Talk:Chief Earth Woman

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[edit] Concerns

I have some concerns about this article. First, was she a chief (as the article's title implies), or is it trying to say her name was actually "Chief Earth Woman", with "Chief" not being a title? If the former, shouldn't that be mentioned somewhere in the article? Also, "Earth Woman" seems like the kind of ridiculously stereotyped name someone trying to think up an "Indian name" for a strong female fighter might come up with. I have trouble believing it's real. I've tried looking for more information, but the only references I've been able to find so far are from these feminist encyclopedia type books. I have nothing against those as sources per se, but I'd be concerned if none of them mentioned primary sources. My suspicion is that no primary sources exist, because this woman never existed, and somehow a fabrication became accidentally repeated as fact by well-meaning people. That sounds kind of harsh when I actually say it, though.

Since others know more about this subject than I do, though, I'm hoping someone can prove me wrong and help improve the article (as it is, not only is it extremely short, but it lacks sufficient context, explanation, or demonstration of notability). If no secondary source published in, say, a peer-reviewed journal is found, or no primary sources are cited by any secondary sources...well, I'd be concerned. But again, I'll defer to others here. Thanks. Take care, --Miskwito 03:45, 1 April 2007 (UTC)

The Encyclopedia of Amazons lists her as "Chief Earth Woman", but it does not explain anything about her beyond what I have written in the article. (In fact, most of the entries in the book are dissapointingly skimpy, not just hers). I have found four other sources for her on Google books, and The Encyclopedia of Amazons cites the first one as its source. Please see this link: http://books.google.com/books?q=%22Chief+earth+woman%22&as_brr=0

I hope this satisfies your concerns. Asarelah 03:50, 1 April 2007 (UTC)

Oh, thanks for the Google books link. Since Ruth Landes writes about her, I'm more inclined to believe it now. I'll try to look into it a little more. --Miskwito 04:20, 1 April 2007 (UTC)

Glad to be of help. I haven't seen any indication that she was actually a chief, so I have removed her from the Native American leaders and Women rulers category. It may have been a fanciful naming by Landes, since whites were often eager to describe Native Americans as "chiefs", even if they weren't actual chiefs. Asarelah 04:24, 1 April 2007 (UTC)

There have been ogimaakweg in the past, but this is where her name in Anishinaabemowin would help... is she Chief (title) Earth-Woman (name) or a Chief (title) named Chief-Earth-woman? (In male example, there have been Chiefs as treaty signatories named Ogimaa ("Chief"), Ogimaans ("Little Chief"), Ogimaagiizhig ("Chief Sky"), etc.) Also, which Band/Community was she associated with? What campaigns was she involved in? Was she a party to any treaty negotiation and was treaty signatory? CJLippert 13:11, 1 April 2007 (UTC)

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find what her Ojibwa name was, nor do any of the sources I found explain why she was called a chief. Asarelah 13:49, 1 April 2007 (UTC)