I am always questioned in conversation circles about feminism, that indigenous women do not have “the right” to go hunting with men. This shows a profound lack of knowledge of the signs of indigenous sociability.
Indigenous women and feminism
The leadership of women in ethnic territories is a given of indigenous ancestry. This means that the indigenous woman has always played an important role in the administration of the ancestral territory. Indigenous women have the greatest knowledge of herbs and healing rituals. In an ancestral land, women are responsible for managing the territory. This involves economics, education, leadership, always with a view to passing on ethical values to future generations.
I am always questioned in conversation circles about feminism, that indigenous women do not have “the right” to go hunting with men. This shows a profound lack of knowledge of the signs of indigenous sociability. For, first, that there is in fact no prohibition of women hunting, fishing, etc., and other activities seen as “masculine”. What happens is that in the indigenous world there is no disparity between women's “domestic” activities. For example, the domestic space, which includes the house, is not seen as a less valuable space. On the contrary, the place to live is the most important environment for the community and, for this reason, it is the responsibility of women. Women are also not prevented from hunting, but, according to the division of labor within an indigenous society, life-threatening activity is directed at male responsibility, as a matter of safeguarding existence, since it is the responsibility of women guard the lives of our descendants.
Indigenous women are also not prohibited from abortion. Unlike the Christian world, the decision to stop or continue the pregnancy is a woman's decision specifically. Because the body of the indigenous woman belongs to her. It is your private territory. Just as sexuality in the indigenous world is not reproached. There are no categories to define sexuality.
Among feminist studies, I disagree with the premise of patriarchy as a dominant and universal system, which determines the organization of all societies, since the beginning of time. Because patriarchy is a stratification that is anchored in ownership and inheritance. Giving basis to social regulation devices, such as the defamation of women, by questioning the legitimacy of the heirs' progeny, that is, the legitimacy of the patriarch's heirs. This sanction is connected not with the father's care or love for his children, but with the maintenance of his empire, which can only be transferred to his authentic successor.
In this case, it is not right to apply this type of concept to the indigenous world, at least it should not be, considering that indigenous politics and economy are not based on the possession of money or material goods. However, according to ancestral political economy, the world has an autonomous nature, which we cannot possess. Nature and the elements of cosmology, in addition to having their own spirits, are things that cannot be 'dominated' by human beings, since the cosmos has much more power over the lives of living beings than the other way around. Therefore, the indigenous person's relationship with the world, life and nature is one of respect rather than domination.
I believe that misconceptions like this one, that human beings have the power to subdue life and nature, are principles behind so many catastrophes, both natural and social, that shorten the experience of human life on earth. And this shortening undoubtedly suffers a precipitation in the advent of modernity, which is characterized by the uncontrolled production of surpluses, including chemical weapons, from nuclear bombs to toxic compounds applied to agribusiness, pesticides that kill rivers and fish, contaminate the water tables groundwater, devastate pollen-producing flora and exterminate entire traditional communities to replace soy, eucalyptus and sugarcane for biofuel. In addition to the large areas reserved for beef cattle, which serve to enrich landowners, instead of feeding the poor and marginalized population by this system of segregation of food and housing.
Totally opposed to the premise of patriarchy, the indigenous world considers women's decision in government planning. Since the place to live is also under the authority of the woman. And spaces are shared, supported by the foundation that the environment does not belong to a person or personality in particular, the environment is a place where we are welcomed and gives us life . The space of the house is where all the meaning of solidarity and collectivity of the indigenous world is based and, according to ancient and ancient wisdom, it is a place where the privilege of management is entrusted to women.
Another important fact in relation to the comparability of Western feminist concepts is that care activities are neither derogatory activities for men nor for women. Everyone is responsible for caring for the new generations. A village, when it educates, seeks in the integrality of its social actors the sharing of responsibility with the 'learners'. In view of this, everyone feels able and imbued with taking care of young people and children, which is why women are not confined to the function of motherhood, however caring, it is not an inferior function prescribed to women, nor it is exclusive to a male or female personality. It is inscribed in the ethics of sociability of all indigenous peoples. Caring is a noble act and is part of everyone's responsibility for everyone.
Differences like these meant that indigenous women and feminism had a parallel history. In Brazil and in the world, feminist women began a work to combat domestic violence, without the presence of indigenous women. A regrettable fact, as aspects of Amerindian ancestry can contribute greatly to the enrichment of feminism.
However, the contributions made by feminism to the knowledge of Western control devices are incalculable, in the sense that it produces a counterculture regarding the practice of incarcerating women, through religious tactics of controlling their bodies, depriving them of spaces of decision and deliberation of policies that impact social organization, delimiting spaces and treating them as objects of domination of the patriarchal system that favors the male figure, outlined along the same lines as the figure of the colonizer. Responsible for regulating their sexuality, birth control, usurpation of their autonomy in raising children. Determination of the entire statement of duties directed to the care of young people and children, ensuring that they are socialized under the idea of power aimed at the male element. It is even cynically used to mistreat them.
So women in Western modernity do not have autonomy over their bodies. Nor sovereignty over her space in the house, always having to act as a servant of the lord who governs her.
