While the inquiry of Indigenous Knowledge has increased within local, national, and international arenas, the intersection of these knowledge systems and gender remains largely absent. This absence is not due to any lack of effort on behalf of women but rather a reflection of how deeply colonial systems and institutions, such as universities, are rooted in patriarchy. Women continue to be unheard, minimized, or actively silenced and while there is a movement to “Indigenize” or “decolonize”, these actions appear merely symbolic with the focus being largely male-centric. Furthermore, the history of whitestream feminism is consistently guilty of diminishing or outright erasing the work done by women of colour, including that of Indigenous women. This has, in part, led to an aversion to the term “feminism” for many Indigenous peoples. Intersectional feminism has carved out space for non-western women but for Indigenous women, it is the specific knowledges we carry and roles pertaining to that knowledge, that truly speak to “Indigenization” and “decolonization”. The various ways in which Indigenous women have contributed to research based on their held knowledges, has often been reduced within academia and relegated simply to a deficit-focus of violence, identity issues and discrimination. Thus, undermining the greater context in which this knowledge is woven into. Women’s knowledge is a key piece of our culture’s worldview and speaks to the complex ways in which knowing is interwoven with governance, language, land and water, gender, and beyond. Therefore, my doctoral research seeks to explore how Indigenous Women’s Knowledge is sustained and re-envisioned in the contemporary context. It focuses on the Haudenosaunee of Turtle Island and the Maori of Aotearoa. Focusing on both the local and international emphasizes the responsibility of looking within our own communities but also the importance of looking beyond to conversations happening abroad to help inform and locate ourselves within the world. Indigenous peoples are connected beyond colonial borders and often our stories are the source of great sharing, learning and inspiration.

Nahannee Schuitemaker is of Kanien’keha:ka, French and Dutch descent. She is a 2nd year PhD student in Indigenous Studies at Trent University in Peterborough, Canada.

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