The Fight Against Discrimination and Violence Against the Indigenous Women in Canada - Essay Example

This exploratory essay is an attempt to identify a current and pressing issue that highlights the ways and means by which the Canadian government responds to the concerns of the Indigenous people of Canada. These concerns range from the protection and re-possession of their lands and other properties to the bias and discrimination that they receive from the 'white population' of non-Natives, based on the prejudiced notion that the indigenous peoples of Canada are second-rate and therefore subordinate. In this case, the prevalent discrimination and violence against indigenous women in Canada will be discussed. This alarming violation of human rights against indigenous women will be situated in the bigger and more important historical context of bias towards indigenous peoples in general. This situation will be reflected upon the propositions and other beliefs espoused by Taiaiake Alfred, a well-known scholar and orator who has committed himself to studying and exposing to the world the many struggles that the natives in Canada experience until today. It is the hope of this paper that beyond the discussion of violence and discrimination against indigenous women in Canada, a sense of urgency to react and act will be instilled in the reader. A Look at the Discrimination and Violence Against the Indigenous Women in Canada If we are to look at the glaring evidences of inequality and domination in any given society, then it is but imperative that we look at how the dominating group treats or for obvious instances, maltreats the so-called subordinate group. In this case, the extent by which the powerful non-natives abuse the natives in Canada is obviously seen in how it has perpetuated and imbibed the belief that indigenous women deserve to be abused and are rightfully to be raped and murdered for the mere reason that they are natives. Discrimination is not limited to the actual individuals who kill, rape, or abuse indigenous women, but even to the social institutions like the police and courts that have miserably failed to protect the rights of these women to the point that the victims and their families are seen to have provoked and deserved such brutalities, while the suspects are treated as if they were the real victims! Amnesty International (www2.amnesty.se) has released these sentiments towards the passivity of the Canadian government over such important concerns, and a call towards finally putting a stop and initiating a fight against the discrimination and abuse of indigenous women all over Canada: - First, the marginalization of indigenous women in Canada in terms of social and economic aspects, as well as years of manipulative government policies tearing apart the families and communities of natives in Canada, have inevitably pushed a number of indigenous women into dangerous working conditions such as prostitution and sex trade and living conditions such as poverty and homelessness. - Second, the police force in Canada have often failed in giving the protection and security that they are ought and obliged to give to all women, irrespective of ethnicity, which therefore includes indigenous women. - Third, the social consensus and toleration of abuse of indigenous women, physical, verbal, economic, and sexual it may be, has resulted to the unfortunate socialization of indigenous and non-indigenous men to believe that it is right and normal to believe and do so. - Fourth, these injustices and violence towards indigenous women are agreed to be caused by racism, and may actually be carried out with the expectation that societal indifference to the welfare and safety of Indigenous women will allow the perpetrators to escape justice. Nine horrifying cases of indigenous women who have been sexually assaulted and killed, some of which are yet to be found and considered missing until today is also reported by the Amnesty International (www2.amnesty.se). For purposes of giving due respect, these cases are: 1. Helen Betty Osborne- murdered November 12, 1971 2. Shirley Lonethunder- missing since December 1991 3. Pamela Jean George- murdered April 17, 1995 4. Janet Henry- missing since June 28, 1997 5. Sarah de Vries- missing April 14, 1998; confirmed dead on August 6 6. Cynthia Louise Sanderson- killed August 30, 2002 7. Maxine Waxpass- missing May 17, 2002; confirmed dead in February, 2003 8. Felicia Velvet Solomon- missing March 25, 2003; confirmed dead in October, 2003 9. Moira Louise Erb- missing August 2, 2003; found dead September 17, 2003 According to the report of the Amnesty International, these nine cases and perhaps most instances of abuse of indigenous women in Canada reveal two unfortunate yet critical dimensions. One is that in most cases, the violence is indeed caused by racist and sexist attitudes. The criminals may well have been against natives in general, or specifically towards natives who are women. The other dimension that shows how indigenous women are abused and discriminated point not to individuals, but to institutions such as the police, other authorities, media, and the general public who also are racist and sexist, perpetuating the prejudiced belief that aboriginal women are but mere objects with no other purpose or human value aside from sexually gratifying men. The bottom line is that discrimination and abuse of indigenous women and Canadian natives in general are societal, institutional, and historical. Historical