The Sacred Hoop: Recovering the Feminine in American Indian Traditions

tale. I am acutely aware that much of what I have said is likely to
be understood in ways I did not intend, and I am also aware of
how much I did not say that probably needed to be said if the
real story of the transfer of responsibility from one segment of
the tribe to the other is to be made clear.
In the end, the tale I have analyzed is not about Kochinnenako
or Sh-ah-cock and Miochin. It is about the change of seasons and
it is about the centrality of woman as agent and empowerer of
that change. It is about how a people engage themselves as a
people within the spiritual cosmos and in an ordered and proper
way that bestows the dignity of each upon all with careful
respect, folkish humor, and ceremonial delight. It is about how
everyone is part of the background that shapes the meaning and
value of each person’s life. It is about propriety, mutuality, and
the dynamics of socioenvironmental change.
* In a system where all persons in power are called Mother Chief and where the
supreme deity is female, and social organization is matrilocal, matrifocal, and
matrilineal, gynarchy is happening. However, it does not imply domination of men by
women as patriarchy implies domination by ruling class males of all aspects of a
society.