Note: / Images of Indian women shared by explorers and traders of the Northwest significantly infl uenced early Canadian government Indian policy. Under the policy of wardship, these images developed into stereotypical views. The government's goals of protection, civilization and assimilation, pertaining to Indian women residing on prairie reserves from 1880 to 1930, were to be accomplished by restructuring the domestic economy on reserve. Government and churches attempted to c hange this economy through formal instruction of Indian women in the domestic skills. Later, attempts were made to teach them to be better mothers. The state's view of Indians as inadequate housekeepers and inattentive mothers reinforced efforts to alter the way of life on reserves. Moreover, the stereotype of domestic slovenliness served to mask causes of endemic tuberculosis on the reserves . By 1930, the Canadian state had intervened in most areas of Indian womens' lives. This occurred well before unive rsal social programs were established. / L'image de la femme Amerindienne qu'ont rapportee les explorateurs et les trappeurs du Nord-ouest a influence de facon significative les premieres politiques du gouvernemnt canadien a l'egard de mis en tutelle du gouvernement federeal transformera ensuite progressivement cette perception en stereotypes. Les objectifs du gouvernement ayant trait a la protection, a l'avancement et a l'assimilation des amerindiennes vivant sur les reserves des Prairies entre 1880 et 1930 devaient etre atteints par un restructuration de l'economie interieure des reserves. Le gouvernement et les pouvoirs religieux ont tente d'y parvenir en enseignant les arts menagers aux amerindiennes. Plus tard on tentera de leur ernsigner comment etre de meilleures meres.[...]

This thesis focuses on Aboriginal women as survivors of intimate violence, and as participants in debates about justice and rights in the academic, political and legal spheres. While several federal and provincial reports have documented the adverse impact of the dominant criminal justice system on Aboriginal peoples, most of the reports fail to consider the impact of the dominant system, and of reform initiatives on Aboriginal women, who engage with such systems primarily as survivors of violence. Although feminist legal scholars and activists have focused on survivors of violence in critiquing the dominant justice system, such discourses have also tended to ignore the needs and concerns of Aboriginal women in recommending reforms to the dominant system, as well as in theorizing the causes and sites of intimate violence. Using feminist methods, I explore how the writings of Aboriginal women have begun to fill these gaps. In focusing on gender and racial oppression, Aboriginal women have complicated theories on and reforms around intimate violence, and have demanded that they be included in the shaping of public institutions in both the Canadian legal system, and in the context of Aboriginal self-government. While Aboriginal women largely support the creation of Aboriginal justice systems, some have expressed concerns about the willingness of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal leaders to include women in the process of creating, implementing and operating such systems. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, as well as Aboriginal rights under the Constitution Act, 1982 have been advocated as means of achieving Aboriginal women's participation in this context. This gives rise to a number of fundamental questions which I examine in my thesis. What is the historical basis for the participation of Aboriginal women in the political process, and for survivors of violence in both the dominant and Aboriginal justice systems? What is the significance of the absence of Aboriginal women from dominant discourses on justice and intimate violence? Might a broader level of participation for survivors of violence, both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, ameliorate the problematic aspects of the dominant justice system? Does the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms provide a vehicle for survivors of violence who seek a greater level of protection and participation in the dominant justice system? Can the Charter, or Aboriginal rights under the Canadian constitution, assist Aboriginal women in establishing a right of participation in the processes leading to the creation of Aboriginal justice systems, and their participation in such systems once they have been created? What are the limitations of rights discourse in this context? My analysis suggests that the Supreme Court of Canada's conservative approach to rights, as well as more fundamental limitations in rights discourse, make constitutional litigation within the dominant system a sometimes necessary, but not ideal strategy for Aboriginal women in defining their involvement in the political and justice arenas. On the other hand, there is potential for rights discourse to bear more fruit once Aboriginal decision making fora are in place, in keeping with holistic approaches to interpretation, and the traditional roles of Aboriginal women and survivors of violence in justice and in the community.

