Colonialism and First Nations Women in Canada

PART I: The Authors Voice In the article Colonialism and First Nations Women in Canada by Winona Stevenson, the author explains the struggle First Nations women had keeping their culture alive. Upon arriving in America the Europeans suffocated the natives with their rationalisation of female subjugation. Reluctant to give up their traditions and honour the native-American women put up a fight, but their efforts would not be strong enough to triumph over the European missionaries. Stevenson chronologically explains their contact with the ‘colonial agencies'. The fur traders were shocked by the nature of the Native women. They were used to fragile, dormant women while the Aboriginal women were tough and carried a lot of qualities they considered ‘masculine'. This was unacceptable for the Europeans immigrants (mainly the French and English) and attempts to ‘civilise' the aboriginals began. The French employed many radical efforts to change the ways of the first nation woman, such as forcing young girls to French missionary schools. The church and the state went to great lengths to create a negative picture of the native woman, she was uncivilised; a savage. Eventually the missionaries went as far as to deprive aboriginal women of food and clothes or publicly beat them if they did not confide with the Christian-European guidelines. The religious morals of Christianity and laws the state provided to back up the morals of the church were too powerful for the vulnerable Aboriginals. The subject of women's suppression is a key topic in Stevenson's argument. She explains how women's right dramatically changed between first contact and early reserve era. She explains how First Nations women of America were equal to the men. They were strong, capable and independent, which was the contrast of the European ideology. The European women were fragile and delicate; they were nurturers to the male members of their families. By exposing the contrasting views of each culture

Cited: Stevenson, Winona. (1999). "Colonialism and First Nations Women in Canada." In Enakshi Dua and Angela Robertson (Eds.) Scratching the Surface. (pp. 49-80). Toronto, Ontario: Women 's Press.