Iroquois and Women

One of the most influential Native American tribes is the Iroquois, whose way of life and constitution helped American women to realize that they, too, should be afforded the same rights and privileges as men within society. Women's rights activists such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, and Matilda Joslyn Gage were directly inspired by the Iroquois women they met and observed, which influenced them to advocate for women's rights within the United States.

In the summer of 1848, Mott and her husband visited the Seneca people -- one of the Five Nations comprising the Iroquois -- during which she was able to observe how women were treated as equals in terms of family, government, and economy. Coincidentally, during this same time, the Seneca Clan Mothers were debating on whether they should adopt the governance systems of the Quakers eventually accepting the model except for any concepts...
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