This thesis focuses on Aboriginal women as survivors of intimate violence, and as participants in debates about justice and rights in the academic, political and legal spheres. While several federal and provincial reports have documented the adverse impact of the dominant criminal justice system on Aboriginal peoples, most of the reports fail to consider the impact of the dominant system, and of reform initiatives on Aboriginal women, who engage with such systems primarily as survivors of violence. Although feminist legal scholars and activists have focused on survivors of violence in critiquing the dominant justice system, such discourses have also tended to ignore the needs and concerns of Aboriginal women in recommending reforms to the dominant system, as well as in theorizing the causes and sites of intimate violence. Using feminist methods, I explore how the writings of Aboriginal women have begun to fill these gaps. In focusing on gender and racial oppression, Aboriginal women have complicated theories on and reforms around intimate violence, and have demanded that they be included in the shaping of public institutions in both the Canadian legal system, and in the context of Aboriginal self-government. While Aboriginal women largely support the creation of Aboriginal justice systems, some have expressed concerns about the willingness of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal leaders to include women in the process of creating, implementing and operating such systems. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, as well as Aboriginal rights under the Constitution Act, 1982 have been advocated as means of achieving Aboriginal women's participation in this context. This gives rise to a number of fundamental questions which I examine in my thesis. What is the historical basis for the participation of Aboriginal women in the political process, and for survivors of violence in both the dominant and Aboriginal justice systems? What is the significance of the absence of Aboriginal women from dominant discourses on justice and intimate violence? Might a broader level of participation for survivors of violence, both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, ameliorate the problematic aspects of the dominant justice system? Does the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms provide a vehicle for survivors of violence who seek a greater level of protection and participation in the dominant justice system? Can the Charter, or Aboriginal rights under the Canadian constitution, assist Aboriginal women in establishing a right of participation in the processes leading to the creation of Aboriginal justice systems, and their participation in such systems once they have been created? What are the limitations of rights discourse in this context? My analysis suggests that the Supreme Court of Canada's conservative approach to rights, as well as more fundamental limitations in rights discourse, make constitutional litigation within the dominant system a sometimes necessary, but not ideal strategy for Aboriginal women in defining their involvement in the political and justice arenas. On the other hand, there is potential for rights discourse to bear more fruit once Aboriginal decision making fora are in place, in keeping with holistic approaches to interpretation, and the traditional roles of Aboriginal women and survivors of violence in justice and in the community. / Law, Peter A. Allard School of / Graduate

Note:

Increasingly, Aboriginal women engage with feminist theory and forms of activism to carve their own space and lay a foundation for an Aboriginal feminism. I compile prominent writings of female Aboriginal authors to identify emerging theoretical strains that centre on decolonization as both theory and methodology. Aboriginal women position decolonization strategies against the intersectionality of race and sex oppression within a colonial context, which they term patriarchal colonialism. They challenge forms of patriarchal colonialism that masquerade as Aboriginal tradition and function to silence and exclude Aboriginal women from sovereignty and leadership spheres. By recalling and reclaiming the pre-colonial Aboriginal principle of egalitarianism, which included women within these spheres, they are positioned to create a hybrid feminism that locates egalitarianism within a contemporary and relevant context by combining it with human rights. In this way, Aboriginal feminism balances culture and tradition with principles of individual and collective rights. / ix, 142 leaves ; 29 cm

This thesis examines the changing role of Indian women, particularly in northern Canadian communities where the pace of directed change has been compressed during the past twenty-five years. In the area now designated 'Yukon Territory' live descendents of Athapaskan, Inland Tlingit and Tagish speaking peoples. It is suggested here that the woman's role is potentially very important in determining the direction of change within Indian communities. Despite radical alterations in the Indian way of life, discontinuity is less abrupt for the women because the role of mother links them both with the past and with the future. In a situation of change, links are necessary to bridge the gap between the past and the future if cultural identity is to be maintained. Cross-cultural data suggests that women's potential in this role is being recognized in many areas of the world. In Canada, this is frequently ignored. Indian men and women are often lumped as an undifferentiated group without recognition of individual needs and capabilities. Since the building of the Alaska highway and the opening up of mines, an industrial economy has displaced the former hunting and trapping economy in the Yukon. Many Indian men are abandoning traditional economic pursuits and are expected to compete with non-Indians in activities for which they are often not technically or psychologically prepared. In the new cultural environment Indian women are presented with opportunities for independent activity which were traditionally not available to them. With new opportunities come new and often conflicting expectations, held both by Indians and by non-Indians, about ways in which an Indian woman should behave. A variety of government agencies claim a vested interest in, and a responsibility for, an Indian family. Each agency places independent demands on the mother, often with very little comprehension of her aims, goals and values. Indian women have access to sources of information which are less available to Indian men. They use this information to reformulate their own ideas about their place in the changing environment. Practical possibilities for greater involvement of women in change do exist; however, this involvement trust occur on the women's own terms rather than solely on the terms of individuals who deal with women in an administrative capacity. / Arts, Faculty of / Sociology, Department of / Graduate