Native American feminism

Last updated

Native American feminism or Native feminism is, at its root, understanding how gender plays an important role in indigenous communities both historically and in modern-day. As well, Native American feminism deconstructs the racial and broader stereotypes of indigenous peoples, gender, sexuality, while also focusing on decolonization and breaking down the patriarchy and pro-capitalist ideology. [1] As a branch of the broader Indigenous feminism, it similarly prioritizes decolonization, indigenous sovereignty, and the empowerment of indigenous women and girls in the context of Native American and First Nations cultural values and priorities, rather than white, mainstream ones. [2] A central and urgent issue for Native feminists is the Missing and murdered Indigenous women crisis. [3]

Contents

Overview

Native feminist Renya K. Ramirez, writes that, [2]

[T]he word Native in the term "Native feminisms" [is used] in order to concentrate on our similar experiences as Native women all over the Americas. But whether one utilizes a tribal name, "indigenous," "Native," "First Nations" or another term, highlighting the heterogeneity is essential for appreciating the varied experiences Indigenous women experience. Indeed, similar to other women of color feminists, this diversity encourages individuals to argue for the development of multiple feminisms rather than a singular feminism.

Ramirez sees a goal of Native feminism as redefining and establishing the struggles of Native women in a field where "feminism" is generally assumed to mean "white feminism". [2] In her view, Native feminism is intersectional, and relationships between race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, class and nations in North America from colonialism onward are to be reexamined as a means of understanding and identifying feminist praxis. [2]

Indigenous Women Stereotypes and Misconceptions

Native American women continue to face racial and ethnic stereotypes due to the discourse caused by colonialism in the 15th century. Because of this, many misconceptions continue to permeate today that can cause extreme harm to indigenous women. One major stereotype of Native American women is the idea that they are promiscuous. Ideas of the “Indian Princess”, such as the story of Pocahontas, cause these ideas as it is built off of the idea that these women are submissive, but instead Native American women are powerful self-thinkers. [4] [5] With these misconceptions and stereotypes can cause much harm, such as rape and assault which only increase the statistics of the violence against Native American women”. In one piece written by Renya Ramirez, she states “one cannot be both Native and a feminist, because feminism is ultimately derived from white culture.” This statement exemplifies the term feminism in connection to the natives, representing the difference between mainstream feminism and Native feminism. [6]

Issues and Crises Native American Woman Face

Historically and in present day, Native American women have faced and continue to face oppression and violence. Statistics show that Native American women are the most likely demographic among women to be killed due to domestic violence. Indigenous women continue to be harmed by being more likely to experience assault and stalking. Native American feminists are facing violence from the patriarchy, both within and outside of their communities. As well as this, these women face being victims to forced sterilization and abuse to their reproductive rights. [7]

A core issue in Native American Feminism is the missing and murdered Indigenous women (MMIW) crisis. The MMIW, “Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women”, movement advocates for the end of indigenous women that continue to be killed, assaulted, and stolen. Some statistics reveal that in 2016 alone, there were 5,712 cases of missing Native women. In accordance to these numbers, only 116 of these cases were logged into a database. [8] Through this movement, Native American feminists are looking to amplify the rates in which indigenous women are being attacked and murdered in hopes to bring awareness to the injustice that they are facing. A red hand painted over one’s mouth has become the symbol of this movement to exemplify the violence and blood shed from the violence against indigenous women. [9] Pressure from victims' families and their FNIM Indigenous communities finally led to the Canadian National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, which concluded that there is an ongoing genocide against Indigenous women in Canada. [10]

Jennifer Brant and D. Memee Lavell-Harvard have written that the MMIW issues is often overlooked and not taken seriously [ by whom? ] because Indigenous women face systemic racial and gender oppression. [11]

Indigenous decolonization, as seen through the lens of Native American feminism, can involve the revitalization and reclamation of Indigenous matriarchal cultural traditions. [12] Maile Arvin writes that during colonization white settlers imposed their heteropatriarchal practices onto Indigenous communities. Arvin states that Native American Feminists are reinforcing matriarchal processes through education and activism. [12]

