Rewriting the Archive: Precolonial Female Leadership and Indigenous Feminist Historiography

African Journal of Gender and Women Studies | Vol. 11, No. 8, August 2026 | pp. 131–144

DOI: 10.46882/2026/AJGWS/001294

Article Type: Research Article

Title: Rewriting the Archive: Precolonial Female Leadership and Indigenous Feminist Historiography

Names of Author: Dr. Ndidi Eze¹

Author's Affiliation: ¹Department of History and International Studies, Faculty of Arts, University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria.

Abstract:
Colonial historiography systematically obscured the political, spiritual, and economic authority wielded by women in precolonial African societies, imposing Victorian gender binaries that relegated women to the domestic sphere. By reading colonial archives against the grain alongside oral traditions, indigenous feminist historians have uncovered robust traditions of dual-sex political systems, queen mothers, and female military leaders. Yet mainstream historical curricula continue to treat women’s historical agency as peripheral rather than foundational to African statecraft. This paper interrogates the erasure and recovery of precolonial female governance institutions among the Igbo and Akan peoples of West Africa. Anchored in decolonial feminist historiography, the study synthesizes colonial administrative records, oral praise poetry, and indigenous proverbs. Through critical historical analysis, I demonstrate how reclaiming precolonial models of female authority challenges contemporary patriarchal claims that gender equality is alien to African culture, providing an indigenous intellectual foundation for modern feminist advocacy.

Keywords: Precolonial leadership, feminist historiography, colonial archive, dual-sex system, oral tradition, African feminism, Igbo, Akan

Manuscript Timeline: Received: June 08, 2026; Revised: July 15, 2026; Accepted: July 18, 2026; Published: August 14, 2026.

Citation: Eze, N. (2026). Rewriting the Archive: Precolonial Female Leadership and Indigenous Feminist Historiography. African Journal of Gender and Women Studies, 11(8), 131–144. DOI: 10.46882/2026/AJGWS/001294

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