Iroquoian Women: The Gantowisas provides a thorough organized look at the social political
economic and religious roles of women among the Iroquois explaining their fit with the larger
culture. Gantowisas means more than simply «woman» - gantowisas is «woman acting in her
official capacity» as fire-keeping woman faith-keeping woman gift-giving woman leader
counselor judge Mother of the People. This is the light in which the reader will find her in
Iroquoian Women. Barbara Alice Mann draws upon worthy sources be they early or modern oral or
written to present a Native American point of view that insists upon accuracy not only in raw
reporting but also in analysis. Iroquoian Women is the first book-length study to regard
Iroquoian women as central and indispensable to Iroquoian studies.
