Presenting varied perspectives describing the Native American woman, this book is divided into six chapters as follows: (1) Native Americans and Anthropology (this chapter illustrates the way in which anthropologists have helped stereotype American Indian women); (2) The Native American Woman in Ethnographic Perspective (emphasizing role variations and tribal differences, this chapter points up the importance of cultural background); (3) The Native American Woman in Historical Perspective (emphasis on the negative stereotyping of American Indians by historians, with the assertion that the historian typically stereotyped more severely than the anthropologist); (4) The Plain's Native American Woman (emphasis on Cheyenne sexual roles, sexual rites, and sexual taboos); (5) The Native American Woman in Transition (lengthy excerpts from a biographical account by Bonnin and a semi-autobiographical account by Qoyawayma, both women who have experienced change agent roles); (6) A Perspective of the Issues and Challenges Facing the Contemporary Native American Woman (low income; legal problems; sexism; the Women's Movement; questions re: marriage, identity, and inter-tribal marriage; education; and religion). (JC)