GRSJ224/ecofeminismandindigenouscanada
Introduction to Ecofeminism
Ecofeminism is a theoretical and political feminist perspective that studies the relationship between the oppression of women concurrently with that of nature (Wilson 2005). As Kathi Wilson explains in her article, “Ecofeminism and First Nations Peoples in Canada: Linking Culture, Gender, and Nature.”, ecofeminist discourse and thought have evolved, divided and diverged since it’s early articulations, through multiple dynamic theoretical frameworks.
Mark Stoddart and David Tindall explore the diversity of ecofeminist perspectives in their article “Ecofeminism, Hegemonic Masculinity, and environmental movement participation in British Columbia, Canada, 1998–2007: “Women Always Clean up the Mess””. This article responds to the prominence of Female-led environmental movements in British Columbia, which acknowledged the theoretical changes in ecofeminism over a nine-year span. Stoddart and Tindall agree with Raewyn Connell’s perspective, that environmental activism has enabled a space for male activists to observe the parallels around culturally constructed gender/nature dichotomies (as cited in Stoddart and Tindall, Connell 1990, 2011).
In 1972, Sherry B. Ortner questioned traditional gender role dichotomies in her article “Is Female to Male as Nature is to Culture” (Ortner 1972). The questions raised by Ortner certainly enabled scholars to reconsider how gender inferiority is socially justified, setting the stage for the deconstruction of dichotomies (Stoddart and Tindall 2011).
Theoretical Frameworks
Rather than simply acknowledging the role that gender plays into the Culture vs. Nature dichotomy, a concurrent sphere of ecofeminism looks at the “reclaiming” rather than rejecting a feminine connection to nature (Wilson 2005). Of course, this area of focus has faced tension, as it is unclear whether this gendered “connection” is biological or socially/culturally constructed (Stoddart and Tindall 2011).
The term ecomaternalism works to rationalize the prominence of women’s caretaking roles towards the environment, rather than see the maternal role as solely a cultural construct (Stoddart and Tindall 2011). This can be quantitatively proven, through studies which observe how social practices of environmental sustainability are far more commonly carried out by women (Stoddart and Tindall 2011).
Although gendered relationships to the land do exist in a contextual reality, the eco maternalism perspective has been largely critiqued, as it places the same gendered responsibility upon women (Wilson 2005). The discourse of dual subjugation of woman and nature has been another nuance in ecofeminism but is critiqued as it is dependent upon gender dichotomies, supporting essentialism (Stoddart and Tindall 2011).
Another theoretical approach offered by ecofeminism is expressed through Hegemonic masculinity, which rather than focusing on the biological or social gendered traits, acknowledges the relevance of a patriarchal system (Stoddart and Tindall 2011). This takes the focus off essentializing gender binaries and places greater focus on the patriarchal forces western societies have imposed. Hegemonic masculinity works to unveils the systematic and societal forces that influence the lack of environmental concern showed by a majority of men (Stoddart and Tindall 2011).
Ecofeminism and Decolonization
With a growing focus on the values held in Indigenous knowledge, Ecofeminism emphasizes a more contextualized practice of knowing (Wilson 2005). The historic standardization of Scientific Knowledge, which has historically been European and Male-driven, creating an imperialist canon of knowledge (Shiva 2014).
Despite Canada’s imposition of Indigenous based Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), into western Scientific knowledge, Indigenous agency is still belittled (Leddy 2017). The assumption that only one format of knowing is correct, or that there is only one right way of conducting knowledge, is incredibly reductive and problematic (Shiva 2014). In this sense, Western Science has dismissed the value traditional knowledge of Indigenous populations adding to the unresolved subordination, assimilation, carried on since settler colonialism (Shiva 2014).
The theoretical frameworks held by western scientific knowledge has produced natural and cultural hierarchies, placing women and Indigenous perspectives in inferior positions (Shiva 2014). Tropes such as the “ecological Indian” have been transposed onto Indigenous people through western hegemonic perspectives, subsuming an inferior role in response to a heightened relationship to the natural world (Leddy 2017). Concurrently, Indigenous women faced tropes of inferiority, intersecting both gender and indigeneity, despite the dominant presence of matriarchy before European contact (Potiguara 1997). Settler imposed binaries continue to affect common perceptions of Indigenous communities today (Leddy 2017).
