Page 28 - ISVB
P. 28
26
GENDER AND AGE ROLES Age roles continue today, reflected in the OCCUPATIONS
honor and respect accorded to elders at both
The lifeways of both anchor communities the Meskwaki Settlement and the Amanas. Although there are reflections of traditional
were seeped in gender roles, only a few of Another type of role that is important on the occupations in the Amanas and on the
which continue to this day. On the Meskwaki Settlement—this one a reflection of birth Meskwaki Settlement, for both groups, the
Settlement, some activities are rarely carried order. Usually, as children are born within a economic base has changed substantially
out by the opposite sex: for example, sewing, family, they are alternately assigned to one during the past 100 years. The communal
trapping, and the double-ball game still of two groups, represented by colors: black, Amana economy was based on a combination
maintain their age-old gender roles. Today, called Tokans, and white, Kisko. Each group of agriculture and manufacturing. Today, both
Meskwaki women have been elected to is responsible for certain cultural duties. The remain important, with the significant addition
the tribal council, and accepted into most division is useful in more mundane tasks, of tourism dollars�
leadership positions. In the Amanas, the most too—in game playing, when people “break into
obvious continuation of gender roles is at teams,” the participants form Tokans-Kisko Very traditional Meskwaki lifeways revolved
worship services, where men and women sit sides� around hunting and agriculture. Although both
on opposite sides of the church. are still important on the Settlement, with
some of the tribe’s extensive land holdings
offered as leased farmland to non-Meskwaki
people, neither pursuit forms the community’s
central economic base. The Meskwaki Bingo
Casino Hotel provides significant sources of
revenue to tribal members.
