Post-Colonial History of Indigenous Women in Canada

The Indigenous population of Canada has long suffered from continuous acts of colonialism and oppression, beginning with the Indian Act and Residential schools, and now, within the judicial and healthcare systems. Within the Indigenous population, women face the most oppression and inequality, along with racism and sexism. This sexist discrimination of Indigenous women and girls lays deep within Canadian systems and institutions, as even today, Indigenous women face much inequality. To begin with, the Indian Act is sexist, as Indigenous women once lost their Indian status if they married a non-Indigenous partner. Along with this, Indigenous girls faced extreme amounts of mental, physical and sexual abuse in the Residential school system, a trauma that has been felt inter-generational. Within the Judicial system, moreover, Indigenous women and girls are represented at a disproportionate rate and are much more likely to face police brutality compared to the non-Indigenous female population of Canada. Furthermore, along with this, Indigenous women and girls are also discriminated against when seeking medical treatment in the healthcare system as they face bias and have unequal access to medical services. This sexism Indigenous women and girls face has a deeply rooted foundation within Canadian systems and institutions which allows discriminatory and sexist acts to continue happening.

Indian Act and Residential Schools

The Indian Act is the Government of Canada’s acts and laws that began in 1876 with the goal of taking over Indigenous territory and culture. In the few centuries prior, European settlers were not only exploring the Americas including what is now known as Canada, but colonizing inhabited land and assimilating Indigenous people into their culture. This includes but is not limited to implementing the colonial understanding of gender roles in Indigenous society.

Only being uncovered recently on the media and education, Residential Schools are the most well known actions against Indigenous peoples. With the idea to “civilize” and “kill the Indian in the child” and, children were forcibly taken from their families, where they were required to abandon their culture and language, replacing it with European culture, and speaking English or French.

Living conditions in Residential Schools were poor. The Canadian government funded them with very little money, making facilities below par and unsanitary. Typically, mornings consisted of academic instruction, while afternoons were designated times to learn tasks that “suited their genders”. Boys would work on farming, manufacturing, and maintenance of Residential School facilities, while girls learned domestic and housekeeping roles such as cooking and cleaning. Indigenous girls in residential schools had their lives under tremendous control at the hands of the church leaders that ran Residential Schools. Often, these girls would be made to serve white people, who gain income with assistance. When Indigenous girls grew too old to stay in school, they were arranged to get married, often with white men. Additionally, sex education was insufficient. Girls did not learn about biological processes such as puberty, periods, and childbirth, but were made to feel confused, ashamed, and afraid.

Abuse in mental, physical, and sexual forms were also rampant, particularly as punishments. As a result, mortality rates in some schools were as much as 60%, and those who survived often contracted mental and physical illnesses, suffering aftermaths such as drug and alcohol issues. With the lack of parent to child interaction and love, survivors of residential schools did not know how to raise their children, and it sometimes ended up in abuse, which spreads to present and future generations.

Outside of Residential Schools, Indigenous people had to live on reserves, subject to poor conditions as settlers and immigrants from Europe lived comfortably. Inside the reserves, the Canadian government controlled many aspects of their life, including banning the practice of their traditions, limiting their ability to hunt and fish, and dividing their contact and access to neighbouring families, houses, and clans that lived together for generations. Those who tried to improve their lives - particularly by earning a university degree, or by marrying a non-Indigenous person - would lose their Indian status.

Improvement in the Indian Act and the rights of Indigenous Peoples began in 1951, such as lifting bans against practicing their culture and traditions, ceasing to force Indigenous peoples to lose their status, and granting standard Canadian citizenship rights such as the right to vote. Residential Schools also slowly closed throughout the late 20th century, and the last school closed in 1996. In 2008, the Government of Canada launched the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, by issuing apologies, uncovering the hidden dark history, and paying reparations to Residential School survivors. Unfortunately, the damage has been permanently done, and many inequalities still exist. Indigenous reserves remain in poor conditions, and the aftermaths of colonialism and assimilation continue to exist today. Indigenous peoples are 7 times more likely to be homicide victims than that of non-Indigenous peoples, 10 times more likely to be accused of homicide, and 9 times more likely to be incarcerated. Rates of education and income continue to remain lower for Indigenous peoples, and poverty remains rampant.

Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women

Missing and murdered Indigenous women has been an issue within Canada that oftentimes gets disregarded by police as well as the government. Cases of Indigenous women going missing or murdered  has been a repeated and vicious cycle of negligence by the justice system as more and more of these women continue to disappear. An intersectional lens can be used when analyzing this imperative Canadian issue by looking into race and gender and deconstructing the levels of racialized and gendered violence. Statistically, Indigenous women are disproportionately more vulnerable to be victims of going missing or being murdered. Indigenous women make up 10% of female homicides in Canada regardless of being 3% of the Canadian population. An additional concerning statistic is that a majority of these cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women often goes unsolved. On average, around half of homicide cases regarding Indigenous women are not yet to be solved or charges of homicide are not yet to be pushed forward on perpetrators. To address this issue, it requires further inquisition on a multitude of factors as this matter is multidimensional and a lived experience of Indigenous women. Gendered and racialized violence play a fundamental role in regards to missing and murdered Indigenous women. As a result of settler colonialist state institutions such as the justice system, policing and health care, issues and concerns of Indigenous women are minimized and ignored. This act of neglect perpetuates the overall view of Indigenous women and ultimately disregards those who fall into the inadequate system of government. A negative result of the abundance of Indigenous women disappearing is the handling of these cases by police and the justice system. Oftentimes than not, it is not a rare occurrence for an Indigenous woman to disappear and consequently, cases that were filed for missing persons are not handled thoughtfully by local police officers as well as the justice system. This multifaceted issue is not a random occurrence, but a systematic form of post colonialist violence that is continuously perpetuated up to the present time. The impacts of colonialism still remain existent in Canadian communities, particularly in Canadian Indigenous communities. With low access to safe and healthy opportunities, low income Indigenous communities show an elevated increase of crimes towards Indigenous women which leads to the perpetuated cycle of a colonialist system of violence. Many Indigenous women still remain missing and will continue to go missing as result of negligence from the Canadian  government. Through the perpetuation of settler colonialist system that remain embedded in state institutions, problems such as this will remain overlooked and ignored, proving that missing and murdered Indigenous Women is a gendered and racialized issue in Canada.

On account of the significantly high amounts of Indigenous women going missing or ending up murdered, there has been a positively large amount of awareness to this critical Canadian issue. Social media has allowed there to be a platform to voice and express anger and frustration to how the Canadian government has addressed this problem. It is imperative to understand that an issue such as this is a lived experience with many families never being able to feel closure as more and more Indigenous women continue to go missing. Many names of Indigenous women are appearing on social media in an attempt to locate their whereabouts and to increase awareness for this issue, but it is integral to acknowledge that issues such as this require a further understanding and dissection of post colonialist consequences on Indigenous communities in Canada.

Judicial System

Over-incarceration

Indigenous peoples, specifically women continue to account for the vast majority of the incarcerated rates in the Canadian judicial system. Incarceration of Indigenous women increased by 60%, growing from 168 in March 2009 to 270 in March 2018. Another indicator of the over-incarceration is how Indigenous women account for almost 39% of the inmate population while only accounting for 5% of the Canadian population according to the latest census. In 1995, there was a law passed that demanded judges to consider the unique characteristics of the Indigenous offenders, however that law has been continuously ignored. Over-incarceration leads to the creation of a social stereotype that Indigenous peoples are “criminals”, and they continue to be labelled as that.

Jails have become a new form of residential schools as they place Indigenous peoples under a system where the government has full control over them. A place where they are stripped from their rights, as 9/10 Indigenous inmates are not able to get early release compared to non-Indigenous inmates where ⅓ are able to get early release and rejoin their community. Also Indigenous inmates continue to suffer trauma that was enforced in the residential schools, as we can see they account for a big part of the self-injury incidents. In the OCI report of 2008-2009 it was indicated the Indigenous women account for 78.2% of the female self-harm incidents. In a study it was seen that ⅓ of Indigenous peoples did not understand their sentence or sentencing process. This is one of the many social barriers that Indigenous offenders encounter when in trial, that can lead them to receive harsher sentencing as they do not have the tools to defend themselves. Language and culture barriers can create conflict when merging Indigenous culture with the Canadian judicial system.

Police brutality

Police Brutality is a huge issue among many minority groups as they are profiled to be criminals by law enforcement based on stereotyping and physical appearance. In Canada, this issue of racialized and criminal profiling exists in high numbers among the Indigenous population, as between 2007-2017, Indigenous peoples accounted for ⅓ of the people shot by RCMP officers, despite the fact Canada's population is only around 5% Indigenous. Moreover, the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) movement has been focused on bringing awareness to law enforcement’s lack of involvement when it comes violence committed against Indigenous females. The MMIWG cases have even been declared a Canadian genocide as between the years of 2001 and 2015, the homicide rate of Indigenous women was over six times higher compared to non-Indigenous women. In other words, although Indigenous women only account for 4% of the female population of Canada, Indigenous women and girls account for 16% of female homicides. The MMIWG cases have been ongoing for over 30 years, yet the RCMP and other police agencies have failed Indigenous women and girls by not helping to adequately address the issues.  

Furthermore, the story The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas takes a deeper look into the issues of police brutality and criminal profiling among racial minority groups. The story looks at the extreme amount of fear, injustice, and police brutality against black Americans, which is similar to how Indigenous peoples are treated in the Canadian justice system. Black Americans are often targeted and face police violence similarly to how Indigenous women and girls are victims of violence by not being given proper protection and security by police. Due to systemic racism that is deep rooted in both the Canadian and American Criminal Justice Systems, police brutality is given space to continue flourishing without punishment.

Indigenous Women Access to Healthcare

The inequalities that Indigenous women face when accessing healthcare is normally seen in a cyclical manner, as they normally are exposed to lower levels of education, housing, employment and socio-economic status which can in turn affect the access to healthcare and vice versa. The life expectancy for Metis women is 82.3 years, for the Inuit women is 76.1 years, for First Nations women 77.7 years, compared to 87.3 years for non-Indigenous women. Indigenous women do not have equitable access to health services compared to non- Indigenous people due to healthy system deficiencies, and inadequate health human resources, and geography. Continuously Indigenous women report feeling that the Canadian healthcare system “dismissed or trivialized [them], judged [them] in stereotypical negative ways, and [ignored] their personal circumstances.”

