Robert Thorpe
According to Dictionary,com Matrilineal means: inheriting or determining descent through the female line. I didn't quite understand that definition until reading some of the other threads and by also looking up the Iroquois Tribe on USHistory.org. Faith directly influenced the economic conditions and oversight of crops and anything else that came from Mother Earth was given to the women. Females would oversee the of dispersing of food. During the Confederacy of the Iroquois women would select the Sachems(or representatives) that would act in their political interest.
According to Brian Schwimmer at University of Manitoba the women of the Hopi would own the house, crops and land. They would also hold important ritual roles as well as judicial office positions.
The roles that Native American women play It this why some Native Americans differs vastly from the European role. I wonder if it is for this reason that Native American women like Pocahontas and Sacagawea became intertwined with early American history?