An Act of Genocide
Subtitle: Colonialism and the Sterilization of Aboriginal Women
Publisher: Fernwood Publishing
Published: 2015
Place of publication: Black Point, Nova Scotia, Canada
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 200
Copyright date: 2015
First sentence: Aboriginal peoples have been strategically and systematically targeted for assimilation into Canadian society
Description: During the 1900s, eugenics agained favour as a means of controlling the birth rate among "undesirable" population in Canada. Though many poeple were targeted, the coercive sterilization of one group has gone largely unnoticed. An Act of Genocide unpacks long-buried archival evidence to begin documenting the forced sterilization of Aboriginal women in Canada. Grounding this evidence with the context of colonialism, the oppression of women and the denial of Indigenous sovereignty, Karen Stote argues that this coercive sterilization must be considered in relation to the larger goals of Indian policy—to gain access to Indigenous lands and resources while reducing the numbers of those to whom the federal government has obligations.
Stote also contends that, in accordance with the original meaning of the term, this sterilization should be understood as an act of genocide, and she explores the ways Canada has managed to avoid this charge. This lucid, engaging book explicitly challenges Canadians to take up their responsibilities as treaty partners, to reconsider their history and to hold their government to account for its treatment of Indigenous peoples.
Table of contents: label: Acknowledgement
title: viii; label: Preface
title: 1; label: Introduction
title: 5; label: 1. Eugenics, Feminism and the Woman Question
title: 10; label: The Birth of an Idea
title: 11; label: Eugenics in Canada
title: 14; label: Eugenics and the Woman Question
title: 19; label: Eugenic Feminism: Maternal Feminists, Suffragettes and "Other" Women
title: 21; label: 2. Indian Policy and Aboriginal Women
title: 28; label: Historical Context and the Indian Act
title: 30; label: Indian Policy and Health
title: 35; label: Indian Policy, Sexuality and Motherhood
title: 40; label: 3. Sterilization, Birth Control and Abusive Abortions
title: 46; label: Controlling Births with Birth Control
title: 60; label: To Sell, Advertise and Distribute Openly
title: 67; label: Sterilization and Birth Control in the North
title: 70; label: Sterilization by Number
title: 78; label: The End of the Line
title: 91; label: 4. Settling the Past
title: 101; label: Settling the Past: Courts, Cash and Compensation?
title: 106; label: After the Act: British Columbia
title: 111; label: Compensation and Aboriginal Women
title: 116; label: 5. Canada, Genocide and Aboriginal Peoples
title: 127; label: Raphaël Lemkin and the Crime Without a name
title: 129; label: From Draft to Convention: A Compromise with Consequences
title: 131; label: Canada and the Genocide Convention
title: 139; label: Genocide and the Canadian Criminal Code
title: 140; label: Canada and the International Criminal Court
title: 150; label: Genocide and Aboriginal Peoples Today
title: 152; label: Conclusion
title: 159; label: References
title: 166; label: Index
title: 193