Indigenous Ecofeminism
Ecofeminism interests itself in the deconstruction of colonial frameworks of knowledge and classification, through decolonization practices of adoption Indigenous based epistemologies (Wilson 2005). Despite these perceptual confinements projected by hegemonic and patriarchal powers, many Indigenous people and women have resisted limitations of racial and gendered classification and dichotomies through decolonizing practices (Potiguara 1997).
Indigenous epistemologies vary from community to community, which contrast the hegemonic and dominating knowledge practices of Western scientific knowledge (Wilson 2005). The introduction to patriarchal and capitalist models brought by European settler colonialism was disjunctive to the functionalities of many indigenous groups, many of which were governed by reciprocity and matriarchal kinship (Potiguara 1997). The introduction of patriarchy and capitalism greatly affected women’s roles in the community, but with the survival of cultural practices, protocols, ceremonies, and traditions, remanence of system diversity persists (Potiguara 1997).
For many Indigenous communities across Canada, the protection of their culture and their land has never ceased (Leddy 2017). Roles held by women, femme identifying and two-spirit people, may admit to claiming a stronger connection to the land (Leddy 2017). Much environmental activism administered by these communities today is lead by women and femme identifying folks and is observed through clear-cutting protests at Clayoquot Sound and the standoff between the Canadian Nation state and the Mohawk community held at Kanasatake (Stoddart and Tindall 2011).
Today, Indigenous scholar Lianne Leddy addresses the nuances around Indigenous environmental activism, as the role can be contradicting without context. This is because Western hegemonic society has placed land-based identities upon indigenous communities. We can observe this through essentializing tropes, such as the “ecological Indian” and “mother nature”. Although these tropes can hold both truth and fabrication, Imperialist extractive industries have forced the Indigenous communities to embody these characters in order to protect their land and traditional practices (Leddy 2017).
By taking a more contextual look at individual Indigenous communities understandings of gender-nature relationships, Ecofeminists build a broader understanding of both hegemony and binaries (Wilson 2005). Although it may be partial, women’s relationship with nature is not essential. An individual’s relationship to land exists in context to their experiences, yet it is not independent of the system that they exist within (Wilson 2005). The understanding of Indigenous women and the natural world must be observed within a specific context, outside of the essentialist and patriarchal system of knowledge that dominates the western world today (Wilson 2005).
Through the nuances of female indigenous environmental activism, Ecofeminism builds theory (Potiguara 1997). The characteristics of caretaking that have been strongly associated with a gendered social role, are challenged by indigenous concepts such as “two-spirited”. Through Indigenous ways of thought, Ecofeminism works to transcend both European imposed gender binaries, alongside hegemonic forces of knowledge, which shape contemporary oppressive experiences (Wilson 2005).
Links to Ecofeminism in Indigenous Communities in Canada
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yP3srFvhKs
https://bc.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=1470827
References
- Connell, Raewyn. “Hegemonic Masculinity: Rethinking the Concept.” Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0891243205278639.
- Leddy, Lianne C. “Intersections of Indigenous and Environmental History in Canada.” Canadian Historical Review, vol. 98, no. 1, 2017, pp. 83–95., doi:10.3138/chr.98.1.leddy. Edited by Maria, et al. “ecofeminism”. vol. 5;5.;, Zed Books, London;New York, NY;, 2014.
- Obomsawin, Alanis. “Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance”, National Film Board of Canada, 1 Jan. 1993, www.nfb.ca/film/kanehsatake_270_years_of_resistance/.
- Ortner, Sherry B. 1972. “Is female to male as nature is to culture?” In M. Z. Rosaldo and L. Lamphere (eds), Woman, culture, and society. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, pp. 68-87.
- Potiguara, Eliane, “The Earth is the Indian’s Mother”. In Ecofeminism: Women, Culture Nature, edited by Warren, Karen. Indiana University Press, Bloomington, 1997.
- Shiva, Vendana. “Reductionism and Regeneration”. In Ecofeminism edited by Maria, et al.vol. 5;5.;, Zed Books, London;New York, NY;, 2014.
- Stoddart, Mark C. J., and D. B. Tindall. "ecofeminism, Hegemonic Masculinity, and Environmental Movement Participation in British Columbia, Canada, 1998–2007: “women always Clean Up the Mess”." Sociological Spectrum, vol. 31, no. 3, 2011, pp. 342-368.
- Wilson, Kathi. "Ecofeminism and First Nations Peoples in Canada: Linking Culture, Gender and Nature." Gender, Place & Culture, vol. 12, no. 3, 2005, pp. 333-355.