This study examines the way that Native women incorporate the history of colonization into the way that they think about, and organize against, family violence in Vancouver's urban Aboriginal community. Using Melucci's (1989) model of collective action, this thesis focuses on the social process behind Native women's organized resistance to domestic violence. This thesis studied family violence intervention programs among Vancouver's Aboriginal organizations in order to understand the underlying process of negotiation between collective identity, solidarity, and environment. The study was divided into two levels: the organizational and individual. The thesis studied the narratives, or discourse of both organizations and individuals who delivered family violence intervention projects to the urban Native community. On the organizational level, data consisted of promotional texts that were produced by the organizations (posters, leaflets, brochures). The texts were then subjected to a content analysis, to identify the frequency of rhetorical devices, and then a rhetorical analysis, to see how these concepts were used. On the individual level, data was collected by means of loosely-structured interviews that asked questions about why participants were involved in family violence intervention. Nine interviews were collected from individuals who worked the organizations sampled. A rhetorical analysis of the interviews was also conducted, and compared with organizational discourse. The study found that the anti-violence movement among Vancouver's urban Native women was articulated primarily through the rhetoric of healing through cultural identity and spirituality. Both on the organizational and the individual levels, violence against Aboriginal women was explained as a result of the colonial process. The low status of Native women was linked to the oppression of First Nations people. "Healing" from the destructive cycle of family violence involved recovering "traditional" ethnic and gender identities, which in turn involved raising the status of women in Aboriginal communities. / Arts, Faculty of / Sociology, Department of / Graduate

A common perception by non-natives is that First Nations people do not plan. Conversely, this study takes the position that planning is a universal human ability embedded in social relations and investigates how First Nations families plan. The pattern of planning and social role expectations of the First Nations mother were investigated in the Family Resource Management Framework (Deacon & Firebaugh, 1989) for which the authors claim cross cultural utility. Using the framework, the "Maternal Social Role Attitude and Planning Model", was developed to guide the study in a bicultural context. Guided by this model, the relationships between the personal value of and commitment to (salience) social expectations of First Nations mothers in four life roles, the sociodemographic attributes of mothers and families, and their planning behaviors were explored. Forty First Nations mothers with school aged children responded to the survey through First Nations organizations and affiliations. The three-part questionnaire included demographic measures, the Planning Behavior Scale and the Life Role Salience Scale. Scale management, validation, and performance with this population were discussed. Three dimensions of planning were identified (morphostatic planning, morphogenic planning, and adherence to rules). Social role attitudes in order of salience were: parental role, home care role, occupational role, and marital role. Salience of occupational role attitudes and income were the most important predictors of planning generally. Lower levels of educational status specifically predicted planning by adherence to rules. A multiple regression test of the model revealed characteristics of the family and maternal systems and maternal social role attitudes that contributed significantly to explaining three dimensions of planning behavior in First Nations families. Adherence to rules and morphostatic planning were explained by the maternal social attitude, occupational role salience, and income. Morphogenic planning was explained by, income, living in a smaller community, and the maternal social attitude, occupational role salience. The maternal social role attitude, occupational role salience, was shown to make an important positive contribution to the planning of First Nations mothers. The performance of the model as an analytical tool has provided some knowledge about the planning behavior of First Nations mothers. / Land and Food Systems, Faculty of / Graduate

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

This thesis documents the employment history of Sne-nay-muxw women. The Sne nay-muxw, a Coast Salish peoples, live on the southeast coast ofVancouver Island close to the city ofNanaimo. Nanaimo was established by the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1852 as coal mining town. Coal dominated the economy until the early 20th century when forestry related production became important. Today a service economy has eclipsed both the primary and secondary industries. Within these economies a distinct gender, race and class segregation structured Sne-nay-muxw women’s employment opportunities. This study examines the nature of this segregation, the Sne-nay-muxw domestic economy and the gender ideology that promoted both women’s inclusion and exclusion in. wage labour. A central question posed in this thesis is why Sne-nay-muxw women today perceive their traditional roles to be within the home despite their historical participation in the labour force. Feminist anthropology provides the theoretical and methodological approach used for this study. It is accepted that women’s experiences in the labour force are different not only from men but also from other women based upon relational inequalities ofrace and class. Historical data was collected from a variety of sources; published and unpublished government reports, missionary accounts, letters and journals. Nineteen women and eight men were interviewed in the community for both historic and contemporary accounts of employment experiences. History reveals that during the mining economy Sne-nay-muxw women were excluded from working in the mines and limited to employment as domestic servants. The introduction of Chinese labour, decreasing coal demands and increased technology forced many women to migrate with their families to the canneries on the Fraser river and the hop fields in Washington state. In the forestry related production economy, Sne-nay-muxw women’s opportunities were limited despite the expansion of employment for women in the service sector. State policies and inferior education were significant factors in this exclusion. At this time Sne-nay-muxw women continued to migrate with their families to the fish camps on Rivers Inlet and the berry fields in Washington state. In the last two decades the service economy has dominated in Nanaimo. Sne-nay-muxw women have found increasing job opportunities on and off reserve in administration, management and professional service delivery programs. While this employment is part of the wider trend for women in the service economy, Sne-nay-muxw women’s opportunities remain segregated by gender, race and class. Women’s participation in the labour force is shown to be linked to the organization of their domestic economy. Before 1920 this economy incorporated both subsistence production and farming with seasonal wage labour. After this time the Sne-nay-muxw became increasingly dependent upon wage labour. However, extended family and kinship networks have remained important for support and cooperation. This form ofhousehold organization did not constrain women’s participation in the labour force. Today extended families remain the central organizing principle in Sne-nay-muxw lives. Sne-nay-muxw women’s identity and opportunities for education and employment remain linked to their membership in these families. Shifts in women’s participation in the labour force is shown to be accompanied by acceptance of a domestic ideology. During the mining economy when women actively sought wage labour, they acquired domestic skills needed for wage labour but did not accept an ideology that promoted their dependency upon men. Historical evidence indicates that they retained a significant degree of autonomy in their lives. With men’s increased security of employment in the forestry economy, the idealized role ofwomen as housewives was promoted. Families that were able to realize women’s exclusion from the labour force gained status and prestige in the community. Finally, in the service economy, the Sne-nay-muxw gender ideology includes women’s participation in the labour force to occupations linked to their domestic and nurturing roles. / Arts, Faculty of / Sociology, Department of / Graduate