Context of Discrimination and Violence Against the Indigenous Women in Canada The discrimination and abuse against the indigenous women in Canada is in a large part related with the discrimination and abuse that is imposed on the aborigines or natives of Canada. For instance, Canada's Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples or RCAP attributes the violence geared toward indigenous women as a factor of the bigger context that the women are in. According to the RCAP (www2.amnesty.se), the imminent power that the non-native society has had over the natives of Canada is seen day by day in every area of their lives- from the means by which they are educated, to the means by which they can earn a living, and even to the way they are subordinated. Provided that history shows how the natives of Canada employed distinct gender roles between men and women, it was nevertheless a relatively egalitarian society. Role differentiation was then different from gender inequality. On the other hand, because of the policies and laws that were implemented and rather forced upon by the 'white' colonizers, the indigenous peoples in Canada "have had to deal with dispossession of their traditional territories, disassociation with their traditional roles and responsibilities, disassociation with participation in political and social decisions in their communities, disassociation of their culture and tradition." (www2.amnesty.se) Aside from exploiting natural resources, and instigating changes in government, social structure, cultural beliefs and values, Colonialism also led to a change in the social relations among the indigenous peoples of Canada, particularly with the women giving up their relatively egalitarian status with men, and being deposed into the margins of their own families, communities, and societies. Another colonial construct that further diminished what was left of the status that women enjoyed was the widespread violations of Indigenous peoples' land and resource rights. The Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples has itself revealed that since the formation of the Canadian state, more than two-thirds of the land base of Indigenous communities were eroded and in fact stolen. The RCAP even admits that because of the lack of lands and other resources, the aboriginal nations will not be able to rebuild their own institutions, social structures, and communities. They will not be able to establish means by which to develop employment opportunities among themselves, that is very significant in initiating self-sufficiency. Now, they are already seen living destitute lives in Canadian society, yet without lands and resources, they will all the more be driven to the bottom point of economic, cultural and political extinction. (www2.amnesty.se) Nowadays, the majority of Indigenous peoples in Canadian towns and cities continue to live at a disadvantage compared to non-Indigenous people. They continually face lower incomes and a shortage of culturally appropriate support services in a government that is supposed to be giving them benefits like housing, education, and employment. The plight of indigenous women is all the more shown with the fact that they are not only to live in poverty and meager wages, but they must also take care of their elderly parents, raise children, and attend to sick loved ones and members of the family. The indigenous women's struggle to get by further becomes difficult because of experiences with overt and covert racism initiated and tolerated by majority of the non-native society. The Canadian Panel on Violence against Women (www2.amnesty.se) even says that most natives or aborigines in Canada experience racism as if it has become a part of their existence. Most of them have already been called "dirty Indians" even in the most unimposing places like schools, foster homes, or by police and prison guards. These aborigines have also experienced seemingly casual instances of bigotry, when in fact they are far from being mere coincidences. The discrimination and violence against the indigenous women in Canada is only one illustration of the many facets of subordination that natives in Canada experience even in today's modern world. Amidst all of these constraints and concerns, Taiaiake Alfred proposes that to be an indigent in a modern world is not a disability, but a challenge. It is possible. And one of the ways to achieve this is to find the path towards becoming and living as Onkwehonwe, or original people. Taiaiake Alfred's Views in Possible Relation to the Discrimination and Violence Against the Indigenous Women in Canada "When it comes to confronting our imperial realities some of us want to reform colonial law and policy, to dull that monster's teeth so that we can't be ripped apart so easily. Some of us believe in reconciliation, forgetting that the monster has a genocidal appetite, a taste for our blood and would sooner tear us apart than lick our hands. I think that the only thing that has changed since our ancestors first declared war on the invaders is that some of us have lost heart against history and against those that would submit to it. I am with the warriors who want to beat the beast into bloody submission and teach it to behave." The quote above was taken from Taiaiake Alfred's book entitled Wasase: Indigenous Pathways of Action and Freedom. Taiaiake Alfred articulates that in dealing with the many difficulties and atrocities that natives in Canada face nowadays, a different