Restoring the Hoop: First Nations Women

Paper Summary:

This paper takes a look at how the roles of First Nations Women have changed due to colonization. While women in Western cultures have traditionally held certain roles throughout history, ones that modern feminism makes attempts to equalize, these roles were not kept by Aboriginals, for example, in Canada. With the advent of Western infiltration, Western cultural values became instilled into native culture, disrupting their sense of identity. This paper aims to look at causes behind this change, the negative consequences that have ensued, and how to restore the gender balanced feminism and the esteemed role of women in the First Nations community.

Outline:
Statement of the Problem
Affects of Colonization
How Do We Repair the Hoop?

From the Paper:

"Colonialism's main goal was to tear down the structure of the native communities and replace it with a new social order. The public school system was used a tool to meet this goal (Millroy, 1999). In this destruction of native life and culture, the balance between gender roles was replaced with a decidedly patriarchal society. One of the key examples of this is in naming practices. Naming practices in the Catholic church dictated that the first names be chosen by the church, rather than left up to chance with the parents (Devine, 2004). Colonization abolished the spiritually based naming practices of First Nations people.
"Women were stripped of their roles and their purpose in life. They were forced to take on a position similar to white women, and the role simply did not fit them. They found themselves between two worlds, longing for the one that they left behind and not belonging fully to the new one."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Anderson, K. (2006). A recognition of being: Reconstructing Native womanhood. Toronto, Canada: Sumach Press.
• Anderson, K. & Lawrence, B., eds. (2003). Strong Women Stories: Native Vision and Community Survival. Sumach Press.
• Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics. (2005). Family Violence in Canada: A Statistical Profile. Catalogue no. 85-224-XIE. Ottawa: Statistics Canada.
• Devine, H. (2004). Aboriginal naming practices. As cited on The People Who Own Themselves and accessed from The University of Calgary Press site. Retrieved April 9, 2008 from http://www.ucalgary.ca/~hdevine/naming.htm
• Helin, C. (2006). Dances with dependency: Indigenous success through self-reliance. Vancouver, BC: Orca Spirit Publishing & Communications.

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