The Sacred Hoop by Paula Gunn Allen
"The Sacred Hoop: Recovering the Feminine in American Indian Traditions" by Paula Gunn Allen is a collection of essays that explore the significance of women's roles within American Indian cultures. The concept of the "sacred hoop" symbolizes the interconnectedness of life, reflecting the belief that everything has a place within the universe. Allen emphasizes the vital contributions of women, portraying them as central figures embodying wisdom, tradition, and nurturing qualities essential to the well-being of their communities.
The essays are organized around seven major themes, highlighting the enduring nature of Indigenous identities, the prevalence of woman-centered tribal systems, and the impact of patriarchal structures on the historical and cultural destruction of Native tribes. Allen also critiques Western perspectives on American Indian cultures, arguing that they often stem from a patriarchal bias that misinterprets tribal social systems. The work is divided into three sections that underscore the resilience and voices of Indian women while linking American Indian literature to broader cultural narratives. Overall, "The Sacred Hoop" asserts the importance of recognizing and honoring the traditions and contributions of American Indian women as vital to both cultural identity and social well-being.
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Subject Terms
The Sacred Hoop by Paula Gunn Allen
First published: 1986
The Work
The collection of essays The Sacred Hoop: Recovering the Feminine in American Indian Traditions documents the continuing vitality of American Indian traditions and the crucial role of women in those traditions. The title comes from a lesson Allen learned from her mother: that all of life is a circle—a sacred hoop—in which everything has its place. These essays, like tribal art of all kinds, support the principle of kinship and render the beautiful in terms of the harmony, relationship, balance, and dignity that are the informing principles of Indian aesthetics. Indians understand that woman is the sun and the earth: She is grandmother, mother, thought, wisdom, dream, reason, tradition, memory, deity, and life itself.
The essays are all characterized by seven major themes that pertain to American Indian identity. The first is that Indians and spirits are always found together. Second, Indians endure. Third, the traditional tribal lifestyles are never patriarchal and are more often woman-centered than not. Tribal social systems are nurturing, pacifist, and based on ritual and spirit-centered, woman-focused worldviews. The welfare of the young is paramount, the complementary nature of all life forms is stressed, and the centrality of powerful, self-defining, assertive, decisive women to social well-being is unquestioned. Fourth, the physical and cultural destruction of American Indian tribes is and was about patriarchal fear and the inability to tolerate women’s having decision-making capacity at every level of society. Fifth, there is such a thing as American Indian literature, and it informs all American writing. Sixth, all Western studies of American Indian tribal systems are erroneous because they view tribalism from the cultural bias of patriarchy. Seventh, the sacred ways of the American Indian people are part of a worldwide culture that predates Western systems.
These powerful essays are divided into three sections: “The Ways of Our Grandmothers,” “The Word Warriors,” and “Pushing Up the Sky.” All of them testify to the value of American Indian traditions and the strength of the voices of Indian women. Allen identifies the Indian roots of white feminism as well as the role of lesbians in American culture, and she projects future visions for American Indian women, tribes, and literature.
Bibliography
Albers, Patricia, and Beatrice Medicine. The Hidden Half: Studies of Plains Indian Women. Lanham, Md.: University Press of America, 1983.
Bataille, Gretchen M., Kathleen Mullen Sands, and Charles L. P. Silet, eds. The Pretend Indians: Images of Native Americans in the Movies. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1980.
Brandon, William. The Last American: The Indian in American Culture. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1974.
Deloria, Vine, Jr. God Is Red. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1973. Reprint. New York: Dell Books, 1983.
Etienne, Mona, and Eleanor Leacock, eds. Women and Colonization: Anthropological Perspectives. New York: Praeger, 1980.