Not Sacred, Not Squaws

Indigenous Feminism Redefined

Cherry Smiley

• Publisher: Spinifex Press
• Year: 2023
• ISBN:
  9781925950656
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Sociology
• Index: Social Sciences

Decolonizing feminism always prioritizes the collective liberation of Indigenous and other women and names patriarchy as the central component of women' s oppression.In Not Sacred, Not Squaws, Cherry Smiley analyses colonization and proposes a decolonized feminism enlivened by Indigenous feminist theory. Building on the work of grassroots radical feminist theorists, Cherry Smiley outlines a female-centered theory of colonization and describes the historical and contemporary landscape in which male violence against Indigenous women in Canada and New Zealand is the norm. She calls out ' sex work' as a patriarchal colonizing practice and a form of male violence against women.Questioning her own uncritical acceptance of the historical social and political status of Indigenous women in Canada – which she now recognizes as male-centred Indigenous theorizing – she examines the roles of culture and tradition in the oppression of Indigenous women and constructs an alternative decolonizing feminist methodology.This book is a refreshing feminist contemporary challenge to the patriarchal ideology that governs our world and a vigorous and irreverent defence against the attempts to silence Indigenous radical feminists.

Table of contents

• Cover
• About the Author
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Acknowledgments
• Contents
• List of Figures
• KICK ASS GRANDMA: a poem by cherry smiley
• Introduction
• 1. Male Violence Against Indigenous Women in Canada
• 2. Redefining Colonization and Indigenous Feminism
• 3. Toward a Decolonizing Feminist Methodology
• 4. Sex Work
• 5. Prostitution
• 6. Shut Up Squaw: The Silencing of Indigenous Women
• 7. In Conclusion
• Appendix A
• Appendix B
• References