I was talking with a few friends yesterday. I was talking about the different views men had about murdered and missing indigenous women. I mean even non-indigenous women have their own theories that has nothing to do with violence rather the reason indigenous girls and indigenous women are going missing is because aliens have abducted them.
Oh yes, it's bad enough to find out the our royal Canadian Indian Act was a parliamentary act passed to destroy my way of life or our way of life. Imagine, how typically British for a strong paper to be made to be put in ink no doubt about why its important to establish Indian Residential Schools.
Its bad enough that before Indian Residential Schools started showing up there were what the Canadian governments called Indian Industrial Schools. These first school were established to trained indigenous boys to be good little Indians; however, some bureaucrats got this idea in their heads that is they trained these boys and that these boys were sent back to the homes. Where they would met and marry indigenous girls that these savage girls would convert all their hard work. Meaning these boys would become savages again.
Yes, this whole concept of lets destroy the imagine of these indigenous females and lets try to say they savage girls need to have their sexuality tamed. It was difficult enough that starvation wasn't good enough. The government couldn't understand why indigenous girls and indigenous women were being sold. Some were being sold for a dirty blanket or for the play thing for a dirty of chief. They couldn't understand why indigenous women were selling themselves to settlers. They just thought these women were untamed and savage like.
It really just makes my stomach ach to think that these so called bureaucrats couldn't deduce the reasoning was that logically if they killed off all the buffalo and killed off all the food supply children were starving. This whole effort to portray indigenous women as not being capable of being virtuous and, or have piety. Was an effort to destroy and tame indigenous female sexuality. I mean I could go on and on; however, its this whole mass media thing about murdered and missing indigenous girls and indigenous women that has me going.
The reality is that we as indigenous women have survived. Our mothers, our grandmother and no doubt our daughters and granddaughter will survive. It's this sisterhood that keeps us going. I saw when I was growing up. I saw all my aunties along side my grandmothers working together. Much as how I see indigenous girls and indigenous women working together today. Each of us has stake in this issue of violence towards our gender.
What started out as a plea to my readers to be careful of sexual predators has evolved into a bigger plea. Much of what we as indigenous women have taken for granted and much that is exposed is our own image of self. I've seen my indigenous sisters thinking they are not good sisters or moms. They would sooner give up their daughters to someone else to raise. Now, why would some beautiful soul think so negative about themselves. I think it has to do with perceptions of our own gender. I've seen this with my own family and with other women. I am hoping to create a separate page just dedicated to the positive role of indigenous women within my own community.
Oh yes, it's bad enough to find out the our royal Canadian Indian Act was a parliamentary act passed to destroy my way of life or our way of life. Imagine, how typically British for a strong paper to be made to be put in ink no doubt about why its important to establish Indian Residential Schools.
Its bad enough that before Indian Residential Schools started showing up there were what the Canadian governments called Indian Industrial Schools. These first school were established to trained indigenous boys to be good little Indians; however, some bureaucrats got this idea in their heads that is they trained these boys and that these boys were sent back to the homes. Where they would met and marry indigenous girls that these savage girls would convert all their hard work. Meaning these boys would become savages again.
Yes, this whole concept of lets destroy the imagine of these indigenous females and lets try to say they savage girls need to have their sexuality tamed. It was difficult enough that starvation wasn't good enough. The government couldn't understand why indigenous girls and indigenous women were being sold. Some were being sold for a dirty blanket or for the play thing for a dirty of chief. They couldn't understand why indigenous women were selling themselves to settlers. They just thought these women were untamed and savage like.
It really just makes my stomach ach to think that these so called bureaucrats couldn't deduce the reasoning was that logically if they killed off all the buffalo and killed off all the food supply children were starving. This whole effort to portray indigenous women as not being capable of being virtuous and, or have piety. Was an effort to destroy and tame indigenous female sexuality. I mean I could go on and on; however, its this whole mass media thing about murdered and missing indigenous girls and indigenous women that has me going.
The reality is that we as indigenous women have survived. Our mothers, our grandmother and no doubt our daughters and granddaughter will survive. It's this sisterhood that keeps us going. I saw when I was growing up. I saw all my aunties along side my grandmothers working together. Much as how I see indigenous girls and indigenous women working together today. Each of us has stake in this issue of violence towards our gender.
What started out as a plea to my readers to be careful of sexual predators has evolved into a bigger plea. Much of what we as indigenous women have taken for granted and much that is exposed is our own image of self. I've seen my indigenous sisters thinking they are not good sisters or moms. They would sooner give up their daughters to someone else to raise. Now, why would some beautiful soul think so negative about themselves. I think it has to do with perceptions of our own gender. I've seen this with my own family and with other women. I am hoping to create a separate page just dedicated to the positive role of indigenous women within my own community.
No comments:
Post a Comment