“To be indigenous women means that we have thoughts, that we have dignity, and that we need rights.” Dissident Women Ch 3

Key Themes
•Agrarian struggles became the center of the social programs.
•Women’s experiences are the basis for the political formation of those who comprise the women’s movement in Chiapas today.
•Women have been active in a wide variety of peasant organizations but they did not make gender demands of form part of the leadership.
•Women’s political involvement became increasingly strong after the Zapatista uprising.
•In the 1980s catholic doctrine taught appreciation of women’s roles so that women could take an active role in the struggle against exploitative conditions.
•Both the CIOAC and the EZLN marches and their names are the continuation of the organized struggle against oppression and discrimination in Chiapas.
•Women march carrying their children, food, and belongings and widows are thought to have it harder because they have no home or support in the march.
•In the CIAO the prevalent image of females was that of submissive women.
•(Speed, Castillo & Stephen, 2006, p. 107).

Important Quotes
•“To be indigenous women means that we have thoughts, that we have dignity, and that we need rights” (Speed et al., 2006, p. 107).
•“Conscious” participation on the part of women could strengthen the group, the organization, and the community” (Speed et al., 2006, p. 97).
•“The church has always been involved in formulating ideas about women and their role in different social settings” (Speed et al., 2006, p. 100).
•“…we will talk to congress to ask them to include indigenous rights and culture in their constitution…That’s why we march…” (Speed et al., 2006, p. 107).

Thoughts/Reaction/Reflection
I think it is unfortunate that although it was the women who did most of the activism, it was the men who were seen and got the credit. At the same time this is how many cultures work today. The man is believed to be at the forefront of the struggle, he receives the credit however, it is most often the women who are putting in the hours, doing the work, but receiving little or no credit. But I think by not making a big issue out of this injustice women accomplish more. Sadly, women understand that if they want to get things done they need to just go ahead and do it and not wait for backup or recognition. Throughout history women have largely been ignored and I don’t believe that is changing but without the work done by women none of us would be here. The same holds true in Chiapas I believe. The women have been struggling for rights to support their families and through their work they have been able to keep their families afloat however, it has been the men taking credit for this work all along.

Reference
Speed, S., Castillo, R. & Stephen, L. (2006). Dissident women: Gender and cultural politics in Chiapas. University of Texas Press

Midterm Project Resources

Here is the introduction to my midterm project and a list of resources relating to Winona LaDuke and Alanis Obomsawin.

In the realm of Indigenous activism two figures stand out in my mind: Winona LaDuke and Alanis Obomsawin. As activists for Indigenous rights, Obomsawin and LaDuke employ their own forms of matrilineal resistance to bring awareness to environmental issues faced by Native people and to bring restoration to Indigenous culture, values, spirituality, and way of life. Both LaDuke and Obomsawin have a niche with which they explore, express, and bring awareness to Native environmental issues though. Winona LaDuke primarily is an author and activist. She writes books such as All Our Relation: Native Struggles for Land and Life which explores the issues relating to the deliberate targeting of Native lands for toxic waste disposal and industrial development (LaDuke, 1999). At age eighteen LaDuke spoke at the United Nations addressing Indigenous environmental concerns, she went on to get degrees both from Harvard and Antioch Universities (Speak out!). Alanis Obomsawin on the other hand looks through the lens of film to bring awareness to these issues. In her film Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance she illustrates the Mohawk resistance to a golf course that is to be built on part of the Mohawk’s land. Starting her film career in 1967 after an appearance on Ron Kelly’s television show where she was profiled, Alanis was invited to act as a consultant on a film (Women make movies, 2005). Since her appearance she has not only continued to work on films but has researched, written, filmed, narrated, directed, and coproduces most all of her documentaries (Lewis, 2006, p. 71). Throughout their work both Alanis Obomsawin have used their forms of matrilineal resistance to bring awareness to Native environmental issues. In doing so they have written multiple works and created multiple documentaries illustrating these issues. What follows is a list of their works and how these works pertain to matrilineal forms of resistance, restoration, and environmental justice. In illustrating these themes I am going to provide resources, images, information about the accomplishments of both women, and suggestions for future work that could be done.

List of Works written by Winona LaDuke

All Our Relations: Native Struggles for Land and Life

Recovering the Sacred: The Power of Naming and Claiming

Last Standing Woman

The Winona Laduke Reader: A Collection of Essential Writings

Daughters of Mother Earth: The Wisdom of Native American Women

Sister Nations: Native American Women Writers on Community

The full list and information about each book can be found at:

http://books.google.com/books?as_auth=Winona+Laduke&source=an&sa=X&oi=book_group&resnum=4&ct=title&cad=author-navigational

List of Films by Alanis Obomsawin


Christmas at Moose Factory

Christmas at Moose Factory (Animated, 1971) Also script and text

Amisk (1977) Also producer

Mother of Many Children (1977) Also producer, script and text, narration

Canada Vignettes: Wild Rice Harvest Kenora (1979) Also script and text

Canada Vignettes: June in Povungnituk - Quebec Arctic (1980) Also script and text, narration

Incident at Restigouche (1984) Also producer, script and text, narration

Richard Cardinal: Cry from a Diary of a Métis Child (1986) Also producer, script and text