Cultural baggage associated with the words "feminist" and "feminism" has led to some disagreement about what to call "Native feminism". Kate Shanley, an Assiniboine feminist, believes that most Native women see "feminism" as solely a white women's movement, and therefore do not want to be associated with the word. [13] She goes on to say that feminism as a concept, however, by whatever name, has a special meaning to Native women, including the idea of promoting the continuity of tradition, and consequently, pursuing the recognition of Tribal sovereignty. [13] [2]

Tribal sovereignty is central to Indigenous feminism, as well a pivotal political concern in Indian country, with Native American self-determination considered foundational to both cultural and material survival. [2] In Ramirez's view, in order to accomplish this, tribal sovereignty must be re-conceptualized from Native women's perspectives. [2]

Crystal Ecohawk writes, [14]

Sovereignty is an active, living process within this knot of human, material and spiritual relationships bound together by mutual responsibilities and obligations. From that knot of relationships is born our histories, our identity, the traditional ways in which we govern ourselves, our beliefs, our relationship to the land, and how we feed, clothe, house and take care of our families, communities and Nations.

How Native Women Influenced the Women’s Rights Movement

Before the modern feminist movement was apparent in society, indigenous communities had long before that been practicing female power. Indigenous communities often were inspired by the women in their tribes, and usually went to seek knowledge from them. Matriarchal views were more than typical in Native American communities, but as well focused on equality between genders. Additionally, indigenous communities recognized the idea of more than two genders long before it became recognized in modern society. Using inherent cultural practices, indigenous communities celebrated feminism before the term “feminism” was even used. During the 15th century, colonialism washed over the states and brought about many patriarchal ideas, which also included heteronormativity. With this came the attempt to persuade indigenous communities to instill this thinking, and this caused in emergence in feminism in later years. [15]

The modern term for feminism that most know today was brought about by white feminists in the 19th century. While at its core, feminism celebrates ideas of gender equality, Native feminists essentially started the ideas of society celebrating women. While these white feminists were fighting for their rights, Native American women were already being celebrated in their communities. Looking at the earliest modern feminist movements, Native American women were a major influence. Some of the most influential women in this movement were Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Matilda Joslyn Gage. These women noted many ways in which indigenous culture influenced their ideas of feminism, specifically giving note to the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) women who were observed living free lives in which they could do things such as own their own property or even play sports. [16]

Native American Feminists

Leanne Simpson: Leanne Simpson is Mississauga Nishnaabeg activist and scholar. Simpson is also a writer and a poet, and she wrote many poems and books, including “A Short History of the Blockade”. In her writing, she talks about topics such as decolonization and recognizing the gender violence that indigenous women face. Throughout her life, she has been majorly involved in Native American feminist movements, such as the “Idle No More Movement” which is dedicated to creating awareness around the environmental justice and broken treaties that indigenous people are facing. [17] [18] [19]

Audra Simpson: Audra Simpson is Mohawk scholar who is primarily focusing on issues of indigenous recognition in politics. She as well has written a book titled “Mohawk Interruptus: Political Life Across the Borders of Settler States” which explores how the Kahnawà:ke Mohawks fought to keep their sovereignty in response to the US and Canadian governments. [20]

Chrystos: Chrystos is a Menominee activist who is also a poet. Their poetry is defined through shared ideas of colonialism, genocide, and sexuality. One piece they wrote is titled “This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color”, and in this Chrystos is often seen calling back on spoken word and oral tradition. [21]

Sarah Deer: Sarah Deer is a Muscogee (Creek) lawyer and professor who continues to advocate for Native American women that have fall victim to violence and assault. She was a major influence to the reauthorization of the 2013 Violence Against Women’s Act which allows for easier prosecution of non-Native assaulters. [22] [23]

Cutcha Risling Baldy: Cutcha Risling Baldy is a Native American Associate Professor and Department Chair of Native American Studies at Cal Poly Humboldt. Risling Baldy's research focuses on indigenous feminisms, environmental justice, and decolonization. She has greatly impacted the advancement of Native culture through co-founding the Native Women's Collective. Her book on Native Feminisms and coming of age ceremonies has revitalized the Hupa tribe's coming of age ceremony. [24]

See also

Related Research Articles

Postcolonial feminism is a form of feminism that developed as a response to feminism focusing solely on the experiences of women in Western cultures and former colonies. Postcolonial feminism seeks to account for the way that racism and the long-lasting political, economic, and cultural effects of colonialism affect non-white, non-Western women in the postcolonial world. Postcolonial feminism originated in the 1980s as a critique of feminist theorists in developed countries pointing out the universalizing tendencies of mainstream feminist ideas and argues that women living in non-Western countries are misrepresented.