Mohinani, Nimishaa. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 33-42). / Abstract also in Chinese. / Chapter Chapter 1: --- Introduction --- p.1 / work-family conflict --- p.1 / Social support and work-family conflict --- p.2 / Outcome variables --- p.4 / Child status --- p.7 / Cultural component --- p.7 / Chapter Chapter 2: --- Method --- p.13 / Participants --- p.13 / Measures --- p.13 / Data analysis --- p.15 / Chapter Chapter 3: --- Results --- p.17 / WFC and outcome variables --- p.17 / Moderating impact of culture --- p.17 / "Ethnicity, child status and levels social support" --- p.24 / Chapter Chapter 4: --- Discussion --- p.27 / References --- p.33 / Footnotes --- p.43

This study is a gendered historical analysis of the legal administration of Indian Immigrants in British Colonial Natal in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. By focusing primarily on the attempts of the Natal Government to intervene in the personal law of especially indentured and ex-indentured Indians, this thesis presents an analysis of the role that gender played in the conceptualization and promulgation of the indentured labour scheme in Natal, and in the subsequent regulation of the lives of Indian immigrants in the Colony. It traces the developments in the administration of Indian women, especially, from the beginning of the indenture system in colonial Natal until the passage of the Indian Marriages Bill of 1907 and attempts to contextualize arguments around these themes within broader colonial discourses and debates, as well as to examine the particularity of such administrative attempts in the Natal context. This study observes the changing nature of 'custom' amongst Indian immigrants and the often simultaneous and contradictory attempts of the Natal colonial administration to at first support, and later, to intervene in what constituted the realm of the customary. Through an analysis of legal administration at different levels of government, this analysis considers the interactions of gender and utilitarian legal discourse under colonialism and, in particular, the complex role of Indian personal law and the ordinary civil laws of the Colony of Natal in both restricting and facilitating the mobility of Indian women brought to Natal under the auspices of the indentured labour system. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2005.

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This study seeks to investigate the challenges facing informal sector micro-enterprises in Newlands West, using the case study of female owned home-based dress making enterprises in the South West of Durban. The investigation, which aims at establishing the historical background to these micro-enterprises, their main activities and their viability, and the challenges they are facing, will be conducted in the context of the broader debate both in South Africa (SA) and globally about the informal sector, to which micro-enterprises would arguably belong. This study also aims to contribute towards research and future policy developments in the field of home-based enterprises. Many of these workers have set-up home-based micro-enterprises as a means of creating employment in order to sustain their livelihoods. The purpose of this study is thus to highlight the potential of these micro-enterprises to create employment and alleviate poverty. The qualitative research method is used in this study. In-depth, semi-structured interviews using purposive sampling were conducted with ten owner-managers. Data was analysed using the constant comparative method of analysis. The conclusion drawn from this study was that these micro-enterprises received hardly any support from the local municipality or provincial government to grow their businesses. The study also found that there is potential for these owner-managers, with appropriate state support, to grow their businesses, make greater profits and create jobs. Some of the recommendations offered in this study include: a system of mentorship should be established to assist informal micro-enterprise owners improve their business acumen. They should be given enterprise support as none of the dressmakers underwent any form of business training. There should be development of the following skills: Financial management, production management, technical training, marketing and sales and understanding the regulatory environment. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2007.

Much of the literature on First Nations education is written by Euro- Canadians. However, in recent years, American Indian scholars have initiated research on gifted and talented First Nations children. The purpose of this paper is to present eminent Shuswap womens' perspectives of traditional ways gifted and talented girls were identified and nurtured over their lifetime. Seven eminent Shuswap Elder women from the Interior of British Columbia, whose gifts and talents were identified and nurtured form the nucleus of the study. Because Shuswap people traditionally have an oral culture very little was written of the Shuswap peoples' experiences, therefore, interviewing was deemed the most appropriate research technique. Through the Elder's own words, the experiences of the identification and nurturance of their gifts and talents in the four phases of life (childhood, adolescence, adult, Elder) are presented. The Elders were selected to represent various time periods and several different bands of the Shuswap Nation. All of them have been recognized for their service to the people locally, provincially, or nationally. The most outstanding feature which is revealed by this study is the extent to which the Elders struggled to stay on the path paved for them throughout their lives since their grandparents identified their gifts and talents. Their struggles may be viewed the same way First Nation people continue their fight for their aboriginal rights. The need to continue the work of preserving, recording, perpetuating and enhancing the Shuswap language, history and culture is shown here. Implications for further qualitative research are numerous. From specific aspects of culture such as the Shuswap concept of giftedness and the traditional ways Shuswap people identified and nurtured boys to more general comparisons of finding a national First Nations concept of giftedness or trying to determine how band-operated school are trying to identify and nurture their gifted and talented students, there are many possibilities. What has emerged is strong individuals and cultural group healing, adapting and surviving very well despite the dark ages.

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