Mountain Wolf Woman and Cynthia Ann Parker

MOUNTAIN WOLF WOMAN AND CYNTHIA ANN PARKER
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In the past, women and children were regarded as goods for trade. They were kidnapped and exchanged for other goods in open trades. In the society, their place was to entertain the men, work in the lands and give birth to many children. Their life was confined to the house chores. Then girls as young as ten years could be captured and forced to marry older men. Some of the chiefs could order any woman to be their wives since polygamy was allowed. The Comanche were magnificent at this trade. This caused a rift between the whites and the minority groups including the Hispanics, Indians, and the blacks. Whenever a woman rose above the odds to fight for her people or showed loyalty like Cynthia Ann and the Mountain Wolf Woman, then they deserved to be legends. This paper assesses the history of the two women comparing their similarities and differences and how they came to be historical icons.
Parker, a captive of the Comanche, was born in a white family in Crawford County of Illinois. When she was about ten years, her family moved to Texas near the origin of the Navasota River where they built the Fort Parker. However, they were raided by the Comanche and she and her four siblings were abducted. The others were released, but Cynthia was held back. She was forced prematurely marry one of the favorites of the Comanche chiefs. This indicates that entered into an early motherhood against her will. This was the plight of all other women who were either kidnapped by the group or sold to other traders in the open markets.

She became the mother of the renowned Chief Parker Quanna who afterward helped end the war between the Comanche and the whites
Ironically, Cynthia had been approached by many people including her brother who requested her to return to her white family. However, she rejected the offer claiming that she was comfortable in the Indian family. This indicates the strength of loyalty and love. Cynthia set an example by being loyal to her family regardless of the color or origin. Her association with the Indians was seemingly a lowered status as they were treated more like other blacks and Hispanics. Apart from being denied the fundamental rights, the whites deprived them access to education and snatched them their children who could be taken to far schools. There, the males were trained to be laborers and the ladies to be cooks and maids for the whites.
Cynthia only accepted to return to Bird Ville after the whites attacked her Indian family in a bid to rescue her and killed her husband. Back in her country, the Texas legislature assigned her an annual compensation of $100 for five years and a piece of land. Isaac and Benjamin Parker were appointed as her guardians. Nevertheless, she never reconciled with the white family and even attempted to flee back to her Comanche family. This shows a strong unity between her and the group. She had devoted her life to the weak group despite being mistreated by the whites. This could act as a means to bring rest between the two groups. She is regarded as the pioneer of the American West whose legacy was made more public by her son Quanah through the reconciliation of the Redmen and the Paleface. The son defended the paleface although they termed him as a traitor for not allowing them to retaliate against their enemies. However, he wittingly calmed them and established peace. Serving as the bridge between the Comanche and the whites, Quanah is regarded as the most influential leader of the Comanche in the reservation area. Were it not for her mother’s firm stand on the plight of the minority group, Quanah would not have been able to end the long-standing battle and establish peace within the community.
Cynthia had gotten attention from thousands of Texan families whose children had been captured by the Comanche warriors. She was a source of hope for many who maintained the belief that they too could be reunited with their lost ones. However, she was not comfortable with all the attention given that her sons were still at large. She was given a legendary burial as the memory of the massacre and the Pease River Capture in the long history of the Comanche and white battles. The Comanche had killed some whites during the Nocona’s raid when Ann was rescued. However, the Indian Wars of the Great Plains were experienced by women and children, among them Parker, who suffered the most. Her honor was a reminder of how she stood firm all through. She had already accepted herself as a Comanche and was willing to die for her family. This was a motivation and a lesson to the other women as it gave them more strength to face challenges. Ceremonies are held in her remembrance at the site of her death. The events are more of educational and fun weekend showing the European settlers and Native American history of the region.
