Pre Colonial North America

Example of dualistic structures prevalent in patriarchal society include culture/nature, mind/body, male/female, subject/object. This type of binary opposition leads to an either/or categorization, which, thus, allows for the creation of a distinctive oppressor as separate from the oppressed. For instance, culture is opposed to nature. Culture is more highly valued than nature. As a result, culture has the capability of dominating and exploiting nature for its owThis article reexamines the ecofeminist assertion that today’s “Capitalist-
Patriarchy” is rooted in the historical intersection of the domination of women, cultural minorities and nature. It is a response to the new and current anti-capitalist critiques, within academia and activism, …show more content…
I am not indigenous and in no way look to speak for Indigenous peoples or scholars. However, such scholarship tells a crucial history of ultra positive links between nature, Indigenous women, and matrilineal societies in pre-colonial North America, which is pivotal in examining the intersection of domination between men, women and nature.1 From this, I will draw attention to how pre-contact North American Indigenous communities maintained a preeminent Mother Earth ideology, which resulted in an outstanding empowerment of womanhood, generating widespread accounts of equal gender relations.
I will thus compare and contrast conflicting gender relations between European colonizing forces and Indigenous peoples. My objective here is multilayered. I intend to reveal how the negative European view of nature as woman was used to colonize the
“new world.” The European project of colonizing Indigenous people’s land was dependent on disempowering any positive ethic toward nature as woman. This …show more content…
1 Even though this article will explain overarching patterns across Indigenous tribes on the issue of the Mother
Earth, the environment, and women, the diversity among the multitude of Indigenous tribes on these issues cannot be homogenized in any way, shape or form.
2
The conclusion will highlight how the Indigenous reverence for Mother Earth is as much at odds today with the global economic system of capitalism as it has ever been.
It will shed light on how Indigenous ideology surrounding Mother Earth has influenced a new wave of “Indigenous resistance.” Such a resistance is founded on principles of self defense through the protection of Mother Earth from the exploitation implemented by the
European societal vision of the new world and capitalism today.
I) THE HISTORY OF THE INDIGENOUS ANCESTRAL VIEW OF EARTH AS
MOTHER
The equity of gender relations in pre-contact Indigenous society are directly linked to the preeminent positive view of Earth as life’s original mother.
The spiritual view of Earth as Mother, or Goddess, is found amongst nearly all-
Indigenous tribes in North America.2 As Benton-Banai of the Ojibwe people