Penobscot women and the tribal land tenure system in 19th-century Maine
In the 19th century, Penobscot grandmothers approved marriages, adjusted family disputes, sanctioned divorces and carried wampum. The tribe’s grandmothers’ council (nohkəməssizak mawebohwak, or the modern spelling, nohkomess potawasin) could veto a declaration of war by the chief and tribal council. Penobscot women had powerful and wide-ranging roles in their society, and their importance was embedded […]
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