> Hi Ed, > > I very much doubt that women hold the actual formal positions of power in > Dene society and I'd like to see primary sources for that if you insist > that this is so. I'm willing to be persuaded. Anthropologists, to my > knowledge, have never found a genuinely matriarchal society. >
It is not unusual for Canadian First Nations to elect women as their Chiefs. When I worked with the Council for Yukon Indians (CYI) some ten years ago, my boss was a woman, as was the overall head of the organization. I would, however, grant that, with the CYI, many of the more publicly visible positions were held by men - e.g. the chief land claims negotiator. Another thought - I once recall seeing some numbers on education among Canadian Aboriginal people. If I recall correctly, more women went on to university than men. Some went on to their doctorates. Ed
