5 indigenous Women & Activists You Should Know About

[ismnotwasm]

Indian Country Today recently highlighted the central role of women in the recent anti-fracking protests by the Mi’kmaq First Nation in Canada. Amanda Polchies famously knelt down in front of a militarized blockade of police officers with nothing but an eagle feather between her and the officers. Amanda is but one of many Mi’kmaq women that faced down a line of police and stood their ground during the protests. She is also but one of many Indigenous women and activists who have worked and currently work toward justice, including such women as:

Andrea Smith
A Native feminist politics seeks to do more than simply elevate Native women’s status — it seeks to transform the world through indigenous forms of governance that can be beneficial to everyone.
Indigenous feminism without apology

2. Winona LaDuke
It is not that the women of the dominant society in so-called first world countries should have equal pay and equal status, if that pay and status continues to be based on a consumption model which is not only unsustainable, but causes constant violation of the human rights of women and nations elsewhere in the world.

3. Leanne Simpson
Our bodies should be on the land so that our grandchildren have something left to stand upon.
Elsipogtog Everywhere

4. Ada Deer
“The power came from the people… Now we Indian people believe we can do anything!”
The Power Came From the People

5. Nina Wilson, Sylvia McAdam, and Jessica Gordon

We are moving toward continuing to assert our sovereignty and our indigenous rights and we’re going to continue to protect and defend the land and the water. We support and encourage all people to do the same, however they choose to do that.
Nina Wilson

http://persephonemagazine.com/2013/11/5-indigenous-women-activists-you-should-know-about/

[NYC_SKP]

1. Recommended, adding one more to the mix...

Just because we so often think of the North American continent as the context for indigenous peoples, it's easy to forget to include the people of the Hawaiian Islands.

So here's a sixth:

Professor Lisa Kahaleole Hall is interested in the intersections of race, colonialism, and indigeneity with gender and sexuality. She is currently engaged with two different scholarly projects—one an exploration of the space for the grassroots cultural productions of indigenous women and women of color in the US "Women in Print" movement of the 1970-90s, and the second a transnational comparison of indigenous feminisms in the US Hawaii, Australia and Aotearoa / New Zealand.

http://www.wells.edu/academics/faculty/hall.aspx

It's probably just that I came back from a delivering some presentations on Oahu that this occurred to me, but their perspective and experience is really unique and valuable but also missed or dismissed by mainlanders.

Great people with a remarkable history, but then so have we all.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

2. DU Rec --

for the thread and your post. Thanks, ismnotwasm & NYC_SKP