Not Sacred, Not Squaws: Indigenous Feminism Redefined

Decolonizing feminism always prioritizes the collective liberation of Indigenous and other women and names patriarchy as the central component of women's oppression. In Not Sacred, Not Squaws, Cherry Smiley analyses colonization and proposes a decolonized feminism enlivened by Indigenous feminist theory. Building on the work of grassroots radical feminist theorists, Cherry Smiley outlines a female-centered theory of colonization and describes the historical and contemporary landscape in which male violence against Indigenous women in Canada and New Zealand is the norm. She calls out ' sex work' as a patriarchal colonizing practice and a form of male violence against women. Questioning her own uncritical acceptance of the historical social and political status of Indigenous women in Canada - which she now recognizes as male-centred Indigenous theorizing - she examines the roles of culture and tradition in the oppression of Indigenous women and constructs an alternative decolonizing feminist methodology.