Many Indigenous communities and reserves are located in rural secluded areas that decrease their accessibility to finding and retaining medical staff. As 25% of Indigenous peoples do not have a medical facility in their area, this is made harder as transportation costs to medical facilities are not covered by insurance. Indigenous people also experience a 15% longer wait time when in medical facilities, which can delay diagnosis and treatment and reduce the effectiveness of the treatment.

One of the main issues that Indigenous women face when dealing with Canadian healthcare is the cultural barriers. As seen in The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, there is a present cultural barrier when dealing with the healthcare system. These barriers can be reflected in language barriers, in understanding the procedure and the medicine that needs to be administered. Also, due to the traditions and others there can be resistance in some procedures. This can cause diseases to heighten and neglect of Indigenous parties to follow the guidelines of treatment due to a lack of understanding. There needs to be greater communication between parties and move towards a way of translating the information between cultures. Scholar Petten noted how Indigenous women reported that the lack of sensitivity to their specific cultural needs was an important obstacle for them to access healthcare. Alberta Health Services has started an initiative to mend the cultural barriers, as it developed the Aboriginal Cervical Cancer Screening Resource Toolkit, as cervical cancer continues to affect Indigenous women at higher rates than non-Indigenous. This program receives input from First Nations and Inuit health, Aboriginal health care leaders, Aboriginal community members, and Alberta Cancer Board staff. This program allows for women to gain knowledge on the dangers of cervical cancer and get tested in a way that they are able to understand by using experiences of previous Aboriginal women and all the perspectives noted above. With this project they hope to improve the current statistics that show how Indigenous women are six times more likely to die from cervical cancer.

Another disease that Indigenous women are more vulnerable to, is HIV and AIDS, as shown they are twice as vulnerable to contract the disease than their male counterparts. One of the main reasons for high levels of contractions is injection drug use, which occurs because of intergenerational trauma as a result of residential schools. As they normally have poor living conditions, they do not have access to adequate support for people with emotional and psychological needs. Another form of HIV contraction is that Aboriginal women are more likely to experience physical and sexual violence; thus sometimes being sometimes coerced into having sex and contracting HIV. Currently Canada is developing the Canadian Aboriginal AIDS Network (2010-2015) that has a five step strategy that aims to remove barriers that make women vulnerable to contracting HIV, helping women who are already infected and preventing further infections.

Socio-Economic Status

The socio-economic factors of Indigenous communities play an imperative role when analyzing the ongoing consequences of settler colonialist Canada. Indigenous communities are disproportionately affected by low levels of socio economic status for income, health, and overall living conditions. One significant issue within Canadian Indigenous communities is the large income gap and low levels of income. According to the statistics from Canada’s last three census of 1996, 2001, and 2006, the median income for Indigenous peoples was 30% lower than non-Indigenous people. With this contrasting gap of income, Indigenous communities tend to have lower socio economic status of living with less access to livable wages and decreased standards of living. This income gap within Indigenous communities drastically contributes to the cycle of poverty. This cycle continues to isolate Indigenous communities by isolating them into a certain class, unable to break the cycle. With the gap of income within Indigenous communities in Canada, elevated levels of crime occur when the overall standards of living are not able to be afforded. This increase of crime negatively affects Indigenous women on a multitude of different factors as Indigenous women are 3.5 times more likely to experience any form of violence compared to non-Indigenous women.

A consequential factor that contributes to this large income gap is access to education attainment. Statistically, there is an increased number of Indigenous women who are able to finish secondary schooling and pursue university degrees when compared to Indigenous men. Along with this, Indigenous women are closing the gap of income in regards to Indigenous men. Regardless, access to education proves to be an obstacle within Indigenous communities and has a negative consequence in terms of socio-economic status. Along with the lack of access to educational opportunities within low income Indigenous communities, racial discriminations partakes in the factor of low socio-economic status of Indigenous women. According to “Introduction to Sociology” a textbook written by William Little and Ron McGivern, “discrimination based on race or ethnicity can take many forms, from unfair housing practices to biased hiring systems.” This form of racialized discrimination against Indigenous communities in Canada can directly affect the lack of access to opportunities for Indigenous women. Lack of access to fair housing or jobs can further push those into poverty.

Furthermore, a large multifaceted factor plays into the role of lower socio-economic status in regards to Indigenous women. Intergenerational trauma through decades of violent Canadian colonialist policies has left its permanent mark on Indigenous communities. Policies such as residential school and the Indian act of 1876, has left the Indigenous communities with trauma that continues with the cycle within Indigenous families. Issues of violence and substance abuse further decrease socio-economic status of Indigenous women as issues such as this are passed down from generation to generation if not intervened. In summation, when analyzing the socio-economic status of Indigenous women, it is imperative to include the intersectional analysis of gender and race to fully understand this multifaceted issue in Canada.