{"id":141,"date":"2010-11-29T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2010-11-29T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/thequeenofmyself\/2010\/11\/native-sheroes-part-1.html"},"modified":"2010-11-29T10:00:00","modified_gmt":"2010-11-29T10:00:00","slug":"native-sheroes-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/2010\/11\/native-sheroes-part-1.html","title":{"rendered":"Native Sheros – Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Thanksgiving, we always tell the story about how the native people
\nhelped the pilgrims to survive and ultimately thrive in the new world.
\nThis is well and good, but there are so many other inspiring stories
\nthat could be told about the many purposeful, powerful Native American
\nwomen who influenced the formation of this country.<\/p>\n

I recently came across Woman Spirit,<\/a> a fascinating web page by Julia White, of Cherokee and Sioux heritage. She writes:<\/i><\/p>\n

 “From the beginning of time, Native women have been a driving force in
\ntheir cultures. When the explorers came to the shores of North America,
\nthey provided valuable information and services, which still carries
\ntheir mark today. Sadly, little has been written about these women, and
\nlittle is known.”<\/p>\n

In honor of Native American Heritage Month, this week I will share in
\nmy own words some information that I gleaned about exceptional native
\nSheros thanks to Julia White’s research<\/i><\/p>\n

Big Eyes (Tatooed Woman)
Wichitas  <\/b><\/p>\n

Big Eyes got her name from the two tattoos underlining her eyes, making them seem huge. The facial tattoos were customary decorations for Wichitas women.<\/p>\n

When she was a young girl living in the Red River region of what is now East Texas, Big Eyes was captured by the Tejas people and eventually sold as a slave by them to the Tiguex people of Arizona where she remained  until she was about 20 years old.<\/p>\n

In 1540, the Spanish explorer Francisco Vasquez de Coronado came upon the Tiguex. A great battle was fought and Big Eyes was captured by the Conquistadores and given as property to Juan de Zaldivar, one of Coronado’s captains. <\/p>\n

The Spaniards took her with them on their search for the Seven Cities of Cibola and the fabled gold to be found there. They journeyed north and then east along the Pecos and the Red Rivers. When they reached the Texas panhandle, she escaped into the familiar landscape and returned to her people, the Wichitas. She made reputation for herself as a worldly woman by relating many odd and amazing tales about her life with the Spanish and their strange ways.<\/p>\n

In the summer of 1542, Hernando de Soto’s expedition from Florida reached the Mississippi Valley where he heard tell of the Wichitas woman who had traveled to the west and back in the company of the great Coronado. De Soto sought Big Eyes out and pressed her for information about Coronado and his travels.<\/p>\n

She drew a map in the dirt with her finger for him. It traced the route Coronado had taken from the Rio Grande, as well as the journey she had taken from Tule Canyon back to her homeland. One of de Soto’s troops copied her map onto parchment and the route she had drawn became the first link between the expeditions of Coronado in the west, and de Soto in the east.   <\/p>\n

Big Eye’s rendering found its way to the mapmakers of Europe who were able, for the first time, to estimate the scope of this continent. Hers was a monumental contribution to the history and physical formation of this country. <\/p>\n

Tomorrow Native Sheros – Part 2<\/i><\/p>\n

***
The Queen welcomes questions concerning all issues of interest to women in their mature years. Send your inquiries to thequeenofmyself@aol.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

CONSULT THE MIDLIFE MIDWIFE\u2122<\/a>
Queen Mama Donna offers upbeat, practical and ceremonial guidance for individual women and groups who want to enjoy the fruits of an enriching, influential, purposeful, passionate, and powerful maturity.
 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Thanksgiving, we always tell the story about how the native people helped the pilgrims to survive and ultimately thrive in the new world. This is well and good, but there are so many other inspiring stories that could be told about the many purposeful, powerful Native American women who influenced the formation of this…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":218,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-empowerment","category-womens-issues"],"yoast_head":"\nNative Sheros - Part 1 - The Queen of My Self<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/2010\/11\/native-sheroes-part-1.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Native Sheros - Part 1 - The Queen of My Self\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On Thanksgiving, we always tell the story about how the native people helped the pilgrims to survive and ultimately thrive in the new world. This is well and good, but there are so many other inspiring stories that could be told about the many purposeful, powerful Native American women who influenced the formation of this…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/2010\/11\/native-sheroes-part-1.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Queen of My Self\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-11-29T10:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Donna Henes\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Native Sheros - Part 1 - The Queen of My Self","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/2010\/11\/native-sheroes-part-1.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Native Sheros - Part 1 - The Queen of My Self","og_description":"On Thanksgiving, we always tell the story about how the native people helped the pilgrims to survive and ultimately thrive in the new world. This is well and good, but there are so many other inspiring stories that could be told about the many purposeful, powerful Native American women who influenced the formation of this…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/2010\/11\/native-sheroes-part-1.html","og_site_name":"The Queen of My Self","article_published_time":"2010-11-29T10:00:00+00:00","author":"Donna Henes","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/2010\/11\/native-sheroes-part-1.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/2010\/11\/native-sheroes-part-1.html","name":"Native Sheros - Part 1 - The Queen of My Self","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/#website"},"datePublished":"2010-11-29T10:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2010-11-29T10:00:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/#\/schema\/person\/544e888db264d2e1c6e32fd2f80c031a"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/2010\/11\/native-sheroes-part-1.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/2010\/11\/native-sheroes-part-1.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/2010\/11\/native-sheroes-part-1.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Native Sheros – Part 1"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/","name":"The Queen of My Self","description":"Beliefnet Voices - Donna Henes","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/#\/schema\/person\/544e888db264d2e1c6e32fd2f80c031a","name":"Donna Henes","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/0c6\/0c683cd428803d35cf10fae85f8125ebx96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/0c6\/0c683cd428803d35cf10fae85f8125ebx96.jpg","caption":"Donna Henes"},"description":"Donna Henes is an internationally renowned urban shaman, ritual expert, award-winning author, popular speaker and workshop leader whose joyful celebrations of celestial events have introduced ancient traditional rituals and contemporary ceremonies to millions of people in more than 100 cities since 1972. She has published four books, a CD, an acclaimed Ezine and writes for The Huffington Post and UPI Religion and Spirituality Forum. Mama Donna, as she is affectionately called, maintains a ceremonial center, spirit shop, ritual practice and consultancy where she works with individuals, groups, institutions, municipalities and corporations to create meaningful ceremonies for every imaginable occasion.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.thequeenofmyself.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/author\/dhenes"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/218"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=141"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}