Authors: Daiva Stasiulis and Nira Yuval- Davis
Pages 95- 129
SUMMARY:
This chapter relayed information of the lifestyle and mingling of the people who lived in Canada. Aboriginal people of Canada had their own class system which was less patriotical than the European class system. In fact women were able to own land, control and produce resources, and have power over their family. In fact, their goods were vital trade items. Lineage was traced through the female line and some women were allowed to be chieftains.
British settlers arrived to Canada hoping to search for raw materials to send home to their mother country to become wealthy. With them they took "British ideas, goods, fashions, institutions, and cultural and economic practices". (USS 1995, pg 97) In order to survive in a new land and attain raw materials like fur, these newcomers had to depend on and collaborate with the Aborginal people. Their arrival was detrimental to the Native peoples, they were not immune to the various diseases that the Europeans brought with them. This caused a serious decline in their population. The women helped out the Europeans by teaching them how to preserve their food, produce shoes and canoes, interpret and teach languages, and providing guaidance of the land. The chapter reports that there was marriages between Native women and European men to attain economic ground and ".... to secure influence for traders through Aborginal kinship networks, and to provide Natives with access to posts and provisions". (USS 1995, pg 103) The union produced a population called Metis, which created a new social class amongst the Aboriginal peoples. Curiously, the Metis people considered themselves as a "New Nation" and usually their Indian ancestry was kept quite. The chapter goes on to describe the arrival of European women and how they were used to sustain European purity and custumes. From here the land and culture of the Aboriginal peoples is stripped more and more.
I believe the author wants to relay the lost history of Canada and uncover that that Native Americans were an advanced society.
WHY ARE THESE ISSUES IMPORTANT TO A DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF SYSTEMS AND STRUCTURES OF OPPRESSION, POWER, PRIVILEGE, AND RESISTANCE?HOW DO YOU POSITION TO THIS ARTICLE?
Through the pages you see the stripping of women's influence and power. In Native American custom, family orgins was traced through the female line however, that changed with European influence as family orgins were traced through the male line. I thought it was also interesting to read that the Metis class hid their Native American ancestry. To me, this tells me taht they were either ashamed or saw that it was more beneificial to claim that they were European.
ARE THERE THREAD OF THIS PIECE THAT 'SPEAK' IN FAMILIAR WAYS TO ISSUES, EXPERIENCES, MEMORIES IN YOUR OWN LIFE? EXPLAIN.HOW ARE THERE SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE GROUPS/ INDIVIDUALS UNDER DISCUSSION AND OTHER MINORITIZED/ OPPRESSED?
I hear from friends that they feel like there is a gap between those who are bi-racial and those who are full. Some people who are mixed race feel like they are seperated from their ethnic community. I know some people who are bi-racial that identify with only one side of their ethnicity.
DO YOU AGREE WITH THE MAIN ARGUMENTS MADE? WHY? WHY NOT?
I agree with the main arguments made because it offers a different side of history that students don't learn about.
No comments:
Post a Comment