Colonial documentation of the region since the1800s has significantly influenced perceptions of Kurds and Kurdish history. The Treaty of Sèvres initially promised a Kurdish state, only to be undermined by subsequent treaties, leading to a century of violence, displacement, repression, and genocide against the Kurdish people. 

Amidst this turmoil, Kurdish matriarchs played pivotal roles beyond militant resistance. Hepse Xanî Neqîb was one such matriarch. In 1926, she helped establish the first Kurdish school for girls in the city of Silêmanî, in the Kurdish autonomous region of Iraq. The Jiyan Archives documented the work of Hepsa Xan for future generations to know the great lengths she went to to preserve Kurdish heritage. Xan not only enrolled as many girls as possible in her school, but she was even known to cut off gold pieces of her headdress to fund writers or open her home to women in need.  

To Xaidan, the matriarch isn’t always the person who is “loudest at the table.”

“Although she may not be depicted as a matriarch now, a few years on when her images are archived, those struggles will echo for her kids and for her community. Even women who you won’t find their stories, women who have lived a quiet, private life, but [who were] politically active, that’s a matriarch— it's about the women who have had to break themselves for her own flesh and blood to thrive or for other parts of her community or society to flourish.” Xaidan even holds up women who stay married to men, as even a “suffering sixth wife,” to ensure their family flourishes in the next generation as a matriarch.

Shining a light on historical Kurdish matriarchs showcases the diversity of the modern Kurdish matriarchy. The Jiyan Archives is a volunteer-led project, with formidable contributors. These women are journalists, writers, artists and photographers across the globe who are dedicated to amplifying the voices of all Kurdish women. The self-funded project is not affiliated with any political or religious entity that guarantees they can do just that. “We will interview any woman from any political or religious background, as a platform, we only represent Kurdish female archives,” Xaidan explained.

According to Xaidan, Western feminism fails Kurdish women because of the unique challenges they face. “Western feminism has done many great things for women in the West. Unfortunately, it hasn't done much for the women where I come from. Our feminism is not rooted in the same pot.” Xaidan shared her interview with Zehra Dogan, who was imprisoned in Turkey for three years for producing art. Dogan used her menstrual blood and hair to make art while imprisoned. “These are not women running publicity stunts, or doing online campaigns,” Xaidan said. “Just for Kurdish women to exist is a slap in the face for oppressors.” 

The Jiyan Archives are filled with stories like Dogan’s: from Leila Bedirxan, a ballerina in Paris during the 1930s to Khabat Abbas, a fixer who risked her life shepherding journalists through Kurdistan and parts of Syria to tell the stories of Kurds. Every story reflects resistance and matriarchy and they are accessible on the site for the world to learn. “What we do at Jiyan, we not only just say look at us existing, we also say look at us fucking thriving across every decade, across every year, after every genocide, we continue to flourish and shine and the inspiration is there for that cycle to continue.”

Clarification: This article was updated on May 22nd with edits to more accurately reflect geography. Additionally, there are 13 members of the Jiyan Archives team, not 11 as initially published.