By, For, or About?: Shifting Directions in the Representations of Aboriginal Women

In the past fifteen years much has changed respecting the representation of Aboriginal women in feminist scholarship. The emergence of Aboriginal women's scholarship in law, education, and literature has had a major and much overdue impact on our understanding of their history and their scholarly and political agendas. A review of the literature by, for, and about Aboriginal women in the areas of history, law, education, health, and literature reveals new trends in interdisciplinarity within feminist studies of colonialism, representation, "voice," and issues of equality and empowerment.Au cours des quinze dernieres annees bien des choses ont change en ce qui concerne la representation des femmes autochtones dans le savoir feministe en. L'emergence du savoir des femmes autochtones en droit, en education, et en litteraturea eu un impact important sinon tardif sur notre comprehension de leur histoire et de leur ordre du jour erudit et politique Une revue de la litterature par, pour et au sujet des femmes autochtones dans le domaine de I'histoire, du droit, de I'education, de la sante et de la litterature revele de nouvelles tendances interdisciplinaires a l'interieur des etudes feministes sur le colonialisme, la representation, la "voix", et les questions d'egalite et d'emancipation

Ask My Wife: A Feminist Interpretation of Fieldwork where the Women are Strong but the Men are Tough

This paper explores the question of gender relations within the discipline of anthropology as they impact upon feminist fieldwork strategies. It calls for a critical reexamination of our taken-for-granted assumptions about gender in order that we might better understand the issue of gender in societies not demarcated by a strong bias towards male actions and cultural interpretation. By examining my own field experiences with the Carrier people, I provide one example of a fieldwork situation where being a female is advantageous. I also bring attention to the need for a feminist critique of the male fieldwork experience as we struggle to better define, and overcome, the underlying causes of "gender blind" ethnographic work previously conducted by our male colleagues.Cette communication explore la question des relations entre masculin et féminin en anthropologic, et la manière dont ces relations affectent les stratégies féministes de travail sur le terrain. Il y est suggéré que l'on réexamine de façon critique ce que l'on a considéré jusqu'ici comme acquis au sujet du sexe masculin ou féminin, de manière à ce que Ton puisse mieux comprendre la question des sexes dans les sociétés qui ne sont pas marquées par un fort parti pris envers les actions et l'interprétation culturelle masculines. En examinant mon propre terrain d'expériences menées avec les Carrier, j'ai été à même de fournir un exemple d'une situation sur le terrain où i l s'avère avantageux d'être une femme. J'attire également l'attention sur le besoin qui existe de faire une critique féministe de l'expérience masculine sur le terrain, alors que nous luttons pour mieux définir les causes sous-jacentes du travail ethnographique "aveugleaux différences de sexe" préalablement mené par nos collègues masculins et pour y trouver remède

By, for, or about?: shifting directions in the representation of Aboriginal women

Open accessIn the past fifteen years much has changed respecting the representation of Aboriginal women in feminist scholarship. The emergenceof Aboriginal women's scholarship in law, education, and literature has had a major and much overdue impact on our understanding of their history and their scholarly and political agendas. A review of the literature by, for, and about Aboriginal women in the areas of history, law, education, health, and literature reveals new trends in interdisciplinarity within feminist studies of colonialism, representation, "voice," and issues of equality and empowerment.Ye

Political Status of Native Indian Women: Contradictory Implications of Canadian State Policy

INTRODUCTION For more than a century, anthropological interest in the status of aboriginal women of North America has been shaped primarily by theoretical debates concerning the complex relationships between women’s changing social position, social evolution, and economic transformation and, more recently, the penetration of colonizing state societies. Since the 1970s’ however, feminist scholars have redirected theoretical attention either to interpretations of how gender categories are conceptualized, symbolized, and privileged or to historical materialist analyses of women’s status as measured by their relative autonomy and dependence, their control over human and economic resources, and their capacity to exercise public authority. Historical materialists have concentrated on documentary research in their efforts to assess the impact of colonialism on women’s sociopolitical status. They have embarked on case studies to understand how the articulation between marginal community economies and capitalism establishes the material bases of women’s empowerment

Gender and politics in a Carrier Indian community

This thesis presents a study of the political processes of Stoney Creek, Saik'uz, a Carrier Indian community in British Columbia. The primary goal is to account for the central role of women in public decision making. The focus is on the political significance of women's domestic authority, of their influence in kinship groups, of their social rank in the clan/potlatch complex, and of their roles in the elected council and the administrative structure, and of their voluntary associations. The study is approached from three directions. First, women's changing socio-economic position is described and analyzed. Second, the influence of traditional culture on modern life is considered. Third, the current socio-political organization of the community is examined in relation to prevailing conditions of economic dependency. Here the focus is on the management of scarce social and economic resources and on the competition for decision-making positions. This study argues that women's public presence is the result of three tightly interwoven factors: women's economic autonomy (which includes control over critical domestic resources); the prevailing ideology of respect for older women's knowledge and wisdom; and the socio-economic structure, in which public and private interests are essentially undifferentiated. These factors coalesce to provide economic and cultural foundations for women's unique political strategy: the formation of voluntary associations that interact successfully with the formal political structure to influence public decisions and to advance family and community interests. Women's voluntary associations compete successfully with the elected council in obtaining limited economic and political resources and provide a special forum in which women can retain and advance family honour and political fortunes. The study also examines a number of approaches to the impact of colonization and capitalism on indigenous women. The findings refute the argument the capitalism automatically erodes the position of women in indigenous communities. They support the contrary view that in conditions of political-economic marginality, a domestic sector of production exists along side capitalist production. Because the domestic sector is organized around kinship and the creation of use-values, this mode of production protects or even enhances women's personal autonomy and social influence. The analysis of political processes in which women are equal participants requires moving away from common assumptions of female subordination to analytical models that reveal the complex, and often contradictory, structural relations that develop between women and men as women come to occupy a variety of social positions. In seeking to understand women's central position in this community, this study points to the need for theoretical models grounded in the routines of social relations. Theoretical formulations are needed that will take into account the simple fact that women and men are visible and active in the public domain. In conclusion, it is argued that approaching women's political participation through theoretical perspectives that stress female subordination obscures the relative power available to indigenous women as a consequence of ascribed rank and personal competence.Arts, Faculty ofSociology, Department ofGraduat