The "Squaw Drudge"

Native Americans had been living on American soil generations before English colonists invaded. Their way of life had never been witnessed before and was considered savage to the newly arriving colonists. The colonists made assumptions and judgments based on what they felt were normal. In the first paragraph of this article the author, “Depicted Indian women as little more than “drudges,” overworked and otherwise exploited by their Indian husbands,” (27). However, throughout his research, he realized that this misconception was produced through Euro-Americans. The article includes various accounts and “evidence” from numerous English colonizers and explorers. I place evidence in quotes because through further investigation, these misconceptions were made in comparison to the norm of English society. Placing women in the fields to work and harvest crops portrayed the men as lazy. The English sought to colonize the Native Americans forcing and spreading Christianity and their way of life. In addition, they felt that the luxurious land was not being used to its full potential.

This article demonstrated how English colonizers and explorers felt their ways of life were superior to all other forms of natural life. They viewed women’s work as taking care of the children and completing all house chores. One interesting assumption made was native agriculture was frowned upon because it was considered women’s work. The colonizers went as far as to use God in justifying their usage of the land, claiming, “To live by tilling is more human,” (37). Even in today’s society, Americans still feel that they are superior to other cultures. We had no right to force our civilized world on the Native American’s because they already had a perfectly adequate lifestyle that didn’t need to be meddled with.