eCommons

 

UNBROKEN THREADS: REDRESSING AND REARTICULATING HODINǪHSǪ́:NIH WOMEN’S DESIGN WORK, 1850-1945

Access Restricted

Access to this document is restricted. Some items have been embargoed at the request of the author, but will be made publicly available after the "No Access Until" date.

During the embargo period, you may request access to the item by clicking the link to the restricted file(s) and completing the request form. If we have contact information for a Cornell author, we will contact the author and request permission to provide access. If we do not have contact information for a Cornell author, or the author denies or does not respond to our inquiry, we will not be able to provide access. For more information, review our policies for restricted content.

No Access Until

2025-06-13
Permanent Link(s)

Other Titles

Abstract

This dissertation explores the integral role Hodinǫhsǫ́:nih (Haudenosaunee) (Iroquois) women had on the collection, documentation, framing, and circulation of their design work in the mid-nineteenth to early-twentieth century. The Hodinǫhsǫ́:nih are an alliance of six sovereign Nations located across the upper region of what is colonially known as New York state and the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario. As a matrilineal society, Hodinǫhsǫ́:nih women oversee the social, political, and economic welfare of the Six Nations. They decide on matters of concern such as warfare, sanction land use, establish diplomatic relations with other nations, as well as facilitate access to and travel through their traditional territories. In this dissertation, I develop the concept of articulating refusal-assertion to interpret the social negotiations that occurred between Hodinǫhsǫ́:nih women and the anthropologists, missionaries, and educators whose collections they helped to co-produce at the turn of the twentieth century. I argue that the decision to serve as procurers, interlocutors, and interpreters was strategic; Hodinǫhsǫ́:nih women upheld and enacted their matriarchal roles and responsibilities while negotiating the research activities and commercial ventures carried out on their traditional territories. Drawing on extensive archival- and museum-based research, I found that Hodinǫhsǫ́:nih women directed the collection, documentation, and circulation of their material culture and knowledge despite the archival erasures that seek to obfuscate, silence, and erase their voices and stories. I begin by addressing how Hodinǫhsǫ́:nih women refuse to recognize the legitimacy of colonial nation-states, as well as assert their nationhood through the visual and material record. Next, I focus on three forms of domestic labor (dressmaking, lacemaking, and homemaking) whereby Hodinǫhsǫ́:nih women engaged in acts of refusal and assertion from 1850 to 1945. Each chapter illustrates how Hodinǫhsǫ́:nih women refuted the boundaries and labels placed upon them, their bodies, and their communities amidst ongoing colonialism and capitalist expansion. I also show how they asserted their nationhood through production of textiles, regalia, and clothing. My intention is to redress archival erasures that have removed Hodinǫhsǫ́:nih women’s names, voices, and stories from their design work.

Journal / Series

Volume & Issue

Description

Sponsorship

Date Issued

2023-05

Publisher

Keywords

Location

Effective Date

Expiration Date

Sector

Employer

Union

Union Local

NAICS

Number of Workers

Committee Chair

Green, Denise

Committee Co-Chair

Committee Member

Raheja, Natasha
Moisey, Andrew
Rickard, Jolene
McGowan, Kaja

Degree Discipline

Fiber Science and Apparel Design

Degree Name

Ph. D., Fiber Science and Apparel Design

Degree Level

Doctor of Philosophy

Related Version

Related DOI

Related To

Related Part

Based on Related Item

Has Other Format(s)

Part of Related Item

Related To

Related Publication(s)

Link(s) to Related Publication(s)

References

Link(s) to Reference(s)

Previously Published As

Government Document

ISBN

ISMN

ISSN

Other Identifiers

Rights

Rights URI

Types

dissertation or thesis

Accessibility Feature

Accessibility Hazard

Accessibility Summary

Link(s) to Catalog Record