Indigenous Woman

Question 1

Indigenous ideas about womanhood:
1. Explain Skywoman

2. Explain the role of Haudenosaunee women in society

Answer 1

1. Sky woman is an ancient ancestor and central figure: she is a single mom that raises her grandchildren alone and everything she creates is through her lineage but she is also a main character and looked at as a hero
2. • They are in charge of installing chiefs
   • They have the power to de-thorn and remove chiefs if they are not acting accordingly
   • They have the power to shut down decisions that could lead to war

Question 2

Describe the 3 settler perceptions of Indigenous woman

Answer 2

• fetishizing and eroticized: understood their association of being free and liberated as being sexually available
• Masculine: they have power and participate in politics
• Holding power within the community: aligned with the natural world (knew about hunting and the culture) so settlers attempted to manipulate the woman to get access to their resources to bring back to Europe

Question 3

How were Indigenous women objects of disempowerment:
1. Treaties

2. Fur Trade
3. Christianity
4. Band Councils

Answer 3

1. Only wanted men signatories to sign: creates a dynamic of men only talking to men about politics
2. Indigenous women were married so they can grant settlers access to Europe (like an investment)
3. Women held a lot of roles in ceremonies that did not translate to the Christian context where men are missionaries and spiritual leaders
4. Up until 1960s was only for men (chief + councillors) which does not reflect Indigenous traditions

Question 4

What is the difference between 6(1) and 6(2) status?

Answer 4

6(1) = More powerful Indian, Can give status
6(2) = less powerful Indian, cannot give status

Question 5

How is status determined: say what it equals

1. 6(1) + 6(2) =
2. 6(1) =6(1) =
3. 6(1) + no status =
4. 6(2) + no status =
5. 6(2) + 6(2) =

Answer 5

1. 6(1)
2. 6(1)
3. 6(2)
4. no status
5. 6(1)

Question 6

Explain the NWAC Report 2010: “What Their Stories Told Us”

Answer 6

• Only 7% of Aboriginal women go missing from a reserve
• Only 13% are murdered on a reserve.
• 70% of aboriginal women and girls disappeared from an urban area.
• 60% were murdered in urban areas.
• 3x more likely to be murdered by a stranger
• There was a lack of action and reaction when families went to report missing child

Question 7

Explain the RCMPs National Operational Overview
1. How many cases were there? missing? homicide?

2. What was the percentage of Aboriginal homicide victims that were involved in the sex trade? non-Aborigional?

Answer 7

• There were 1,181 cases–> 164 missing and 1,017 homicide cases

2. 12% of Aboriginal homicide victims were involved in the sex trade as opposed to 5% of non-Aboriginal homicide victims

Question 8

What did the National Inquiry into MMIWG call on?

Answer 8

• National Women’s Association Canada (NWAC) 2010 report
• Federal Liberal & NDP 2010, 2013 report
• Assembly of First Nations (AFN) 2012 report
• Provincial and Territorial leaders of 2013
• UN special Rapporteur Anaya 2013
• UN committee on the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination to Aboriginal Women (CEDAW) 2011

Question 9

MMIWG2SQ Inquiry:
1. What word upset the media?

2. What conclusions were made?

Answer 9

1. Calling the incident a “Genocide” –> word genocide was controversial
2. • “The truths shared in these National Inquiry hearings tell thousands of stories of acts of genocide against First Nations, Inuit and Métis women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people

• ” the genocide was race-based which mainly targets females”
• ” the genocide has been empowered by colonial structures, evidenced notably by the Indian Act, the Sixties Scoop, residential schools, and breaches of human and Inuit, Métis and First Nations rights, leading directly to the current increased rates of violence, death, and suicide in Indigenous populations”

Question 10

Reading: Executive Summary of the Final Report: National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Woman and Girls