Winnebago was the name given to the people of Hochungra referring to the people of stinking waters. This was the waters of the Lake Winnebago and the Fox River. The Mountain Wolf Woman was born in 1884. In her life, she served as a recorder of the traditional Winnebago tradition and a link between the 18th and 19th centuries. Born in 1884 of a Native American family, she grew up among the Indians. Then they lived in the Black River Falls in Wisconsin. Her life just like Cynthia Ann is that of a successful adaptation to another domain of the society and maintenance of the sense of a personal identity as an Indian woman. Her life is that of loyalty and trust to her husband, and this makes her similar to Cynthia who expressed too much love for her husband despite not being an Indian.
During her childhood, the Mountain Wolf Woman got seriously ill and was taken to a traditional healer from the Wolf clan. After curing her illness, the healer conferred spiritual protection on her as was the tradition of the clan. He also gave her the new name Xehachiwinga whose translation in Winnebago was the Mountain Wolf Woman. The meaning was that she was to make a home in the mountains just like the wolf does. This was a similarity to Ann Parker who was also given a name under the Comanche clan. Both the women accepted the introductory to new groups, adopted and respected the traditions fully. This way they instigated the virtue of loyalty. Unlike Cynthia, the Wolf Woman attended classes in the Indian Affairs School where she studied English. However, she was later withdrawn from school by her family to be married off according to the Winnebago tradition. This indicates her introduction to early and forced marriage just like Parker was. However, unlike Parker who differed from her family after the whites killed her husband to whom she was loyal, the wolf woman differed with her brother for forcing her to drop out of school and choosing her a man with whom she did not match. She divorced her after the birth of their second child and was married to the man of her choice. This shows that like Parker who was not merry about her husband being killed and had, the wolf woman too respected her decision and was not ready to be intimidated by cultures. Both the icons showed that although women were regarded as submissive in both the communities, they ought to be given chances to decide and follow their likings. The Winnebago tribe was repeatedly displaced by the American government as they were regarded as minorities. This was a similar situation with the Comanche tribe who, in the era of Cynthia Parker, were segregated by the whites and even after being allotted lands under the signed peace treaty, they were later evacuated, and their sections were given to the white settlers. The wolf woman too had to move towards the far end of Minnesota. She was accommodating of the demands of the majority white society, but she never relinquished her beliefs and values of the indigenous culture. This was different from Cynthia Parker who disowned her native white society and adopted the culture of her abductors. However, there is a similarity in that both the women do not relinquish their loyalty to the traditions they lived in and were ready to interact with the whites.
The wolf mountain woman differs from Cynthia Parker in that she hailed from a time when America was changing, and there was too much fight against segregation. Further, there were struggles for religion and recognition of the minority groups in America. Where Cynthia never followed any religion, the Wolf Woman was baptized and followed the Christian life but still participated in the tribal ceremonies. Where Cynthia’s son advocated for the adoption of Christianity as a unifying religion, the Wolf Woman herself was a supporter of the Native America Church sacrament and dedicated peyote within the society. Her balance of the tradition, Christianity, and use of peyote was evidence that one has a right to any form of religion and their choices ought to be respected. At the time of her death, she had managed to rally together the different cultural traditions she had encountered throughout her life. But unlike Cynthia, she was not given a legendary burial but was rather interred in the local church cemetery.
Both the women are icons in the ancient American women. They maintained not only confidence and firm stances through extreme hardships but also showed self-confidently and loyalty in all they did. The underscore of both women are the aspects of tenacity and perseverance. Despite being married off forcefully and at tender ages, the women adopted the new cultures and were willing to struggle for their rights, their families and the minority tribes they belonged to. They also interacted with the white without compromising their traditions or giving in to the coercions from the white counterparts. Although they hailed from different tribes and at various times, they are both remembered as icons of specific ethnic groups and social changes. For the Wolf woman, her autobiography is the reflection of the traditional Winnebago society. On the other hand, Cynthia Parker represents the tradition of the Comanche society. At the epic is the plight of women and how they can easily adapt to the different and challenging situation without creating a commotion with the other communities.
Bibliography
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Neeley, Bill. The Last Comanche Chief: The Life and Times of Quanah Parker. (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1995), 2-12.
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