I believe that the area of knowledge encompassed by Feminism is an important sphere of the genealogy of colonialism, since it informs from within the control tricks of patriarchal domination, deconstructing the regulatory devices as natural and immutable data. At the same time, it produces a competence for disseminating women's rights. A sphere in which women carry out their historical reconstruction.
An important area of feminism even refers to the creation of a network to protect women's rights, for their freedom and dignity, called the network to combat violence against women. This is an information platform against all types of aggression and a structure to welcome victims of abuse. Measures that can save women's lives and improve social coexistence, working to dissipate the effects of machismo and sexism.
It is at this point that we draw attention to a confluence between feminist ideals and the strengthening of an arrangement of rights of/for indigenous women, taking us out of invisibility, which leaves us subjugated to all forms of violence, to expose the evidence of devices of colonialist power operating inside and outside indigenous communities.
I consider this confluence of perspectives to be very important, as feminism lists and describes these forms of violence, dedicates itself to ethnography, reveals them and submits them to the question of justice. And this technique of his leads us to discover plausible methods for identifying acts of violence disguised as benefits. In order to avoid distortion of understanding regarding violence.
Several feminist thinkers contributed to unveiling the nuances of the abuser's behavior, such as, for example, microscopic psychological violence, such as interruptions in public speaking (Manterrupting), explaining obvious things as if we were not capable of understanding (Mansplaining), appropriation of ideas already expressed by a woman (Bropriating), or leading to the understanding that something about which the woman was right was a misinterpretation, inducing her to think that she had gone crazy (Gaslighting) (GELEDÉS, 2015).
For this reason, I argue that not especially the term, but the sphere of feminism, such as networks of collectivity and surveillance for women's rights, is relevant, and that indigenous women lack this knowledge and make themselves present within this network. Not, however, as an object of conduct determination on what it is to be a woman, nor what it is to be a feminist. But, above all, within its own field that helps us to know the violence to which we are subjected, allowing us to name them. As well as naming the agents of harassment, so that they are penalized for their actions. And that women stop being persecuted for denouncing them.
Are indigenous women feminists?
I often say that indigenous women are sisters, because they are daughters of Mother Earth. We are seeds, in the sense of the strength that we carry and that will flourish. This does not mean, however, to take this for the essentialist aspect of the term; nor do I believe that the title of eco-feminists fits us. For, despite the awareness of indigenous ancestry being linked to the land, this does not mean that we are part of the fauna and flora. But I believe that we understand ourselves as a fruit, which is in a dialectical process between earth, life and flourishing. Indigenous women produce the seeds, the future generation of men and women who will continue the fight. So humiliating an indigenous woman is humiliating the entire indigenous nation and its fellow men.
I also don't believe it is correct to relate the indigenous family within a hierarchy of matriarchs, despite the fact that, in marriage, it is the man who passes to the woman's family (as is the case with the Guarani family). Indigenous women are men's companions, in the fight for better living conditions within the indigenous territory and for the right to it. They are in a position of equivalence with the masculine sign, in decision-making for the well-being of the population.
According to the Guarani myth, nhaderuvusu created the world, while nhadesy generated the Sun and the Moon: the heirs of the creator! Note the fact that the Sun and the Moon are complementary, for while one gives the principle of existence, the other regulates the cycle of life. It is also noted that the creator's heirs do not represent material empires, but sustain the longevity of the cycle of existence. Furthermore, Kwaray and Jacy (the Sun and the Moon) are twin brothers, sons of Nhandesy and Nhanderuvusu; however, nothing in the story clears up the ambiguity about whether Jasy is male or female. It is said: “Jasy is Kwaray's brother”, however, Jasy is a feminine word and corresponds to the Moon.
There are many messages spoken in the history and indigenous ancestry and each era should be read as a metaphor for the present time. So that at all times we must return to our ancestry and read between the lines, the messages suitable for our time. Because it contains precious coordinates to adjust the struggle strategies and cultural codes applicable to the present. There is much in the graphics, stories of the elderly, waiting to be interpreted in the light of the current time.
Regarding the perspective of whether or not the term feminism fits the indigenous women's movement, I argue that, from the point of view of those who have no voice, the two entries are used to give meaning to a community of demands. However, I believe that this is not a productive discussion and naming or not indigenous women as feminists is in charge of how each one understands herself regarding the will to choose her adhesion, or not, to the feminist movement.
The fact is that meeting with groups of women from all perspectives is an important moment for strengthening the political collectivity of indigenous women.
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Fabiane Medina Cruz
AVA-Guarani indigenous. Graduated in Social Sciences, Master in Sociology, PhD student in Political Science at IFCH Unicamp. Researcher at Ciclo do Mate, Cia Matte Laranjeira, History and Politics of the Guarani People, Public Policy, Feminism, Indigenous Feminism. University Professor at the Federal University of Grande Dourados (UFGD) and Trainer Professor in Education for Ethnic-Racial Relations – The Indigenous Theme at School.
Excerpt from the article Indigenous feminism or Nhandutí Guasu Kunhã: The network of indigenous women for ancestral rights and ethical recognition , by researcher and teacher Fabiane Medina Cruz published in the book Contemporary Brazilian Indigenous Literature: authorship, autonomy and activism . Organized by Julie Dorrico, Fernando Danner, Leno Francisco Danner, 2020.
Download the book and read the full article here.
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