Stereotypes of all varieties have plagued Native Americans ever since their first encounters with the white man. Unfortunately, people have been more content to rely on ignorance rather than to look into the true complexities and compassion of Native American life before and during the time Europeans graced the continent with their presence. Perhaps the most impressive examples of such complexity would lie in structure of governments, role of women in every day and political life, and respect for the earth, as well as respect for human life. One would also find a total contrast in European behavior, when compared to that of the "savages.".
These "savages" managed to construct governments that were inclusive and sensitive to the needs of everyone. The Iroquois, for example, were considered to be some of the most ferocious of the indigenous peoples, and yet had one of the most articulate governments of the time. Made up of their five different nations, the Iroquois formed a constitution of laws, and a confederation that based its work upon that constitution. Two main principals guided the federation and were outlined in the constitution; individual freedom and government by consent of the governed. How shocked these weary white travelers must have been to find that even though they, the superiors, were not enjoying the same freedoms that these "savages" were allowed. Maybe that's why the constitution of the United States outlines the same basic ideas- except for that irking absence of all the rights and political interests of women and people of color. .
How threatened they (meaning the white males) must have been when they saw the power yielded by those helpless "savage" women. In addition to being able to add or kick off the representatives for the tribal council, these women, who knew the true definition of labor, managed the home, depending on the area, dug in mines and worked the field.
