 <http://www.livingmyths.com/>.

Steve Eddy has a nice little collection of Indian mythology, in their brief versions. This would be good for a quick overview, but it is not very detailed.  This site also has some background information on some of the North American tribes, but not much.  This could be used as a good starting place for someone who is not sure what he or she wants to write about, but for detailed information, this is not the place to go.  For this reason, I probably will not be using this as a source in my paper.

Mann, Barbara. "The Lynx in Time: Haudenosaunee Women's Traditions and History." American Indian Quarterly.  21 (1998): 423-427.  Academic Search Complete.  ABSCO. Austin Community Coll. Lib., Austin, TX.  1 April 2008 <http://www.lsproxy.austincc.edu.>

Barbara Mann's article is crucial in understanding the distortions that Native American women's mythology went through over the years and why.  I feel that it is a very important article to look at for anyone who is considering writing about Indian legends.  I will definitely be using this as a source it my paper, as a way to better explain that there are many versions of the Indian stories.

Phillips, Charles. "Changing Woman." Encyclopedia of the American West. 4 vols. Macmillan Reference USA 1996. Reproduced in History Resource Center. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale. 1 April 2008 <http://galenet.galegroup.com.lsproxy.austincc.edu/servlet/HistRC/>.

"Changing Woman" is a brief description of the Navajo myths about Changing Woman and other stories related to her.  It also has some explanations about Changing Woman and how the Navajo associate with her in their beliefs and ceremonies.  It is a good resource for anyone wanting a better understanding about the Navajo legends, but it doesn't go into great detail about every story.  I will be using it as a source in my paper because Changing Woman is the daughter of First woman and she is just another example of the roles women played in Navajo mythology.

"Women the Power Behind Iroquois."  Albany Times Union.  1992.  pB4. Reproduced in History Resource Center. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale. 1 April 2008 <http://galenet.galegroup.com.lsproxy.austincc.edu/servlet/HistRC/>.

This is an article in the Albany Times Union about an interview with Midge Dean Stock, who was part of a panel discussion on "Women's Roles in Iroquois Culture," at the State Museum.  Basically is it just an overview about her statements about Iroquois women's roles within the tribes.  She states that women held powerful roles in almost every aspect of tribal life. I did use this in my paper as a direct quote about the roles that Iroquois women played within their tribes.  (To find this article search "Women the Power Behind Iroquois.")

Jennifer Hill