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AMAZON

In Greek legend the amazon was a female hunter, unusual for occupying a male role. The Amazon river was named after this legendary hunter when early European explorers encountered women who were hunters and in many ways acted like men. Many cultures have acknowledged a masculine role for women. In Hinduism this role is an aspect of the female ‘hijras’. The Kaska Indians of the Subarctic may select a daughter when it appeared the family was going to have no sons and perform a transformation ceremony to symbolically turn the daughter into a son. The dried ovaries of a bear were tied to her belt which she always wore, she dressed like males and engaged in hunting. The counterpart of this role among men is called ‘berdache’. See: BERDACHE / .

Last updated 2002--0-9-

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© Robert Drislane, Ph.D. and Gary Parkinson, Ph.D.
The online version of this dictionary is a product of
Athabasca University and
ICAAP

*This social science dictionary has 1000
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science and women's study with a commitment to Canadian examples and
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