“All of us have rituals,” she said. “Don’t look down on your
roots.”
Roots! I did not plan to keep living on a reservation. But
I’ve always thought that the Kaw started women’s liberation.
Some other subtribes of the Sioux Nation required men and
women to eat separately. But the Kaw men and women ate
together. A Kaw woman could refuse a marriage offer. The
wisest women often joined in leadership. Also, “Good Woman,”
a superhero, is the star of most Kaw stories. And girls as well
as boys go through Ta-Na-E-Ka. The ritual tests how well a
person can get along alone.