The Sacred Hoop: Recovering the Feminine in American Indian Traditions by Paula Gunn Allen

Paula Gunn Allen’s The Sacred Hoop: Recovering the Feminine in American Indian Traditions is compilation of essay’s that discuss topics ranging from Native American mythology and origin stories to feminism to spiritual identity and balance. Broken down into three major sections, the book works in a cyclical nature to continually remind us about the importance of the Native American gynocentric cultures and to reinforce the identity of the Native American communities. The first section, “The Ways of our Grandmothers” discusses the importance of women in Native American cultures and the expression of this importance in the origin stories of different nations. The second section, “The Word Warriors” focuses on the different methods of story telling, in particular oral story telling, several major themes of Native American literatures, and the importance of stories to Native American cultures. As an example, Allen discusses the importance of spirituality and how stories unite as well as identify with the people of that culture. She discusses the importance of lore and compares several Western literary traditions to those of several prominent Native American writers. The third section, “Pushing up the Sky” brings together female roles, spirituality, and identity to bring forth the ideas of social identity, gender roles, and Native American feminism. Through a comparative exercise, she explains the differences of gender identification and societal views in Western and Native American cultures.

Overall, the book was an eye-opener. It challenges typical Western views of female roles, literature, gender identity, and Native American cultures in general. Allen focuses on the gynocentric methods typical of Native American cultures but also employs Western comparative strategies so as to bring a non-Native American reader into closer relation with the text. She most effectively uses this method while discussing gender roles within Native American communities and the Westerner’s fear of gender bending and overall homophobia. Allen successfully portrays the acceptance of personal identification and the importance of being in tune with the bodies true desires. Native American cultures will assign societal roles based on a person’s social gender identity, rather than their biological make-up, an idea that Western cultures are yet to grasp.

Paula Gunn Allen is seeking to challenge our ideas of Western cultures and our views of Native American cultures. She’s establishing the voices of Native Americans and in particular Native American women. By gathering different author’s and their essays into one collective text, Allen effectively argues for Native American identity and the American Indian’s rights as individual, unique, and strong systems of government and cultures.

If you’re searching for the book that will challenge your ideas and open your mind to another mode of thinking, then The Sacred Hoop is definitely a perfect choice. Allen’s unique approach to the arguments presented in this text are profound and well-thought out. It leaves the reader thinking long after you’ve finished. It’s a wonderful collection of culture and identity and definitely worth the read.