The role of northern Canadian Indian women in social change ...

• Main Author: Cruikshank, Julia M.
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: University of British Columbia 2011
• Subjects: Tagish; tlingit; Yukon
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.14288/1.0104052; https://doi.library.ubc.ca/10.14288/1.0104052

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 ...