Mary J. Magoulick (Georgia College)
Nishnaabe woman Oogima Ikwe speaks poetically about widespread practices of excluding women from Indigenous rituals during menstruation. She perceives the nature of such restrictions as arbitrary and recent, acting on her insight by encouraging women to attend rituals whenever, perhaps intuiting the benefits of communitas, a unified, reflexive, plural pleasure in ceremonies (Turner 2012). She perceives “all culture” as needing to embrace change and creativity: “Everything has to adapt or . . . it doesn’t exist.” Her thoughtful recognition of the nature of culture embraces agency in hopeful, forward-thinking activism that recenters considerations and methods of engaging gender.
Part of 04-07 Dynamic Re-Centerings and Reconsiderations of Gender and Folklore, Friday, October 14, 8:30 am–10:00 am