Essay Sample on Indigenous Feminism

Introduction

Indigenous feminism is both a practice and a theory that strives for the sovereignty of the people considered as indigenous. Indigenous feminism is a critical paradigm that seeks to analyze gender-related injustices against the indigenous women emerging from patriarchal practices and colonial policies that are inscribed to gendered power dynamics that affect the indigenous women. The counterinsurgency against an attempt effect and apply equally to all women the western feminism led to the development of indigenous feminism. However, the indigenous people and women experiences were fruitless due to this attempts. Therefore, the theory of indigenous feminist seeks to reverse ways in which the white feminism ignores or conflates the intergroup differences. The white feminism failed to meet the indigenous women needs hence postcolonial feminism was used as a source of indigenous feminism.

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The theory focuses on patriarchy and colonialism intersections for the purpose of examining how gender and race systems overlap hence the creation of conditions in which the indigenous women are subjected to sexism, racism, social disempowerment forms that arise out of the contemporary and historical practices hence leading to discrimination that affect the indigenous women disproportionally. Therefore, the main purpose of this paradigm is to assist indigenous women to achieve gender justice through the analysis of their marginalization, moreover, as subjects' colonialism, sexism, and racism (Smith, 2005).

A twofold intersectional analysis perspective is taken by the political project that focuses on critiquing the overlapping frameworks. For instance, it shows how systemic forms like law, affect indigenous women adversely, moreover, it indicates on how gender identity leads to the spread of cases of violence through a culture that amplifies cultural, political and social disempowerment against the indigenous women. Before colonization, the native women were more empowered than in the contemporary world, for instance, they had economic, political and religious power at least almost same to the men. The demonstration on how law focuses on sanctioning sexual violence towards indigenous women forms one of a key area of intervention (Kuokkanen, 2008), how patriarchal and colonial structures continue to pose a challenge to indigenous women towards the realization and expression of free will through a legal agency. Moreover, it focuses on how the early forms of cultural genocide and discrimination that were directed towards the indigenous people have intensified the contemporary forms of gender violence which indigenous women suffer from (Stanton, 2013).

The paradigm of indigenous feminism is conceptualized other than identity politics but as an analytical tool (Synder, 2014). It broad perspective is based on the achievement of gender justices in three different ways that includes; the restoration of indigenous women status that was eroded by the patriarchal and colonial systems, through building indigenous political platforms and legal frameworks that incorporates indigenous traditions that will allow the incorporation of traditional practices in the modern forms indigenous decolonization and anti-oppressive struggles and lastly, by engaging in coalitional politics that results into the decolonization of gender through the indigenous people collective rights (Suzak, Huhndorf, Perreault and Barman, 2010). This is an important terrain that is a representation of contestation and solidarity over the self-determination struggles by the indigenous people. Moreover, it identifies the cultural complexity such as Indian feminism, tribal feminism, native womanism, native feminism, aboriginal feminism and indigenous feminism.

Postcolonial feminism is considered as a source of growth of indigenous feminism that due to its acknowledgment of the importance of decolonization of oppressive systems and the consequences of colonization. The concept of indigenous feminism may also take the perspective of geographical specify such as Australia's Aboriginal feminism, tribal feminism in Canada and Native American Feminism of North America, however, all these terms revolve around the rubric of indigenous feminism. However, this paper focuses purely on the concepts that are embedded the Canadian indigenous feminism. Self-determination and decolonization are concepts that deeply rooted in the indigenous struggles that for a long time have resulted in the distortion of the relationship between the feminism and activism terms. Indigenous scholars and thinkers advocate for decolonization and self-determination, however, these concepts are based on different types of frameworks.

Decolonization is an external and internal process that allows the colonized to change or oppose the control and conquest of the people's goods and land (Loomba, 2005). The devolution of political and social welfare and the governing of the nation through the Aboriginal people come from self-determination. Whenever the indigenous people commit to feminist politics both in the present and the past numerous challenges are faced. The disconnection in the understanding of feminism arises from the assumption taken by indigenous that self-government, self-determination and indigenous sovereignty are not part of the feminism.

The tensions between feminism and indigenous issues arise when there is an attempt at separating the embodiment practices. The bypassing of the politics of feminism arise when the concepts behind activism as used to enable people to create social change and a vehicle for ending oppression. Therefore, the above notion posits that feminists are native activists other than feminists, indigenous people who identify or use feminism hence leading to problems. Social justice activism is the other concept that articulates indigenous justice as a self-determination practice which enacts the principles of transitional justice. The conceptions of the indigenous on matters related to justice are conveyed in three important ways of indigenous self-determination goals. For instance, they lead to a connection between local experiences of injustice to political and ceremonial acts that opens up the struggles within the understanding and the articulation of the nature of injustice by the indigenous people. Secondly, the indigenous people define justice based on their knowledge of systems that convey their experiences, thirdly, the conceptualization of the contemporary events are based on the knowledge and historical past experiences of specific indigenous persons. Therefore, these approaches are built by indigenous women through the articulation of justice in the contemporary means. In order to facilitate the claims of indigenous social justice, self-determination and liberation struggle practices are undertaken behind the scenes for the purpose of renewal working and inter-generational inheritance with regard the principles of kinship hence fostering community regeneration.

Conclusion

Political and social meanings emerge from justice practices of the indigenous people hence furthering reparative goals. The collective power of choice and aboriginal community standpoints that constitute the indigenous self-determination hence an important tool of governance (Napolean, 2005). Indigenous communities mobilize through the core principle of collectivity, therefore, this is a central concept within the regime of human rights as it brings out a new avenue of indigenous rights. The indigenous rights are referred as the human rights to a culture where culture is the capacity by persons and people held capacity which is an important factor of the dignity of a human being (Holder, 2008). International and state forums constantly erode self-determination practices despite the recognition of cultural rights and self-determination. The erosion occurs when both the state and legal institutions violet the indigenous communities epistemic trough the omission of recognition of continuing and prior indigenous self-determination by erasing the historical past through historical presentism. In Canada, the goal of transitional justice practice includes official state apology, commemoration, a truth commission and reparations (Jung, 2009). It could be difficult to account for Canada's indigenous women's experiences and voices as the country have not been into a forced reconstructive process that is fundamental.

References

Chilisa, B. (2012). Indigenous research methodologies. Sage publications

Holder, C. (2008). Culture as an activity and human right: An important advance for indigenous peoples and international law. Alternatives, 33,7 -28.

Jung, C. (2009). Transitional justice for indigenous people in a Non-transitional Society. International Centre for Transitional Justice.Kuokkanen, R. (2008). Globalization as racialized, sexualized violence: The case of indigenous women. International Feminist Journal of Politics, 10, 216-233.

Loomba, Ania (2005) Colonialism/Post Colonialism. New York: Routledge.

Napoleon, V. (2005). Aboriginal self-determination: Individual self and collective selves. Atlantis, 29,1 -21.

Smith, A. (2005). Native American feminism, sovereignty, and social change. Feminist Studies, 31, 116 -132.

Snyder, E. (2014). Indigenous feminist legal theory. Canadian Journal of Women and the Law, 26, 365-401.

Stanton, K. (2013). Intransigent injustice: Truth, reconciliation and the missing women inquiry in Canada. Transitional Justice Review, 1, 59 -96

Suzack, C., Huhndorf, S. M., Perreault, J., & Barman, J. (Eds.). (2010). Indigenous women and feminism: Politics, activism, culture. Vancouver and Toronto: UBC Press