Tension between feminism and Lumbee culture
Woods describes how her activism in the feminist movement was at odds with expected behavior for Native American women. Arguing that the Lumbee Indians were "still a very traditional male-oriented culture," Woods explains that she embraced feminism because it gave her an outlet for her frustration with various kinds of social equality. (Woods's reference to herself as a "turtle" here refers back to her earlier description of her admiration for turtles and their symbolic resilience.)
Citing this Excerpt
Oral History Interview with Ruth Dial Woods, June 12, 1992. Interview L-0078. Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007) in the Southern Oral History Program Collection, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Full Text of the Excerpt
- LAURA MOORE:
-
I was wondering. This is also off the track, but to go back a little
bit, I was thinking about your activities as a feminist. I was wondering
if you felt like that was unusual for Indians or for Lumbees in
particular or did you have a lot of support in the community for those
activities?
- RUTH DIAL WOODS:
-
No no no no no no. Women aren't supposed to do those kinds of
things. Women are supposed to let the man walk first and the
man's supposed to make the decisions and all that kind of
stuff. It's still a very traditional male oriented culture
with the exception of a few that have broke the gate.
- ANNE MITCHELL COE:
-
So you were one of the few Lumbee women that would have been involved in
these statewide ERA.
- LAURA MOORE:
-
Why do you think that you got involved with them if that was sort of a
hard thing?
- RUTH DIAL WOODS:
-
Because I was a turtle. And it was my way of coping and seeking the
acceptance, the support. It was running away from the problems at hand.
That was my outlet to cope with my frustrations.
