To conclude this project, we have each contributed a personal reflection stating what we’ve learned through this course, what we liked and what we found challenging, and how this knowledge will affect us in the future. We’ve also included the final version of our Mind Map, which we’ve been working on over the course of the semester. Through this map, it is easy to see that Indigenous Feminism is a very complex concept, but through this blog and by being able to map out what it means to be an Indigenous Feminist, we have all come to a greater understanding of the importance of gender and sexuality to the projects of colonization and decolonization.
Final Mind Map!
Katelynn Folkerts
Over the course of this semester, this term has represented a valuable learning experience for me. As my very first Gender Studies course, I was exposed to a lot of new ideas and ways of looking at things, which have proven to be very valuable in both my other courses and everyday life. I found learning about things like the Two-Spirit identity particularly interesting as it is something I had never thought about or knew existed- which I have now realized is because of the colonization/erasure of Indigenous gender/sexuality identity. Learning about sexual violence was also challenging both emotionally and conceptually, as I had never linked sexual violence and colonialism as interdependent systems of oppression. Among the many things I will take away from this course is a profound respect for Indigenous women and the challenges that are faced by them. At the same time, my eyes have been opened to my complacency in oppression and my position as a beneficiary of the settler state. The self-reflexivity that is encouraged in this course has forced me to interrogate my role in sustaining, or at least not challenging the systems of oppression that operate on Indigenous women. This has lead me to take serious interest in determining my position/role in a coalition/relationship of solidarity with the Indigenous feminist movement. Overall, the material presented in this course has challenged me to engage with ideas that make me uncomfortable with my position in society and the systems of oppression from which I benefit. However, they have also encouraged me to interrogate and critique these systems so as to work towards a position of meaningful solidarity and alliance. While I am still trying to determine a more concrete way of doing this, this course has definitely placed me on the right path, and I look forward to learning more to this effect in the next two years.
Randi Joseph
GNDS 340 – Indigenous Women, Feminism and Resistance was a very creative, courageous and critical space. This course has taught me how to further understand Indigenous women and LGBTQQ2S people. I feel now that my white, heterosexual, colonial-settler privilege and perspective has shifted since this term. Antiracist, decolonial feminist pedagogical principles have become part of my personal philosophy as I realize the structures systems of racism, sexism, classism and their intersectionality in our society. I have also been introduced to many different authors, artists and activists I may have never crossed paths with otherwise, such as, Kent Monkman; a Cree-Irish-Scottish multidisciplinary artist and Qwo-Li Driskill, Cherokee-Osage-Lenape-Lumbeea radical writer, scholar, educator, activist, and performer. The passion, self-reflexivity and heart for Indigenous sovereignty rights is something I will most definitely take away and continue beyond the classroom of GNDS 340.
Rachel Parry
I enrolled in GNDS 340 because of my prior knowledge regarding the sexual violence that Aboriginal women are forced to face everyday in Canada. In a previous Gender Studies class, my TA showed us the documentary “Finding Dawn” and taught us about “The Highway of Tears”. Through learning about these issues, I found I immediately sparked an interest in this topic. This is because I could not believe that so many Aboriginal women were missing in Canada, and yet the Canadian government and Canadian citizens seemed not only uninformed about the issue, but also uninterested in helping to solve the issue of hundreds of Aboriginal women missing in Canada. I enrolled in GNDS 340 with the hopes of learning about why an issue like this could be happening in Canada. Through attending weekly lectures, and reading the very interesting class readings I have learned a lot about Indigenous Feminism, and I feel like I have gained an understanding as to why Aboriginal women are forced to face so many problematical issues within Canada. In class we discussed the continual problems that colonialism has had on Aboriginal women in Canada, and how through colonialism these women lost their respected and valued roles in Aboriginal society due to European patriarchal views about how a society should be run. We also looked and analyzed the components of the Indian Act, and how through defining who was considered a “Status-Indian” and “Non-Status-Indian” based on gender, further increased the vulnerable position that Aboriginal women are in, and how this increased their vulnerability to sexual assault by not only non-Aborignal men but also Aboriginal men. I am thankful for the knowledge I gained in GNDS 340, because it has provided me with a great extensive amount of knowledge on this serious Canadian issue.
Charlotte Bourgon
I decided to take this course because last year I course on Indigenous Feminism and Resistance with professor Scott Morgensen and I really enjoyed it, and I wanted to learn more. I am strong believer in diversity and taking this class only strengthened my beliefs. I am no stranger to the world of Gender Studies as it is my major and I am extremely passionate about it, that being said, being able to learn about feminism from so many cultural perspectives has been so fascinating to me, I feel like this course should be taken by History and Gender Studies students alike because I believe it is important to really immerse ourselves in indigenous Canadian culture. Ignorance is not bliss, and we as students, need to learn the extremely negative impact that colonialism has had on our home country. We are so immersed in this heteronormative, hegemonic, patriarchal society that we will often forget to open our eyes to the world around us. These systems of power only preach rape, oppression, assault, and this is seriously problematic. Canada is prided on being a multicultural mosaic and we should be fighting to keep this reputation alive.
Kelsey Taylor
I took this course after having taken an introductory Mohawk Language and Culture course in the Fall semester. This is not my first Gender Studies course, and I have a background in history, so I have been exposed to both gender and Aboriginal issues in an academic context before. However, I found this course challenged me, and taught me a lot about agency, perspective, and specifically the experiences of Aboriginal women in Canada. I was able to answer a lot of questions I had before, some of which I had been afraid to ask or to answer. I also think that I am better able to articulate the struggles faced by Aboriginal women and men in Canada, and in North America in general. I think this course allowed me to challenge my discomfort surrounding my privilege as white, settler-feminist cis- and heterosexual; by working and interacting with the intersection of past and present, the queering of conventional perspectives , etc, I was able to bring together knowledge and questions from a lot of different places. I appreciated the space this class provided to critique what we tend to take for granted in Canada, and allow me to be self-reflexive in terms of my knowledge, assumptions, and experiences. I think I will carry what I learned and developed in this course with me as I graduate, and use it to inform my role as a citizen of Canada.
Dhinaashinee Rajendran
I am in Global Development Studies. Coming from a third world country I find this course to be greatly relevant to me. It encourages me to initiate a change that will make my country a better place to live in. Similarly, this course propels me towards the same direction. It provides me with an opportunity to learn about the struggles facing Indigenous feminists. Reflecting on my positionality as a woman of colour from Malaysia, I can relate in many ways to the experiences of Indigenous feminists in Canada and the struggles they are facing to get their voices heard. This course lays out that racism and sexism are interrelated and they cannot be viewed separately. It helped me understand the sexual violence embedded in colonialism to conquer Indigenous lands. It broadens my knowledge and perspective on the contemporary challenges encountered by Indigenous feminists and provides me space to find a common ground between the challenges facing Indigenous feminists and me as a woman of colour from a Third World nation residing in a foreign land.
GNDS 340 Group Project 
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