Circle of Goods, livre ebook

Studies how women in a reservation economy have creatively responded to federal policy.

Studies how women in a reservation economy have creatively responded to federal policy.

Circle of Goods compiles the stories of Native American women and examines their kinship, wage work, and informal economies. Responding to the upheavals of reservation life brought about by federal policies-from commodity rations to welfare reform-Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara women, each with distinct histories and cultural practices, stand at the center of the Fort Berthold reservation economy. Berman introduces the concept of ceremonial relations of production to explain the contradictory effects of economic incentives and cultural commitments, and argues that the historical movement of people and goods through a series of structured dependencies often gives rise to creative strategies for survival and new social identities.

Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Preface
1. "Say Commodity Cheese!"
2. Ceremonial Relations of Production
3. Women, Work, and the State
4. Mihe, Mia, Sápat Women's Ways of Leadership
5. "All we needed was our gardens..."
Implications of State Welfare Reform on the Reservation Economy
Afterword
Notes
References
Index