Indigenous feminism
draws on core elements of Indigenous cultures -- in particular, the nearly
universal connection to land, to territory, through relationships framed as a
sacred responsibility predicated on reciprocity and definitive of culture and
identity. Joyce Green (Chapter: Taking More Account of Indigenous Feminism: An
Introduction)
In Canada,
Indigenous women have been socially and legislatively deprived of their
connections to their territories through colonial practices. Joyce Green
(Chapter: Taking More Account of Indigenous Feminism: An Introduction)
Indigenous men,
governments and communities must also take personal and corporate
accountability for their sins of omission and commission in respect of violence
against women. Joyce Green (Chapter: Taking More Account of Indigenous
Feminism: An Introduction)
Indigenous feminism
seeks an Indigenous liberation that includes women, and not just the conforming
woman, but also the marginal and excluded, and especially the woman who has
been excluded from her community by virtue of colonial legislation and socio-historical
forces. Joyce Green (Chapter: Taking More Account of Indigenous Feminism: An
Introduction)
The territories and
geographies that define our identity as Indigenous peoples provide the
directive for our ways of knowing and being. Gina Starblanket (Chapter: Being
Indigenous Feminists: Resurgences Against Contemporary Patriarchy)
We need to critique
colonial and Indigenous patriarchy through resurgence to ensure that it isn't
insulated as resurgence. Gina Starblanket (Chapter: Being Indigenous Feminists:
Resurgences Against Contemporary Patriarchy)
Far from being an
end goal, resurgence is an active process that looks to the past to inform a
better future through change that takes place each and every day, from the
ground up. Gina Starblanket (Chapter: Being Indigenous Feminists: Resurgences
Against Contemporary Patriarchy)
Aboriginal women
state that gender inequality is neither the only nor the most important form of
oppression they face. Verna St Denis (Chapter: Feminism is for Everybody:
Aboriginal Women, Feminism and Diversity)
We are American
Indian women, in that order. We are
oppressed, first and foremost as American Indians, as peoples colonized by the
United States of America, not as women.
Lorelai Means (Chapter: Feminism is for Everybody: Aboriginal Women,
Feminism and Diversity)
You join us in
liberating our land and lives. Lose the
privilege you acquire at our expense by occupying our land. Make that your first priority for as long as
it takes to make it happen. Then we'll
join you in fixing up whatever's left of the class and gender problems in your
society, and our own. Janet McCloud
(Chapter: Feminism is for Everybody: Aboriginal Women, Feminism and Diversity)
Equality is not
appropriate or relevant in the context of continuing colonization, in which the
sovereignty and rights of self-determination of Aboriginal peoples is
denied. Verna St Denis (Chapter:
Feminism is for Everybody: Aboriginal Women, Feminism and Diversity)
Colonization has involved the appropriation of
sovereignty, lands, resources and agency, and has included the imposition of
Western and Christian patriarchy on Aboriginal peoples. Verna St Denis (Chapter:
Feminism is for Everybody: Aboriginal Women, Feminism and Diversity)
Patriarchy isn't
simply about relationships between women and men. It encompasses an entire world organized
around principles of control, domination and competition. Allan Johnson
Aboriginal men have
internalized white male devaluation of women.
Emma LaRocque
The Indian Act is a
powerful and still operating instrument of colonialism and patriarchy. The Act has made Indigenous women legal
nullities, placed them outside the rule of law and the protection and benefit
of the law and taken them from their families. Mary Eberts (Chapter: Being an
Indigenous Woman is a "High-Risk Lifestyle")
The violence that
permeates the lives of Indigenous women in Canada today is largely the result
of the Indian Act, which functions to make Indigenous women a population of
prey. Mary Eberts (Chapter: Being an Indigenous Woman is a "High-Risk
Lifestyle")
The Indian Act
creates an Indian world, the hub of which is the reserve, a piece of land
"set aside" for a "band" of "Indians" and under
the absolute control of the Minister [of Indian, now Indigenous, Affairs]. Mary
Eberts (Chapter: Being an Indigenous Woman is a "High-Risk
Lifestyle")
Only registered
(also known as "status" Indians) can live on reserves. The thousands of Indian women who have been
rendered legally non-Indian are evicted from reserves and removed from the
Indian registry. The Indian Act controls
who can be registered as an Indian and the practical consequences of being
Indian. Mary Eberts (Chapter: Being an Indigenous Woman is a "High-Risk
Lifestyle")
Indigenous women are
more likely than non-Indigenous women to be killed by a stranger, and nearly
half the murders are unresolved.
Indigenous women are also at least seven times more likely than
non-Indigenous women to be murdered by a serial killer. Mary Eberts (Chapter:
Being an Indigenous Woman is a "High-Risk Lifestyle")
The Indian Act
creates bands, composed of "Indians" and provides that only band
members may occupy or use the band's reserve.
If the band ceases to exist, the land is taken by the Crown. Mary Eberts
(Chapter: Being an Indigenous Woman is a "High-Risk Lifestyle")
The fewer Indians
that Canada recognizes, the less land must be allocated as reserves. Mary Eberts (Chapter: Being an Indigenous
Woman is a "High-Risk Lifestyle")
Aboriginal
liberation must be linked to compliance with International human rights regimes
if Indigenous governments are not to run the risk of replicating the abuses
they seek to transcend through decolonization. Joyce Green (Chapter:
ReBalancing Strategies, Aboriginal Women and Constitutional Rights in Canada)
Colonialism
destroyed the diversity of Indigenous peoples by regulating and producing
state-approved Indigenous identity for the purpose of usurping their
territories and resources. Diedre A
Desmarais (Chapter: Spare a Thought for Metis Women Elders: Illness and Poverty
in Elderhood)
The federal and
provincial governments have always deployed jurisdictional wrangling to avoid
treating Indigenous peoples equitably. Diedre A Desmarais (Chapter: Spare a
Thought for Metis Women Elders: Illness and Poverty in Elderhood)
