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Many historical recordings express views of indigenous women as overly sexual,
according to the sexist and
repressive sexual morays of those doing the documenting.
This helped to create a stereotype of indigenous women, that along
with prejudicial forms of settler sexuality, continues to exist today.
Explorers wrote prolifically in their journals,
often going on rants about the deviant acts of the native population.
Terms like Polygamy, Female Chiefs, Hermaphrodites,
and Cross Dressers were seen as unnatural.
As was the norm of the day, male ethnographers' and
archaeologists' notes and papers, demonstrate overt sexism
which often denigrated or trivialized the female experience.
Therefore, indigenous women were denigrated within a broader
application of the settlers' repressive understanding of sexuality.
When we examine the way indigenous women are portrayed in the media or
pop culture, it's often with negative connotations.
The consequences of these images are that they develop and
maintain negative stereotypes of indigenous women.
These representations of indigenous women create harmful
beliefs which are closely connected to gender violence.
The image of Pocahontas, an American folklore, created the idea of
the Indian Princess, who was seen as innocent and in need of protection.
The story would become romanticized and later,
there would be Disney's tragic love story of John Smith and Pocahontas.
The image of Pocahontas would be highly commercialized and
then used for merchandising purposes.
The idea of the Indian Princess versus the immoral woman, creates
a misrepresentation of indigenous women as being one of these polar opposites.
This can be harmful for young indigenous girls, who view these images in media as
a way society views them and internalize these social stereotypes.
In many ways, the image of indigenous women have become
culturally appropriated in Halloween costumes.
During Halloween,
some people dress up in Pocahontas costumes without even considering or
even knowing how they contribute to these oversexualized representations.
Many do not understand the harm it eventually does to indigenous women.
These negative representations have led to the acceptance of
stereotypes which diminishes the respect for indigenous women.
The oversimplification of this marginalized population into
one dimensional stereotypes and caricatures has resulted in
the oversexualization and dehumanization of indigenous women.
This societal issue also impacts indigenous children and
two-spirited peoples.
Across the country, there have been efforts to create awareness and push for
an inquiry into the missing and murdered indigenous women, girls, and
two-spirit peoples.
According to a 2013 RCMP report,
there have been 1,200 known cases of missing and murdered indigenous women.
This figure does not include unreported cases and so
the number of missing and murdered women and girls maybe understated.
Many times, indigenous women are accused of bringing the violence upon themselves,
especially for those working in the sex trade.
Additionally, indigenous men have been targeted as
the perpetrators of this violence.
Throughout history,
indigenous peoples have been misrepresented as being naturally violent.
When the media reports on violence connected to indigenous communities,
what is often unreported is the historical trauma indigenous peoples have endured.
It does not explain the cycle of poverty many indigenous families
face as a result of Canada's history of colonialism.
The overreporting of these media stereotypes often cause indigenous
peoples to accept and internalize these misrepresentations.