The Ojibwa Woman

by Ruth Landes

In the 1930s, young anthropologist Ruth Landes crafted this startlingly intimate glimpse into the lives of Ojibwa women, a richly textured ethnography widely recognized as a classic study of gender relations in a native society. By collaborating closely with Maggie Wilson, a woman of Scots-Cree descent who grew up among the Ojibwas, Landes was able to explore the complexity of Ojibwa women's experiences in compelling and often uncompromising detail. Sexuality and violence, marital rights and responsibilities, and the constraints and opportunities afforded by traditional and modern aspects of Ojibwa culture are all thoroughly and thoughtfully examined in this study. Landes's pioneering work continues to inspire lively debate today, her study having thrown into relief essential questions about the nature of gender relations among native peoples and how to best interpret them.

Genres: Anthropology

260 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1971

About the author

Ruth Schlossberg Landes was an American cultural anthropologist best known for studies on Brazilian candomblé cults and her published study on the topic, City of Women (1947). Her other field studies included stays with the Ojibwa of Ontario and Minnesota, the Santee Dakota in Minnesota, and the Potawatomi in Kansas. Towards the end of her career she wrote extensively on ethnic relations in the U.S., bilingualism in Europe and the Americas, and the effect of culture in American education. Landes is now recognized as a pioneer in the study of race and gender relations.

Reviews

[Maggie]

This was an excellent read. The author did a great job looking deep into the life of Ojibway women. I especially enjoyed the area she covered from Lake of the Woods to Rainy River.

[withdrawn]

First read this some 35 years ago when I was living with an Ojibwa community in northern Manitoba. I was struck by 1st-the strong relationship Landes had built up with her subjects of study; 2nd her strong writing style; and, 3rd how much the people that I was living with were like those she had written about 40 years earlier. Time to reread.