Examining the Construction, Impact, and Reclamation of Indigenous Identity through Colonization Student’s Name Institution Affiliations Course Professor's Name Date Examining the Constructio ...

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Examining the Construction, Impact, and Reclamation of Indigenous Identity through Colonization
Student’s Name
Institution Affiliations
Course
Professor's Name
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Examining the Construction, Impact, and Reclamation of Indigenous Identity through Colonization
Indigenous history is punctuated by the strong theme of Indigenous women being cultural knowledge keepers and community stabilizers, so the Cheyenne proverb 'a nation is not conquered until the hearts of its women are on the ground' rings loud and true. In the past, Indigenous women were leaders and healers who held their communities together through spiritual connections, cultural values, and land. However, colonial forces attempted to dismantle Indigenous societies by undercutting these women's roles, imposing patriarchal structures, and enshrining Eurocentric gender roles, Making Space for Indigenous Feminism details. This paper examines ways in which colonialism disconnected Indigenous femininity from established social status, shifted Indigenous women's family roles, and imposed gender construct that still today impacts Indigenous women with marginalization. It also looks at how Indigenous women have maintained the centrality of Indigenous femininity through acts of cultural reclamation as a means of Indigenous women's resilience and cultural survival.
Indigenous Femininity under the Construction of Colonial Influence
The Concept of Gender through Christianization and Patriarchy
Chapters 4 and 6 in Making Space for Indigenous Feminism demonstrate that pre-colonial Indigenous societies tended to treat gender equality, as women tended to be highly authoritative in matrilineal and matriarchal structures (Anderson & Starblanket, 2021). Yet colonial agents imposed Christian patriarchal values that perverted Indigenous ideas of gender. Indigenous practices were rendered 'heathen' in forced Christianization efforts, and new social orders jailed women in domestic spaces and weakened the traditional authority of Indigenous women (Anderson & Starblanket, Chapter 6). Missionaries used Christianity as a tool to 'civilize 'Indigenous communities and redefine Indigenous femininity on missionaries' terms. It was this devaluation of women's roles that helped to establish women in restrictive, dependent roles.
Binary Gender and Fluid Identity Imposition of
According to many Indigenous cultures, gender was less understood in terms of binary structure and more as a parallel, fluid, and flexible category completely rejected by European norms. For instance, the Cree and Anishinaabe recognized and saw the Two-Spirit identity because they understood that people could act like both male and female. The inclusivity inherent in Indigenous society was the basis of a philosophy that encompassed diversity in gender terms. Such gender fluidity was dismissed and acted on by colonizers who actively worked to erase it by imposing strict male-female roles. This was made clear in Chapter 7, Makin