Decolonizing Knowledge and Practices

The question of access to culturally understanding reproductive healthcare has been of particular attention in reproductive justice work. Indigenous reproductive knowledge and maternity care practices are delegitimised by the settler colonial state.The medicalisation of childbirth associated with social control attempts result in policies like the evacuation policies which forces Indigenous people to leave their community and go to urban hospitals to give birth. This isolation from their communities increases Indigenous people vulnerability to racism, coerced medical

Advocating for reproductive justice for Indigenous people requires to value Indigenous knowledge, practices and ways of living Indigenous midwifery symbolizes this rich knowledge and has such they are delegitimised and criminalized by the state. Midwives organizations like the National Aboriginal Council of Midwives are fighting to maintain an ethic of care, well-being and preserve traditional knowledge in their communities.

"In the birth re-enactment, two Chisasibi elders who delivered dozens babies decades ago share their knowledge and rituals, while a registere midwife from southern Quebec demonstrates the role of the mode midwife. (Tatiana Philiptchenko/CBHSSJB)" Bringing traditional midwive back to Cree communities in Quebec | CBC News