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Part 1: Colonial Violence and Intergenerational Trauma
Colonization of the land that is currently known as Canada caused immense shifts and ruptures within Indigenous communities. The racism and sexism that colonizers brought with them triggered these shifts (Cannon, 2019) and dramatically impacted ways of living in Indigenous communities. Understandings of gender were profoundly altered through enforced
laws and policies that specifically targeted Indigenous notions of gender. State-imposed
colonial violence, which entrenched racism and sexism, continues to impact Indigenous peoples today through intergenerational and ongoing trauma. The following section examines the link
between patriarchy and colonialism which is vital for framing the issues which Indigenous young men and boys currently face.
Pre-colonial Indigenous Conceptions of Gender
Before European contact, gender roles among men and women in Indigenous communities were marked by egalitarian relations, sharing, and cooperation (Cannon, 2019). Men and women occupied different but complementary roles, and Indigenous women’s roles
and responsibilities were historically valued in stark contrast to those of Christian European women (Biderman et al, 2021). Matrilineality was also common among many Indigenous communities, as was the notion of gender complementarity, meaning power was shared (Antone, 2015; Tatonetti, 2015). Two-Spirit individuals – individuals who either adopted a different gender presentation other than which was assumed based on their biological sex, or
who engaged in sexual relationships with people of the same gender – existed in different Indigenous nations across North America (Lang, 2016). As Leah Sneider noted in speaking from
the perspective of pre-colonial gender relations, “Indigenous identity has little to nothing to do with biological sex or associated roles based on systems of power but rather a holistic
understanding of presence or being in the world, which is built into ceremonies where men, women, and Two-Spirit people partake in particular roles and activities” (2015, p.67). The respect and normalization of Two-Spirit people within many Indigenous communities is also
further proof of the different conceptions of gender that were held at the time. The forced shift
in these conceptions of gender by colonizers was central to the colonization process.
Indian Act
Indigenous communities’ pre-colonial conceptions of gender were purposefully targeted for elimination through explicitly racist and sexist colonial legislation that aimed to
fundamentally shift Indigenous ways of being. These conceptions of gender were understood to be a threat to assimilation of Indigenous peoples by colonizers. The Indian Act was the first
piece of legislation that Canada passed after Confederation concerning Indigenous people. However, the racism and sexism that formed the basis for the Indian Act was preceded by many
prior paternalist colonial laws, which were formed by European understandings of women, gender and whiteness (Cannon, 2019; Morgensen, 2015). These prior laws touched on many aspects of life, such as marriage, female domesticity, and social structures. Even the reserve
system inscribed women as inferior, by putting Indigenous men in charge of land and therefore removing autonomy from women.
These early laws that altered women’s roles were subsumed into the Indian Act, and
over the next century, many amendments were made to this act to keep women in an inferior position. For example, amendments were made that enabled Indigenous men to vote in federal
elections, but not women. Another amendment made Indigenous widows’ inheritance dependent on her “moral character,” which was judged by a non-Indigenous government official (Cannon, 2019). Further under the Indian Act, Indigenous women who married nonIndigenous men lost their status and the ability to pass status on to their children. As such,
patrilineality was forced upon Indigenous communities, meaning Indian status was only passed to children through men (Morgensen, 2015). In this time a woman and her children’s Indian status became legally dependent on that of her husband and/or the father of her children.
After 116 years of this policy, Bill C-31 or the bill to amend the Indian Act was passed in 1985, attempting to bring the Indian Act in line with the gender equality described under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (First Nations Studies Program, The University of British Columbia, 2009; Indigenous Corporate Training Inc, 2012). To this day, the descendants
of Indigenous women who lost their status by marrying non-Indigenous men are fighting to receive Indian status or themselves and their children (Indigenous Corporate Inc Training, 2012). In this way, the Indian Act created a distinct form of racialized oppression toward
Indigenous women which is foundational to understanding gender relations among Indigenous peoples today.
The residential school system had devastating and far-reaching effects on Indigenous
communities across Canada. It is widely recognized for its violent intergenerational legacy (Biderman et al, 2021; George et al, 2019; Hacket et al, 2021, TRC, 2015). While many colonial
policies negatively impacted Indigenous peoples, residential schools are understood to have had some of the most deleterious effects (Wilk et al, 2017). Between the 1870’s and 1990’s, 150 000 Inuit, Métis and First Nation children were forced to attend schools outside of their
communities with the explicit goal of replacing their culture, language and beliefs with those of Christian Europeans. Children experienced extensive physical, emotional, and sexual abuse in
the name of assimilation. The experience of being forcefully removed from home, compounded by the abuse and mistreatment experienced in these schools caused immense harm. Much
research shows that the issues that many Indigenous communities face such as poverty, addiction, child neglect, and violence are related to the horrors that were experienced in these schools (Brownridge et al, 2017; George et al, 2019; Hacket et al, 2021; Wilk et al, 2017). The
intergenerational trauma stemming from this violence continues to reverberate today in many families and communities and cannot be understated.
Breaking of Traditional Gender Roles
When children were forcibly removed from their homes to go to residential schools,
familial bonds were disrupted, which further heightened the negative effects that residential schools had. Traditional knowledge sharing about gendered roles and responsibilities, which was normally passed down through families, was no longer possible (George et al, 2021).
Stigma and shame surrounding sex, and hierarchical gender relations were also forcibly
imposed on children in residential schools. Other colonial policies, such as forced relocation
from traditional land, and the banning of cultural ceremonies, also had profound effects on Indigenous children’s ability to learn their culture (including information surrounding sexual health and wellbeing) and subsequently fulfil usual gender roles and responsibilities (George et al, 2021; Hackett et al, 2021).
Colonial Hegemonic Masculinity
Hegemonic masculinities, a concept initially articulated by Raewyn Connell, has been
used by multiple scholars in explaining the historical and ongoing devaluing of Indigenous masculinities (Biderman et al, 2021; Hacket et al, 2021). Indigenous masculinities have been
and continue to be devalued by comparing them to a white, often violent, hegemonic standard
of masculinity, which is considered superior. This devaluing continues to wreak havoc in communities today, notably through issues such as homophobia, male dominance and the
notion that asking for help signifies weakness, all of which exacerbate existing social and health issues among Indigenous men.
