Indigenous women engineered energy-efficient baby carriers
In a groundbreaking exploration of Indigenous women’s contributions to technology and community survival, researchers are shedding light on the often-overlooked role these women played in shaping their societies through innovative tools, particularly the cradleboard. As highlighted by Alexandra Greenwald, curator of ethnography at the National History Museum of Utah, the cradleboard exemplifies the ingenuity of Indigenous women, providing both a practical solution for carrying infants and a means to engage in foraging activities. This traditional technology, which has been utilized across various Indigenous cultures for thousands of years, not only keeps babies safe but also allows mothers to gather food and perform daily tasks efficiently. Greenwald emphasizes that Indigenous women possess a wealth of traditional knowledge that aligns with scientific understanding, showcasing the complementary nature of different ways of knowing.
The research conducted by Greenwald and her team challenges long-standing biases in the representation of Indigenous cultures, particularly regarding gender roles. Historically, anthropologists and historians have focused predominantly on male contributions, often overlooking the significant impact of women in sustenance and community life. For instance, a recent study published in the American Journal of Biological Anthropology reveals that women in contemporary hunter-gatherer societies contribute as much as 75% of their community’s caloric intake, primarily through foraging for plants and crops rather than hunting large game. To illustrate the cradleboard’s effectiveness, the researchers conducted a series of experiments comparing the foraging efficiency of participants using cradleboards, slings, and those without any carrying device. The findings indicated that while cradleboard users gathered more acorns, they also burned more calories—an expected outcome given the increased mobility and efficiency provided by the cradleboard.
This research not only highlights the practical advantages of cradleboards but also underscores the critical role of Indigenous women in their communities’ subsistence strategies. The study’s authors assert that the widespread adoption of cradleboards across North America after their initial development among Basketmaker peoples attests to their effectiveness. By empirically demonstrating the importance of maternal foraging contributions, the research dismantles the stereotype that women rely solely on male hunting efforts. Ultimately, this work serves to honor and recognize the historical and ongoing contributions of Indigenous women, positioning them as essential figures in the narrative of technological innovation and community resilience.
Indigenous
women were technological trailblazers. But while lived experiences and communal histories have long supported this, they routinely
fail to receive the credit they deserve
. A group of researchers are using clinical experiments to showcase these inventions and finally give credit where it’s due. According to
National History Museum of Utah
’s curator of ethnography
Alexandra Greenwald
, one of the best examples of Indigenous women’s ingenuity undoubtedly remains the baby cradleboard.
“Any Indigenous woman who’s had their infant in a cradle could tell you exactly what I’m about to tell you, through traditional knowledge,” Greenwald
said in a recent University of Utah profile
. “Traditional ways of knowing and western science ways of knowing are different, but they can arrive at similar, complementary conclusions.”
A history of bias
Outside anthropologists, archaeologists, and historians have presented
skewed versions of Indigenous culture
for generations. These also usually fall along biased gender dynamics. For example, it’s common to hear claims that men provided most of a community’s food through hunting. But primary records, ecology, and common sense says otherwise.
“Everyone is so focused on men, meat, and stone tools because bones and stone tools preserve so well in the archaeological record. But that doesn’t mean that was the only thing that was happening,” Greenwald explained.
In a study published earlier this year
in the
American Journal of Biological Anthropology
, Greenwald and colleagues noted that even today, women in the world’s remaining hunter-gatherer populations still provide as much as 75 percent of their community’s caloric needs. They don’t do this by tackling the biggest game animals they can find, but by focusing on reliable, seasonal plants and crops. And all the while, they’re still birthing and raising children.
What is a cradleboard?
So, how did these women juggle both familial and foraging responsibilities? With tools like the cradleboard.
Examples of the technology
stretch back thousands of years across Indigenous cultures around the world. In Apache communities, a cradleboard is woven from willow, dogwood, and other plant fibers. Meanwhile, Navajo baby carriers are built from a Ponderosa pine frame laced with buckskin straps. The detailed designs kept babies safe and prevented them from crawling away while women worked. When on the move, mothers simply strapped the cradles to their backs or carried them to the next location before setting them down to continue their daily tasks. The benefits go beyond convenience and safety. Cradleboards essentially function as Indigenous foraging lifehacks.
To showcase their utility, Greenwald set up a trio of trial experiments. After consulting with tribal community representatives, her team documented three different foraging scenarios: participants wearing a cradleboard, participants wearing a sling, and another scenario without either accessory. Before donning the cradleboards and slings, researchers also stuffed them with a 10 pound sandbag to approximate the size and proportions of a 1 to 2 month old infant.
After volunteers fasted, Greenwald measured their metabolic base rates, then attached heart rate monitors, accelerometers, GPS devices, and respirometers. From there, they tasked participants to cycle through each test group while gathering acorns from a preselected area to guarantee uniform foraging scenarios.
A Diné (Navajo) baby on a cradleboard with a lamb approaching, Window Rock, Arizona, 1936. Credit: H. Armstrong Roberts, from the U.S. National Archives
Indigenous scientists and mathematicians
Researchers already knew unencumbered gatherers would amass the most acorns while burning the fewest calories. But after excluding the control group, cradleboard wearers gathered far more acorns than those who donned a sling. Interestingly, the cradle group also burned more calories, but Greenwald said this actually makes sense. Once they set the cradlebacks on the ground, foragers could move even more quickly while gathering more acorns. Despite the caloric difference, however, cradles were comparatively the most efficient baby-carrying tool.
“Humans, especially women, have been scientists and mathematicians, experimenting for time immemorial, figuring out their landscape, what is safe, what is not safe,”
said Greenwald
.
According to the study’s authors, you really don’t need clinical trials to see evidence of the cradleboard’s usefulness.
“The utility of cradle carrying is not only reflected in the increased return rate of the method, but it is also emphasized by its rapid expansion across western North America after the prehistoric development of the technology among Basketmaker peoples in the Southwest,” they
wrote in the study
.
Regardless of how Indigenous peoples carried their children while foraging, the team also explained how vital women were to their community’s survival and health.
“This study empirically demonstrates the importance of maternal foraging contributions to hunter-gatherer subsistence economies, and undermines the notion that females of reproductive age rely primarily on male hunting efforts,” they concluded.
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Indigenous women engineered energy-efficient baby carriers
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