Item – Theses Canada

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OCLC number
935107864
Author
Stote, Karen,
Title
An act of genocide : eugenics, Indian policy, and the sterilization of Aboriginal women in Canada.
Degree
Ph. D. -- University of New Brunswick, 2012
Publisher
Ottawa : Library and Archives Canada = Bibliothèque et Archives Canada, [2014]
©2012
Description
5 microfiches
Notes
Includes bibliographical references.
Abstract
<?Pub Inc> This work considers the coercive sterilization of Aboriginal women in legislated and non-legislated form in Canada. I provide a historical and materialist critique of coercive sterilization and elucidate the political implications of this practice for Aboriginal women and their peoples. I argue for it to be understood as one of many policies employed to separate Aboriginal peoples from their lands and resources while reducing the numbers of those to whom the federal government has obligations. The archival research conducted as part of this work confirms that Aboriginal women have been subject to coercive policies in an attempt to control their reproduction through the provision of abusive abortion services, the indiscriminate prescription of birth control, and recommendations for involuntary sterilization. I also demonstrate that reparations for involuntary sterilization have fallen short of full and honest attempts at redress. In their failure to acknowledge that Aboriginal women were disproportionately victimized and in seeking to limit or deny responsibility for actions carried out, governments have constrained knowledge of such crimes and shaped the parameters of how coercive sterilization is understood. Though the imposition of measures to prevent births within a group constitutes an act of genocide under international law, the sterilization of Aboriginal women is not generally considered within this context. By discussing Canada's involvement in formulating the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide and its subsequent enactment of enabling legislation, I show how it limited our understanding of genocide and the avenues of redress available for crimes resulting from Indian policy in Canada. Although genocide is not likely to arise in Canadian courts, this does not negate the fact that this is a proper descriptor of Canada's treatment of Aboriginal peoples. Finally, I consider long-acting contraceptives and whether their prescription represents a continuation of coercive sterilization in chemical form. Preliminary evidence indicates that many Aboriginal women are prescribed hormonal contraceptives in a questionable manner. I argue, the longstanding racist, sexist, and colonial relations between Canada and Aboriginal peoples are such that this trend represents a threat and continues to meet the political and economic needs of the Canadian state.
ISBN
9780494954072
0494954078