image from Lenape Mural Project - note the man is facing outwards, away from the village, the woman inwards
Sisterhood is something we've shuffled off as we've "evolved." We think we no longer need the help and wisdom of our sisters and mothers.
Some of us acknowledge the need for it and arrange for girl's nights out or girl's weekends but what we're searching for becomes a moment in time and one used mainly for rest, relaxation and wine-drinking. We see the fun and negate the value of the exchange. It's a luxury or treat, but there was a time when societies recognized the importance of the domestic, community infrastructure for women.
The Lenape tribe was matrilineal (possessions were passed down on the mother's side). The women focused on agriculture and raising food, the men on hunting. They were a society of fixed, but not permanent settlements. The settlement was based around the fields in which they (the women) raised crops. The men launched mobile hunting expeditions from these locations. As the fields became fallow, the settlement would relocate.
The Cherokee were also matrilineal. Unlike the Lenape, they had permanent settlements and the women owned the property (items, not land). Men hunted, waged war and negotiated with other tribes.
When women married, their husbands joined them in their mother's household. This enabled women to have something we are missing today -- the ability to maintain their female support group. They had assistance in child bearing and raising. If their husband was killed in war or was separated from the tribe, or from them, they maintained their support system.
When the native america people were forced to live by European standards, these understandings began to erode and women lost a significant part of their power and support in these matrilineal communities.
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