Native American studies is an interdisciplinary academic field that examines the history, culture, politics, issues, spirituality, sociology and contemporary experience of Native peoples in North America, or, taking a hemispheric approach, the Americas. Increasingly, debate has focused on the differences rather than the similarities between other Ethnic studies disciplines such as African American studies, Asian American Studies, and Latino/a Studies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Feminist movements and ideologies</span>

A variety of movements of feminist ideology have developed over the years. They vary in goals, strategies, and affiliations. They often overlap, and some feminists identify themselves with several branches of feminist thought.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Decoloniality</span> School of thought

Decoloniality is a school of thought that aims to delink from Eurocentric knowledge hierarchies and ways of being in the world in order to enable other forms of existence on Earth. It critiques the perceived universality of Western knowledge and the superiority of Western culture, including the systems and institutions that reinforce these perceptions. Decolonial perspectives understand colonialism as the basis for the everyday function of capitalist modernity and imperialism. Decoloniality emerged as part of a South America movement examining the role of the European colonization of the Americas in establishing Eurocentric modernity/coloniality. Decolonial theory and practice have recently been subject to increasing critique. For example, Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò argued that it is analytically unsound, that "coloniality" is often conflated with "modernity", and that "decolonisation" becomes an impossible project of total emancipation. Jonatan Kurzwelly and Malin Wilckens, used the example of decolonisation of academic collections of human remains - which were collected during colonial times to support racist theories and give legitimacy to colonial oppression -, and showed how both contemporary scholarly methods and political practice perpetuate reified and essentialist notions of identities.

Norma Bailey is a Canadian film writer, producer, and director whose work is rooted in feminist and intersectional film theory. Bailey has directed several films, both in English and French and in various different genres, including fiction and non-fiction films. Her prolific career within the film industry has awarded her various awards and professional accolades including being named to the Order of Manitoba in 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarah Deer</span> American lawyer

Sarah Deer is a Native American lawyer, and a professor of Women, Gender, and Sexuality studies and Public Affairs and Administration at the University of Kansas. She was a 2014 MacArthur fellow and has been inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.

Indigenous feminism is an intersectional theory and practice of feminism that focuses on decolonization, Indigenous sovereignty, and human rights for Indigenous women and their families. The focus is to empower Indigenous women in the context of Indigenous cultural values and priorities, rather than mainstream, white, patriarchal ones. In this cultural perspective, it can be compared to womanism in the African-American communities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Feminism in Latin America</span> Social movement for womens rights

Latin American feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and achieving equal political, economic, cultural, personal, and social rights for Latin American women. This includes seeking to establish equal opportunities for women in education and employment. People who practice feminism by advocating or supporting the rights and equality of women are feminists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women</span> Movement in the US and Canada

Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) is an epidemic of violence against Indigenous women in Canada and the United States, notably those in the FNIM and Native American communities, and a grassroots movement to raise awareness of MMIW through organizing marches; building databases of the missing; holding local community, city council, and tribal council meetings; and conducting domestic violence trainings and other informational sessions for police.

Leanne Betasamosake Simpson is a Mississauga Nishnaabeg writer, musician, and academic from Canada. She is also known for her work with Idle No More protests. Simpson is a faculty member at the Dechinta Centre for Research and Learning. She lives in Peterborough.

In feminist theory, heteropatriarchy or cisheteropatriarchy, is a socio-political system where (primarily) cisgender and heterosexual males have authority over other cisgender males, females, and people with other sexual orientations and gender identities. It is a term that emphasizes that discrimination against women and LGBT people is derived from the same sexist social principle.

Joanne Barker became a faculty member within the American Indian Studies Department at San Francisco State University, in 2003. Much of her work focuses on indigenous feminism and the sovereignty and self determination of indigenous peoples. Her work takes a transnational approach, making connections between and across the borders of countries. Barker makes historical and scholarly connections between the oppression and resistance of marginalized communities. An example of this transnational approach can be seen by the work that Barker has done to show connections in the struggles of Palestinians in Israel and indigenous communities in the United States.

