This paper discusses the cultural roles of Indian women in the past and the translation of those roles in today's world. Historically, the Indian woman was educated by her mother and other older women to assume duties ranging from wife and mother to respected counselor, medicine woman, and warrior. Contact with White explorers and settlers made the course of life unpredictable and forced women to find within themselves the adaptive mechanisms to maintain, expand, or revise traditional roles. Contemporary Indian women remain primarily responsible for childrearing. On reservations this responsibility can be shared, but women who have moved to urban areas seeking economic advancement leave the security of the extended family network. Women who find themselves in positions of authority in the work place or tribal government may have difficulty in changing roles from subordinate to superior in their dealings with men. Others are forced to choose between career and marriage as they strive to maintain self-determination and self-esteem. In addition to coping with role and values conflicts, Indian women must also overcome stereotypical characterizations, such as the "squaw" facing a life of misery and servitude or the romantic Indian "princess." Neither stereotype is complimentary, as both deny the existence of self-determination in the Indian woman. The ways in which Indian women deal with stereotypes and cultural role conflicts may be viewed as an important adaptive mechanism that may be applied to other personal problems. (SV)