Indigenous women power
Indigenous women power
Guest post by the Action Group for Indigenous Rights on International Women's Day
In the USA, March is known as "Women's History Month". On the one hand, the situation of indigenous women in Canada and the USA is particularly precarious. On the other hand, indigenous women are increasingly manifesting their participation in society as activists and politicians. Overview by a Germany based action group.
By Monika Seiller*
International Women's Day
At least once a year, we remember all that women achieve, including in care work. And the day is a reminder of the areas in which real equality is still a long way off - be it in terms of parity in parliaments, at boardroom level or on the pay slip. However, fine speeches do not prevent poverty in old age among women, nor do they take on the housework.
This International Women’s Day, we are not only taking to the streets to demand equal pay or our place in parliament, but also to remind people that women are particularly vulnerable in armed conflicts.
In Canada, more than 1,000 demonstrators also marched through Vancouver on Valentine's Day to commemorate the missing and murdered indigenous women and girls. They have not been forgotten, and the government must finally act to take effective measures against this violence.
„Woman of the Year“
In the USA in particular, we are currently being reminded that there has never been a woman in the White House - and there is not much more to say about the current candidates.
Occasionally there are at least a few words of recognition or a cover story. For example, USA TODAY has just named Peggy Flanagan "Woman of the Year". Peggy Flanagan (White Erath Ojibwe) is Lieutenant Governor of the US state of Minnesota and thus holds the highest office to which an indigenous woman has ever been elected. Women have been allowed to vote in the USA since 1922 - this did not apply to indigenous people, of course. The Democrat has been lieutenant governor of Minnesota since 2019. After studying child psychology and Native American studies, she worked in numerous educational and social institutions before being elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives in 2015.
Indigenous people and elections
As the US looks forward - or not so much - to the election results of "Super Tuesday", it is worth remembering that June marks the 100th anniversary of American citizenship for the country's indigenous people. They were not asked to become citizens in 1924, and they play a minor role in national elections. It was a sensation when two indigenous women were elected to the US Congress for the first time in 2018. One of them - Deb Haaland - is now Secretary of the Interior. This is also worth remembering during Women's History Month. As a candidate for the presidency, however, the Democrat would have little chance. Indigenous women voters will think carefully about who they vote for in this presidential election campaign.
Indigenous women activists
Parliaments are also not necessarily the preferred arena for indigenous resistance. Rather, it manifests itself at the pipelines - whether against the Coastal GasLink, as reported in the last newsletter, or the Trans Mountain Pipeline, which the indigenous people in British Columbia are fighting against. The Tiny House Warriors in particular are standing in the way of the construction work. One of them is Mayuk Manuel (Secwépemc), who is currently defending herself in court. Together with her twin sister Kanahus Manuel and other activists, she set up resistance camps with mobile tiny houses along the pipeline route to prevent the project on her traditional land. She is accused of contempt of court and resisting law enforcement officers, who are not exactly "squeamish" in their operations. The attacks on the indigenous people are part of the campaign of intimidation and criminalization. The incident for which she is on trial occurred in 2021, when a large area of forest along the route was cleared to make way for the workers' camps. The resistance was not only directed against the clearing of the forest, but also against the threat posed by these labor camps - cases of abuse and rape of indigenous women in the vicinity of these camps are on the rise. The court proceedings began in February 2024 - a conclusion or verdict has not yet been reached.
Mother tongue
Mother Tongue Day is not in March, but on February 21, but of course it is primarily indigenous women who pass on the language to their children. The Mother Tongue Film Festival, organized by the Smithsonian's Recovering Voices Initiative, took place in Washington D.C. for the ninth time this year. A wide range of 23 films celebrated cultural diversity and indigenous languages worldwide. In addition to numerous film screenings and free events, there was also a ceremony at the National Museum of the American Indian, where the festival director, Amalia Córdova, reminded the audience that language is culture and that indigenous languages need special support in order to be passed on to the next generations.
Sterilizations of indigenous women
When women demonstrate on March 8, they are also demanding self-determination over their own bodies. "Reproductive rights are particularly urgent for indigenous women, as they are still victims of forced sterilization. For this reason, Nicole Rabbit (Blood Tribe, Alberta) testified before a committee of the Canadian Senate at the end of February. "We Indigenous people have always been treated badly and we want this to stop," explained Rabbit, who works for the Survivor Circle for Reproductive Justice. Her story can be found in the Senate report "The Scars That We Carry", which was published in 2022. Now it is about a law that should finally ban forced sterilizations, which is why Rabbit told the committee about her personal experiences. She was due to be delivered by caesarean section at the Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. For the procedure, Rabbit was injected with a local anesthetic and her hands were bound at her sides. After the birth, the doctor left the room with the baby. When he returned shortly afterwards, he explained to the indigenous woman that she would not be able to have any more children. Her fallopian tubes had been blocked. Both Nicole Rabbit and her mother were sterilized without their knowledge and against their will.
Indigenous Senator Yvonne Boyer, who has long been committed to raising awareness of the forced sterilizations of Indigenous women, has introduced Bill S-250 in the Senate. She wants to hold the doctors who performed the sterilizations accountable. The bill has already passed two readings in the Senate, and Boyer is confident that the bill will be passed by Parliament in June 2024.
For a strong Women's Month in solidarity with the right to self-determination of indigenous peoples!
*The text was first published in German in the 2024/02 newsletter of the “Aktionsgruppe Indianer & Menschenrechte“ (Action Group for Indigenous and Human Rights) and translated into English by Rebecca Hillauer.
The Action Group publishes the quarterly magazine "Coyote. It is intended "as a forum for the work of support groups for North American Indians and therefore publishes articles sent to it on this topic."
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