J. Kēhaulani Kauanui is a Kanaka Maoli woman born and raised in California with ties to family in Anahola on the island of Kaua`i and throughout the islands. She is an author, editor, radio producer, educator, serves on advisory boards, and is one of six co-founders of the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association (NAISA). She was awarded a Fulbright (1994-1995) at the University of Auckland in New Zealand where she was affiliated with the Māori Studies department. Her research areas focus on indigeneity and race, settler colonialism, decolonization, anarchism, and gender and sexuality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angie Morrill</span>

Angie Morrill is a member of the Klamath Tribes in Oregon. She is a former Native admissions recruitment officer for the University of Oregon. She is currently the Program Director of Title VI Indian Education for Portland Public Schools.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">REDress Project</span> Public art installation

The REDress Project by Jaime Black is a public art installation that was created in response to the missing and murdered Indigenous women (MMIW) epidemic in Canada and the United States. The on-going project began in 2010 and commemorates missing and murdered indigenous women from the First Nations, Inuit, Métis (FNIM), and Native American communities by hanging empty red dresses in a range of environments. The project has also inspired other artists to use red to draw attention to the issue of MMIW, and prompted the creation of Red Dress Day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Missing and murdered Indigenous women in Utah</span>

The epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous women (MMIW) is not exclusive to any region of the United States, but some states have a higher number of cases. Utah ranked 8th in the United States for the number of missing and murdered Indigenous women. The state's capital, Salt Lake City, was the city with the 9th highest number of cases of MMIW.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chicanafuturism</span>

The term Chicanafuturism was originated by scholar Catherine S. Ramírez which she introduced in Aztlán: A Journal of Chicano Studies in 2004. The term is a portmanteau of 'chicana' and 'futurism', inspired by the developing movement of Afrofuturism. The word 'chicana' refers to a woman or girl of Mexican origin or descent. However, 'Chicana' itself serves as a chosen identity for many female Mexican Americans in the United States, to express self-determination and solidarity in a shared cultural, ethnic, and communal identity while openly rejecting assimilation. Ramírez created the concept of Chicanafuturism as a response to white androcentrism that she felt permeated science-fiction and American society. Chicanafuturism can be understood as part of a larger genre of Latino futurisms.

Jaime Black is of Anishinaabe and Finnish descent. This Canadian multidisciplinary artist-activist is focused on First Nations and Indigenous representation and identity. She identifies as Métis, an ethnic group native to the three Prairie Provinces as well as parts of Ontario, British Columbia, and the Northwest Territories of Canada and the Northern United States, which traces descent to both Indigenous North Americans and Western European settlers. Black is best known for her art installation The REDress Project that she created as a response to the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) crisis in Canada as well as the United States. A 2014 report by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police found that more than 1,000 Indigenous women were murdered over the span of 30 years from 1980 to 2012. However, some Indigenous advocacy groups dispute these reports arguing that the number is much greater than the government has acknowledged.

The Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women's and People's Alert System is the first nationwide alert system for missing Indigenous people in the United States. On 31 March 2022, Washington State Governor Jay Inslee signed 6 bills into law, 2 of which focus on helping missing Indigenous people that will take effect June 9. This bill, originally proposed by Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson, is an Amber-Alert-type system that notifies police and other public broadcasting systems in local and regional areas when a report has been made by a family member of a missing Indigenous person. Washington State has a similar "Silver Alert" for vulnerable adults who have gone missing. While the alert system includes Indigenous men and children, it has a primary focus on Indigenous women, since “the crisis began as a women's issue, and it remains primarily a women's issue.” according to public testimony.

Cutcha Risling Baldy is a Native American associate professor and department chair of Native American studies at Cal Poly Humboldt in Arcata, California, where just 2.7% of faculty are Indigenous. Risling Baldy focuses her research on Indigenous feminisms, California Indians, Environmental Justice, and Decolonization. Her most notable contribution to the study of Indigenous feminisms was her debut book in 2018, We Are Dancing for You: Native Feminisms and the Revitalization of Women's Coming-of-age Ceremonies. At the 2019 Native American Indigenous Studies Associate Conference, she was awarded “Best First Book in Native American and Indigenous Studies”. Risling Baldy is also a prominent proponent of the Land Back movement committed to restoring Indigenous lands to tribal nations in the United States. Her expertise has been featured in interviews with National Public Radio and various podcasts including For the Wild and Indiginae.

