Complementary Roles

Gender roles in many Indigenous cultures are complementary, meaning men and women are seen as equals even though their roles in community are different. This is important in Indigenous life because the community has a, “common purpose: the survival and flourishing of the people itself. Complementarity helps ensure a cohesive whole focused on survival and a flourishing community” (Sneider 64). Our previous views describe how women in the Haudenosaunee culture are the main contributors to agricultural work. They are seen as equally powerful as the hunters because without these crops the Haudenosaunee would have not been able to survive. This mush paddle represents the gender roles of women in a complementary lifestyle.