VOICES OF THE PAST
“I HAD ONE CONSOLATION…ALL THE WOMEN WERE ON MY SIDE, ON ACCOUNT OF THEIR CORNFIELDS.” – BLACK HAWK’S AUTOBIOGRAPHY
Among the Sac as in many other American Indian cultures, women as life-givers had the responsibility for growing crops. With starvation threatening his village, the women of Black Hawk’s band were quick to agree with their leader’s decision to return to their old lands in Illinois. There the ground was already broken and the richness of the soil well known.
“[THE SPEAKER] WISHED HER PEOPLE TO BE ALLOWED TO REMAIN LONG ENOUGH TO GATHER THE PROVISIONS NOW GROWING IN THEIR FIELDS; THAT SHE WAS A WOMAN, AND HAD WORKED HARD TO RAISE SOMETHING TO SUPPORT HER CHILDREN.” – BLACK HAWK’S AUTOBIOGRAPHY
Submitted by
Bryan Arnold
@nanowhiskers