Great Woman: Owl Woman of the Cheyenne, d 1847
As Natives mingled with traders and other early adventurers on the frontier, it was inevitable that their cultures would mingle through relationships. Whether those relationships were based on love or need depended on the two people involved. However, William Bent's relationship with Owl Woman seems to have been a power partnership based on two equal people bringing the best of both their cultures to their family and circumstances. Owl Woman, Mis-stan-stuf, was the daughter of White Thunder, a powerful Cheyenne war leader and medicine man. Contrary to popular lore, this didn't make her a princess. Most Native tribes in North American did not have royalty or aristocracy. Being born into a certain clan or family might give someone status, but it wasn't always hereditary. Men and women had to prove their rights to leadership. White Thunder was the custodian of the Four Arrows, a sacred talisman in Cheyenne Society. The arrows had been lost ...