Mother of Many Children

Poundmaker's Lodge: A Healing Place (1987) Also producer, script and text

No Address (1988) Also producer, script and text

Walker (1991)

Le Patro Le Provost 80 Years Later (1991) Also producer, script and text

Kanehsatake 270 Years of Resistance (1993) Also producer, script and text, narration

My Name is Kahentiiosta (1995) Also producer, script and text, images, sound

Spudwrench - Kahnawake Man (1997) Also producer, script and text, sound

Rocks at Whiskey Trench (2000) Also producer, script and text, narration

This information can be found at:

http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/directors/02/obomsawin.html

Resources on/about Winona LaDuke• http://nativeharvest.com/
• http://speakoutnow.org/userdata_display.php?modin=50&uid=79
• http://www.vassar.edu/headlines/2007/winona-laduke.html
• http://www.americanswhotellthetruth.org/pgs/portraits/Winona_LaDuke.html
• http://books.google.com/books?as_auth=Winona+Laduke&source=an&sa=X&oi=book_group&resnum=4&ct=title&cad=author-navigational

http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&id=411VtwEICiwC&dq=winona+LaDuke&printsec=frontcover&source=web&ots=1pg8RZAb65&sig=ZydwvRBy_ad8WHV4Yjo8lUiV-2A&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result

Resources on/about Alanis Obomsawin

http://www.onf.ca/webextension/alanis-obomsawin/bio.php

http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/directors/02/obomsawin.html

http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&id=lPIZGC03HfYC&dq=alanis+obomsawin&printsec=frontcover&source=web&ots=klfbUiHpC6&sig=S98iBAY7Mrk2-NyNkLOuTuqAuRI&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=9&ct=result

http://www.wmm.com/filmcatalog/makers/fm277.shtml

http://www.canadacouncil.ca/aboutus/artistsstories/aboriginal/af127519147338093750.htm

http://www.nfb.ca/portraits/alanis_obomsawin/


References

LaDuke, W. (1999). All Our Relations: Native Struggles for Land and Life. Cambridge, Ma: South End Press.

Lewis, R. (2006). Alanis Obomsawin: The Vision of a Native Filmmaker. Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska, Manufactured in the United States of America.
NFB Portraits: Alanis Obomsawin. (2007). Retrieved November 2, 2008 from http://www.nfb.ca/portraits/alanis_obomsawin/

Speak Out! Biography and Booking Information: Winona LaDuke (n.d.). Retrieved October 31, 2008 from http://speakoutnow.org/userdata_display.php?modin=50&uid=79

White Earth Land Recovery Project: Winona LaDuke (2006). Retrieved October 31, 2008from http://nativeharvest.com/winona_laduke

Williams, P. (1932). Sense of Cinema: Alanis Obomsawin. Retrieved November 1, 2008from http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/directors/02/obomsawin.html

Women Make Movies: Alanis Obomsawin (2005). Retrieved November 2, 2008from http://www.wmm.com/filmcatalog/makers/fm277.shtml

Gender in Inuit Society

Key themes/Ideas
• Accounts of Inuit/Eskimo women by non-specialists usually result in Inuit women being portrayed as having low status and prestige relative to men.
• Neither sex lacks the ability to perform the other’s work and both sexes have an extensive knowledge of the other’s work. Consequently, one sex is able to perform the other’s work if need be.
• Everywhere in the arctic “the relations between men and women are amicable-even decorous” (Guemple, 1995, p. 22).
• Women and men discuss public issues openly within their own homes however, women are not suppose to talk about these issues in public.


Important Quotes
• “Both within and without the house she behaves as the equal of the men” (Guemple, 1995, p. 19).
• “Neither is the work of one more estimable than that of the other” (Guemple, 1995, p. 20).
• “Arctic divorce may be a better measure of equality than marriage” (Guemple, 1995, p. 24).
• “Women and her children retain a “claim” on her ex-husband and on his close relatives for life” (Guemple, 1995, p. 24).
• “…maleness and femaleness are only transitory states of being… Gender is not an essential attribute” (Guemple, 1995, p. 27).

Thoughts/Reflections/Reactions
My thoughts on this reading are mixed. I like the idea of dispelling stereotypes and assumptions about Gender in Inuit Society however, I felt that this reading actually reinforced some negative beliefs. I was especially struck by how he organized his argument because within each sub-subject he seemed to have an argument that contradicted his thesis. For instance, in the beginning he stated that “the early literature is sprinkled with accounts (some based on myth and folklore) of the beating, mutilation, and sexual coercion, abduction, and murder of women…” and then proceeded to write an article dispelling this belief (Guemple, 1995, p. 17). However, he then said that when women would voice their concern about the “stupidity of policy decisions” the remarks “would merit retaliation—even physical assault” (Guemple, 1995, p. 25). Contradictory arguments like this were evident throughout the article so I had a hard time with this article. I feel that he looked at Inuit life through very egocentric eyes and I believe that comparisons between cultures cannot always be made and in this instance I feel that his arguments failed. In fact, I think that they reiterated popular belief and that the way he structured his argument will cause others to look at Inuit life in an egocentric way.

Reference
Guemple, L. (1995). Gender in Inuit society (p. 17-27). Women and power in native North America. University of Oklahoma Press.