approach must be taken. It is not enough that we liberate ourselves in line with how the dominant society works, or according to their rules. This means that pursuing our decolonization as a people must not remain in the realm of educating ourselves, climbing up the socio-economic ladder, becoming capitalists ourselves, or fighting on legal grounds. The indigenous struggle has expressed itself in efforts to gain intellectual and cultural self-determination, economic self-sufficiency, spiritual freedom, health and healing, and recognition of political autonomy and rights to use and occupy un-surrendered lands. (http://newsocialist.org) These are all valid and potable pathways to decolonizing ourselves. Decolonization, of course is important since it marks our struggle to counter the effects of colonization coupled with dispossession of what is rightfully ours. However, according to Alfred, all the other pathways aside from what our ancestors have been instructing us, and claming to be the solution to our liberation includes a very basic flaw. That basic flaw that is found in each other pathway, whether it is in the seemingly rational field of economics highlighting property and legal rights or the more direct option of physically attacking the non-natives, falls into the argument that when one pursues a struggle, there is and must always be a relationship between the means and ends of that struggle. (http://canadiandimension.com) Only one pathway leads to true liberation and decolonization. And that pathway relies on the ways of the ancestors of the natives. Heeding to the voices of our ancestors instead of reinterpreting them according to our convenience is the pathway that Alfred suggests. According to Taiaiake Alfred, defining and establishing self-governance is not enough. In fact, it may well be a backlash or a retrograde or a sort of Trojan horse that is bound to induce capitalism, consumerism, and individualism. The practical ways are then to revive the natives' traditional forms of government. This means that a call to raise up once again those chiefs and clan mothers and ignite their influence and status as wise elders must be in motion. According to Alfred, doing such with be the antidote to the corruption, to the abuse of power, to the disempowerment of our communities, and to the battle against the non-natives and the unresponsive Canadian government. Yet, this must also be coupled with the constant pursuit for de-culturation. Alfred emphasizes that the most appropriate solution is that which resonates the natives' integrity, and provides a space and balance for having a group of people who are indigent yet living and even leading changes in the modern world. Taking off from the title of his third book, Alfred says that we must first be liberated and de-colonized as individuals then as communities to recognize what it means to undergo a Wasase. Wasase is the name of an ancient Mohawk's warrior's ritual, the Thunder dance, which represents unity, strength, and commitment to action. Alfred proposes that a true warrior who has been blessed by the ritual of Wasase and is governed by the values that it represents can either be a male or female, or a Native or non-Native. That person can be from any point in history. He or she can belong to any segment of society. What is essential in the transition towards becoming a warrior is that fact that that person has managed to realize that place inside him or her that has integrity and that that has managed to generate power and confidence. To radiate power and confidence, to dedicate one's life for the sake of one's own people, to be committed to the development and utmost liberation of one's people, to adhere to the reification of the fundamental values of unity, and freedom and justice- these are all what it takes to truly become a warrior. Alfred explains that being a warrior is not to be seen as a metaphor or an abstract thing that is intangible to be lived by and adhered to. How then should we become warriors in our own lives According to Alfred, a warrior can be practicing any endeavor and pursuing whatever career. To become a warrior in our own terms is to recognize that we are living in a country that is defined in a colonial relationship between the newcomer peoples and the peoples who are the original peoples of this land. And we can't get to a solution that means anything in the long term without addressing that in a fundamental way. White people stole their land and haven't given it back yet. White society has yet to acknowledge the initial crimes that were committed against our people. There is a fundamental injustice in the relationship between Native and non-Native people in this country. In the case of the fight against Discrimination and Violence Against the Indigenous Women in Canada, it is not to instigate social changes concerning not only the natives that our concerned but also the non-natives. If this were to be done, with both natives and non-natives struggling to live by as warriors, then the battle will soon be conquered. References: "Canada: Stolen Sisters - A human rights response to discrimination and violence against Indigenous women in Canada." 2007. Amnesty International. 20 March 2007. Alfred, Taiaiake and Lana Lowe. "What are warrior societies" New Socialist Organization. 20 March 2007. Alfred, Taiaiake. "Pathways to an Ethic of Struggle." Canadian Dimension Magazine, January/February 2007 Issue. 20 March 2007. < http://canadiandimension.com> Read More