References

  1. ↑ "Indigenous Feminism Is Our Culture (SSIR)". ssir.org. Retrieved 2021-12-09.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Ramirez, Renya (1 March 2007). "Race, Tribal Nation, and Gender". Meridians. 7 (2): 22–40. doi:10.2979/MER.2007.7.2.22. JSTOR   40314242. S2CID   146691825. Project MUSE   217600.
  3. ↑ McKenna, Cara (2 Dec 2016). "Indigenous feminists strategize before MMIW inquiry - Advocates in Vancouver to hold last of three public meetings this weekend". Metro Toronto . Archived from the original on 16 October 2017. Retrieved 15 Oct 2017.
  4. ↑ "It's Time To Bust Stereotypes of Native American Women as Princesses and Squaws". Bitch Media. Retrieved 2021-12-09.
  5. ↑ Green, Rayna (1975). "The Pocahontas Perplex: The Image of Indian Women in American Culture". The Massachusetts Review. 16 (4): 698–714. ISSN   0025-4878.
  6. ↑ Ramirez, Renya (2007). "Race, Tribal Nation, and Gender: A Native Feminist Approach to Belonging". Meridians. 7 (2): 22–40. ISSN   1536-6936.
  7. ↑ "Native American Women and Coerced Sterilization".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  8. ↑ "Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Report" (PDF).{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  9. ↑ "What is the MMIW Movement?". We R Native. Retrieved 2021-12-09.
  10. ↑ Christina Maxouris. "Thousands of killed or missing Indigenous women and girls are victims of a 'Canadian genocide,' report says". CNN. Retrieved 2019-10-07.
  11. ↑ Brant, Jennifer; Lavell-Harvard, D.Memee (2016). Forever Loved: Exposing the Hidden Crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls in Canada. Bradford, ON: Demeter Press. p. 35. ISBN   978-1-77258-020-4.
  12. 1 2 Arvin, Maile; Tuck, Eve; Morrill, Angie (2013). "Decolonizing Feminism: Challenging Connections between Settler Colonialism and Heteropatriarchy". Feminist Formations. 25 (1): 8–34. doi:10.1353/ff.2013.0006. JSTOR   43860665. S2CID   145588292. Project MUSE   504601.
  13. 1 2 Shanley, Kate (1984). "Thoughts on Indian Feminism". In Brant, Beth (ed.). A Gathering of Spirit: Writing and Art by North American Indian Women. Sinister Wisdom Books. pp. 213–215. ISBN   978-0-931103-00-1.
  14. ↑ Ecohawk, Crystal (1999). "Reflections on Sovereignty". Indigenous Woman. 3 (1): 21–22.
  15. ↑ "How Native American Women Inspired the Women's Rights Movement (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Retrieved 2021-12-09.
  16. ↑ "The Indigenous Roots of Modern Feminism".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  17. ↑ Simpson, Leanne. A Short History of the Blockade: Giant Beavers, Diplomacy, and Regeneration in Nishnaabewin. University of Alberta Press.
  18. ↑ Simpson, Leanne. As We Have Always Done: Indigenous Freedom through Radical Resistance. Univ. of Minnesota Press.
  19. ↑ Simpson, Leanne. Dancing on Our Turtle's Back: Stories of Nishnaabeg Re-Creation, Resurgence and a New Emergence. Simon Fraser University Library.
  20. ↑ Simpson, Audra. Mohawk Interruptus: Political Life across the Borders of Settler States. Duke University Press.
  21. ↑ Chrystos. This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color. SUNY Press.
  22. ↑ "15 Indigenous Feminists You Should Know". Bitch Media. Retrieved 2021-12-09.
  23. ↑ Deer, Sarah. The Beginning and End of Rape: Confronting Sexual Violence in Native America. University of Minnesota Press.
  24. ↑ Risling Baldy, Cutcha (2018). We are dancing for you : native feminisms and the revitalization of women's coming-of-age ceremonies. Seattle. ISBN   978-0-295-74345-5. OCLC   1032289446.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.