Political involvement of indigenous women in Quebec

• Main Authors: Héloïse, Maertens, Basile, Suzy
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: French
• Published: 2022
• Subjects: Political; involvement; Indigenous women; Quebec; Canada; Indian; esquimaux
• Online Access: https://depositum.uqat.ca/id/eprint/1515/; https://depositum.uqat.ca/id/eprint/1515/1/Report_Political%20involvement_Indigenous_women_2022.pdf

In pre-colonial Canada, the traditional governance systems of Indigenous Peoples were based on cooperation, autonomy, complementarity and inter-connectedness (Wesley-Esquimaux, 2009). With respect to Indigenous women in particular, they were autonomous and held key positions within Indigenous governance systems. The introduction of colonial policies disrupted their roles (Basile, 2017). The introduction of the Indian Act of 1876 shut out women from any political activities within their communities, and forbade them from seeking office, voting or even speaking at public meetings (Anderson, 2009; Voyageur, 2011). The objective was to relegate them to the domestic space, like European women, and to erase their power in the social and political organization as well as in local and territorial governance (Anderson, 2009). The Indian Act also ensured that Indigenous women who married non-status men lost their Indian status and property rights on the reserve. The same applied to children born of these unions. On the contrary, a white or non-native woman obtained Indian status by marrying a status man (Simpson, 2016). The provision of this law regarding the transmission of status had a clear objective of assimilation. Indeed, Indigenous women play a key role in the transmission of language, culture and values (Basile et al., 2017) so isolating women and their children for their community of belonging and culture aimed at progressively decreasing community populations and accelerating the assimilation of Indigenous peoples into colonial society. The political mobilization of Indigenous women is marked by multiple efforts, struggles and demands to recover their status. In 1974 alone, two associations for the defence of Indigenous women’s rights were created, namely the Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC), and the Quebec Native Women (QNW) on the provincial level. The Indian Act was finally amended in 1985, giving bands the right to create their own membership codes and allowing Indigenous women to regain the ...