Indigenous Women During The Colonial Era

Barker, J. (2008). Gender, Sovereignty, Rights: Native Women's Activism against Social Inequality and Violence in Canada. American Quarterly, 60(2), 8. Retrieved fro m http://search.Proquest.com.Ez proxy.library.yorku.ca/docview/61688929?Acc ountid=15182.

Her use of color and elaborate expressions signifies a significant break from the stereotypes of the stoic native. Star uses color throughout her work to demonstrate the vibrancy of her culture, contrary to persisting stereotypes. This provides stark contrast to those stereotypes. Considering the recent creation of this piece, it could be easily reasoned that this indicates a commentary on the persistence of those stereotypes in to today. In addition to a commentary on native stereotypes, this piece also contains a commentary on subjugation of women. Both the original White Squaw and Star’s interpretation contain slurs of very sexist and objectifying statements, to the point of treating women as sex objects. This component reaching Star’s modern interpretation suggests an underlying message of the continuation of these ideas into modern culture today, and how those are analogous to the stereotypes that Native Americans

The  status of women in Algonquian and Iroquoian society. The Europeans viewed the structure of Native American society lacking the complexity of their own community.  Their drawings and accounts  of the Indian people reveal that the tribe's division of labor and gender roles were actually very advanced, especially where the status of women was concerned. Since  married women in Europe held few rights to their property, family wealth, or even children, women of the tribes had  greater independence and discretion over their produce, conditions of labor, and property.  Native women even served as representatives in the tribal councils, and held  rights over the land they worked.  This  demonstrates that although “women’s work” was belittled in European cultures, Native women’s daily contributions were recognized by Native men and the tribe as a whole as vital to the prosperity of the community and worthy of respect. Analyzing the condition of women in America, a  woman's status in their community was directly related to the social hierarchy, religious culture, and natural environment in which they lived, and that the combination of those ingredients varied vastly  across the continent.

What roles do Indigenous women play within the family? Do these roles change with further contact with Europeans? What strategies are used by these women to attempt to maintain their independence and power?

“Some women fear the fire, some women simply become it.” - R.H. Sin. During Colonial America, women weren’t as valued as in current day. In Colonial times, women worked around the house, didn’t have legals rights, some were wealthy and others were slaves and others lived in the city.

Gertrude Bonnin in “Zitkala-se” reveal the changes Native American Indians experience after returning home from American-Indian Boarding schools. The following paper argues that Gertrude Bonnin’s writing aim to enlighten the white supremacy by illustrating the backlash faced by students after they have received the highly-praised Euro-American education. The author targets the white population because they are not aware of the “white” education’s negative consequences faced by the cultured Native Indians, especially the children. Bonnin focus on how the newly acquired Euro-American education stole the classic traditions of Native Indians away from them, by forcing the Indians to adopt the “white” way and abandon their own roots. In Zitkala-se, Bonnin illustrates how the native Sioux changed the way they dressed, and lived to reflect the white ways, because of the Euro-American education received by them.

These stereotypical binaries of the childlike and savage Indian are directly linked to the narratives of white settler society and colonization. Essentially, by classifying all First Nation cultures under a monolith of a few stereotypes the white setter society claimed dominance over the First Nation peoples as they created the lens through which the First Nation’s history and identity would be read. The influence of the press and government policies lead to the acceptance of these stereotypes as defining truths about First Nations people which aided the settler societies in solving the Indian problem by destroying what it meant to be Indian. In this way, the stereotypes not only developed the idea of assimilation to save the Indian, but they

No analysis of violence against Indigenous women can be made without first looking at colonization as the antipasto of the conflict (Cooper & Salomons 2010). “It is thus paramount to understand the context of colonisation in Canada in order to begin to understand the structural problems and barriers that lead to serious numbers of missing and murder Indigenous women in Canada.” (Cooper & Salomons 2010, 31). When the Europeans first came to “turtle Island” they were “highly dependent” on the assistance of Indigenous women (Cooper & Salomons 2010). However when the Euro-North American governments were forming, the issue of ownership of land became significant. “As the settler society

In the article Colonialism and First Nations Women in Canada by Winona Stevenson, the author explains the struggle First Nations women had keeping their culture alive. Upon arriving in America the Europeans suffocated the natives with their rationalisation of female subjugation. Reluctant to give up their traditions and honour the native-American women put up a fight, but their efforts would not be strong enough to triumph over the European missionaries. Stevenson chronologically explains their contact with the ‘colonial agencies'.

Women who live in a matriarch society are equal to men due to the respect they receive. Men in a matriarch sort of become `the other.' The respect and equality can be seen in Native Americans. By examining Native American women's roles will show their equality with men. Women have "knowledge of weaving, agriculture, and animal husbandry" (9). They also look after children and the household. Therefore, "Navajo women are central forces in their families and communities" (1). They are important with

Thomas King’s The Inconvenient Indian tells the story of Indigenous people in Canada and the United States, it challenges the narrative on how Indigenous history is taught and explains why Indigenous people continue to feel frustrated. King’s seeks to educate the reader as he provides a detailed accounts of the horrific massacres Indigenous people endured, yet he simultaneously inserts humorous moments which balances out the depressing content and enhances his story. The books highlights the neglect and assimilation that Indigenous were subjected to and how their survival was seen as an inconvenience to western culture. King directs his message at a Euro-centric audience to offer an accurate explanation of Indigenous culture and

She argues that women face many institutional and societal barriers. In this regard, I will give examples of the institutional and structural barriers such as “The Indian Act” which have significantly affected Indigenous women in Canada in many ways including social, economic and political. While comparing feminists and Indigenous feminists, I think that Native women are different in several ways including social, cultural, historical, political and economic; therefore, Indigenous feminism is a way of practicing the values that they have been taught and inherited from their

When European settlers arrived, they had a pre-decided vision of what women ought to behave like based on the European women, which the indigenous women didn’t align with. Indigenous women were comprehended and characterized in ambiguous and conflicting terms. They could firstly be viewed as “noble savages” where they were seen as classic Indian Princesses, virginal, childlike, naturally pure, beautiful, helpful to European men, and open and willing to

Each individual makes up the society as it is, and various characteristics and beliefs makes up an individual. Although, individual lives together with a variety of personal ideologies, emotions, cultures, and rituals, they all differentiate one person from the other making up one’s own identity. This identity makes up who one is inside and out, their behaviour, actions, and words comes from their own practices and values. However, the profound history of Indigenous people raises question in the present about their identities. Who are they really? Do we as the non-native people judge them from the outside or the inside? Regardless of whether the society or the government were involved in their lives, they faced discrimination in every

On the other hand, these new Native women are not always the primary characters of the fiction, but their presence is necessary for the text to evolve. Although similarities exist between the mythical Indian woman and the characters developed in modern fiction, the new portrait being painted of Native women shows them as strong, spiritual, and powerful, even if they choose to use their power in a destructive manner. Keeping with tradition, Indian women are still caretakers and healers but while they keep their positions as saviors of men, Indian women are illustrated saving Indian men rather than white males. Whereas the Indian women previously saved white men from the savages of their own tribe, they are now saving their own race from the destruction of the white world. Native women healing sick Indian