Nanye' hi Nancy Wards - the cherokee Beloved Woman

Everytime a Native American figure is brought up, it's expected to be told about chiefs, medicine men, warriors...all men and they trully had huge important for their people's history. It happens that there are many women in history who also  had  a great significance; some of them changed lives back then and such changes are still reflecting nowadays .

Well, I am fascinated by those women and as a lover of native culture and history I always wondered how much influencial they could be back in time .The history of Nancy Wards really worth to be told and shared so people can realize how importantthe role of a woman into any society/group/tribe was.They might have been warriors, mothers, wives,healers and through their wisdom and love they have always made the great changes in the world.

Nancy ( Nanye'hi in Cherokee language ) was a member of Cherokee Tribe and the Wolf clan, and her importante heritage came from her mother.At this point is important to remember that most Native American tribes were matriarchal ( Cherokee Tribe was Matriarchal ) .Since very young she took part of batters fighting by her husband's side and when he was killed in battle, she rallied the cherokee warriors leading them to victory  becoming then a leader within Cherokee nation .

Because of her actiors, The Cherokee clans chose her as Ghighau or the Beloved Woman which meant a powerful position, her opinion was influential in the tribe because the Cherokees believed that the Great Spirit could speak through the Beloved Woman. She headed the Women's concil, sat on the Concil of Chiefs, worked as a peaceful negociator and had power over prisoners.

She understood that the best way for the cherokee to survive was to coexist with the new setters ( Europeans ) so she learned how to make butter and cheese . Afterward she introduced dairying among her tribe; and by the combination of loom weaving and dairy farming  helped to strenght the economy of her people.

Her actions contributed  for the survival of her tribe as well as  her legacy is part of What Cherokee Nation is today .

She died around1822, before the Trail of Tears as the Last woman who received the title of Beloved Women until 1980's and is remembered and considered a pioneer for women in American Politics . A women ahead of her time and women's voice in a very troubled period od history.

I do hope everyone who reads this post may be inspired by her !!! Sources about her are all over the internet so I can not mention only one as I read many things and watched videos too ;)