An Act of Genocide: Colonialism and the Sterilization of Aboriginal Women PDF
Preview An Act of Genocide: Colonialism and the Sterilization of Aboriginal Women
Contents Acknowledgement Preface Introduction 1. Eugenics, Feminism and the Woman Question The Birth of an Idea Eugenics in Canada Eugenics and the Woman Question Eugenic Feminism: Maternal Feminists, Suffragettes and “Other” Women 2. Indian Policy and Aboriginal Women Historical Context and the Indian Act Indian Policy and Health Indian Policy, Sexuality and Motherhood 3. Sterilization, Birth Control and Abusive Abortions Controlling Births with Birth Control To Sell, Advertise and Distribute Openly Sterilization and Birth Control in the North Sterilization by Number The End of the Line 4. Settling the Past Settling the Past: Courts, Cash and Compensation? After the Act: British Columbia Compensation and Aboriginal Women 5. Canada, Genocide and Aboriginal Peoples Raphaël Lemkin and the Crime Without a Name From Draft to Convention: A Compromise with Consequences Canada and the Genocide Convention Genocide and the Canadian Criminal Code Canada and the International Criminal Court Genocide and Aboriginal Peoples Today Conclusion References Index Copyright © 2015 Karen Stote All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review. Editing: Penelope Jackson Cover design: John van der Woude Published by Fernwood Publishing 32 Oceanvista Lane, Black Point, Nova Scotia, B0J 1B0 and 748 Broadway Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3G 0X3 www.fernwoodpublishing.ca Fernwood Publishing Company Limited gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund and the Canada Council for the Arts, the Nova Scotia Department of Communities, Culture and Heritage, the Manitoba Department of Culture, Heritage and Tourism under the Manitoba Publishers Marketing Assistance Program and the Province of Manitoba, through the Book Publishing Tax Credit, for our publishing program. Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Stote, Karen, 1980-, author An act of genocide : colonialism and the sterilization of Aboriginal women / Karen Stote. Issued in print and electronic formats. ISBN 978-1-55266-732-3 (pbk.).--ISBN 978-1-55266-754-5 (epub) 1. Native women--Health and hygiene--Canada. 2. Native women-- Canada--Social conditions. 3. Sterilization (Birth control)--Law and legislation--Canada. 4. Sterilization (Birth control)--Government policy--Canada. I. Title. HQ767.7.S76 2015 363.9’70971 C2015-900658-9 C2015-900659-7 If you have come to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together. Aboriginal Activists Group, Queensland, 1970s Acknowledgement R esearching and writing this work has been much more than an academic exercise and as with all works, it did not get written in isolation. It was inspired, shaped and fueled by countless people with whom I have been fortunate enough to engage, either face to face or through correspondence, books and documentaries. It is meant as a statement of solidarity with those who have consistently resisted an unjust system which treats all of us poorly and continues to deny Indigenous peoples the right to exist on their own terms — it is offered in the belief that a better world is possible. This manuscript began as a doctoral dissertation and was made possible through much support and encouragement. To the Department of Native Studies at St. Thomas University and all those I met during my time there, thank you for stimulating many of the ideas found in this work, for providing an environment where real learning could take place and for employing me in times when I needed a job! To my supervisory committee, Andrea Bear Nicholas, Linda Eyre and Linda Kealey, for helping me through the longest part of this journey each in your own way, and to David Bedford, Nicole O’Byrne and Pamela Palmater for your constructive criticisms and encouraging comments as this work took its final shape as a PhD thesis. Thank you to Ward Churchill and Mary Eberts whose comments on sections of this work did much to strengthen some of the arguments made within. The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada provided financial assistance without which much of this work would have been difficult to complete. A big thank you is due to Fernwood Publishing for supporting this work and bringing it forward in its current form. Finally, to my family, my friends and my partner: thank you for loving me, supporting me and always reminding me of the beauty and hopefulness of life. Preface S ince I began this project, people have often asked about this research and once filled in they tend to respond in one of two ways. Some react with a sense of disbelief that they have been kept in the dark about this piece of Canadian history, and this is most often followed up with a statement referring to the fact that this must be something that happened long ago. Many Canadians carry a mistaken assumption that crimes and abuses against impoverished, marginalized and Aboriginal women are a thing of the past and that perhaps things are not perfect, but overall people are making out okay today. On the other end of the spectrum, some respond with various comments relating to the fact that although not ideal, something needs to be done about people having children they cannot afford. A practicing physician with whom I spoke retorted that today, those who should be reproducing are now seeking sterilization of their own volition while others are allowed to have as many children as they please. Someone else equated childbirth by poor women with the failure of pet owners to sterilize their animals as a step towards preventing overpopulation. In between those who think crimes committed by the state do not happen today and those who would promote the coercive use of the state apparatus for racist and/or economic ends are those who categorize this work as Aboriginal history. To all of this I would like to respond by clarifying what this work sets out to do and where it is coming from. It is important to point out that although some of those coercively sterilized were Aboriginal, others, too, were also victimized by this practice. By focusing on Indigenous women, I do not mean to disregard this fact. I also do not purport to speak on behalf of Aboriginal peoples. I hope this work is useful to and serves as a statement of solidarity with Indigenous peoples here, but I believe it is left to those victimized by Canadian policies and practices to speak for themselves about their experiences and what these have meant for them, in their lives and as peoples. I have tried to provide a bigger picture which will, hopefully, help to inform these experiences and help us all understand many of the forces that influence how and why injustices like this happen. My main argument is that the consistent undermining of Aboriginal women and their reproductive lives through policies and practices like coercive sterilization has been part of a longstanding attack against Indigenous ways of life in an effort to reduce those to whom the federal government has obligations, and in order to gain access to lands and resources. Coercive sterilization should not be viewed in isolation from the larger context in which it has taken place, just as other policies such as residential schools cannot be separated from the larger purposes they have served, or their effects which continue to be felt today. As Patricia Monture has written, the impact of these policies is greater than the sum of their individual wrongs and the harms extend to all Aboriginal peoples as individuals and communities. Even though the experiences of those impacted by Indian policy in Canada differ greatly, the ties between these originate in a system based on the expropriation of Indigenous lands and resources, and mediated by a government that has had the elimination of the “Indian problem” as a central goal since its very inception. This work consists of a historical recount of Canadian bureaucrats, policy makers and so called humanitarians proposing, enacting and implementing policies and practices that have sought to open up access to or legitimate ownership over Indigenous lands and resources. It consists of a history of Canadian state, medical and philanthropic organizations subjecting Aboriginal peoples to practices and policies they, by and large, did not ask for or need, and for which they have yet to be compensated. In this sense, the history dealt with here is very much a Canadian history. Indigenous peoples have absolutely resisted, adapted and survived in the face of policies and practices such as those discussed, and they will most likely continue to do so into the future. By speaking of the victimization of Aboriginal women by Canadian laws and practices, I do not mean to deny this fact. Yet, this active and ongoing resistance is not the subject of this work. Through research and scholarship which highlights some of the injustices faced by Aboriginal peoples, I seek to call Canadians to task. In our ignorance and complacency many of us do not even recognize the harm
The list of books you might like
