The Peak, Simon Fraser University's Student Newspaper since 1965, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada V5A 1S6, e-mail: epeak@mail.peak.sfu.ca, phone: (604) 291-3597 fax: (604) 291-3786
Volume 96, Issue 5 June 2, 1997 Arts 

I am Woman: A Native Perspective on Sociology and Feminism

Reviewed by Lesley Graydon
I am Woman: A Native Perspective on Sociology and Feminism
by Lee Maracle
Press Gang Publishers

Originally published in 1988, this literary work first appeared in very rough form aesthetically-the first edition looks to have been copied from a very old typewriter, perhaps even typed by the author herself. Out of print for a number of years, I Am Woman has resurfaced with a beautiful Native design on the cover-a curved woman etched with eyes, waves and meaning holding an orb-like circular mask, globe or earth-a reflection of the author's brilliance 'between the covers'. A member of the Stoh:lo Nation, Lee Maracle is a woman who is confronted on a daily basis by the cruel realities of racism and sexism, and is not afraid to challenge and redefine these dominant power structures. Using prose and poetry, she confronts white colonial society with shocking and painful truths that make any person of consciousness re-evaluate their current thinking patterns. Her work is not light reading as issues of gender and race are not light subjects. I Am Woman represents Maracle's "personal struggle with womanhood, culture, traditional spiritual beliefs and political sovereignty" and as such, is an extremely intimate and revealing work.

Primarily addressing Native people, Maracle is overt in her attempt to empower a nation so divided. In particular, Maracle seeks to empower Native women. To a white woman, some of what Maracle is saying may be considered offensive. It shouldn't be. However, her words do work effectively to shock the reader into awareness: "the denial of Native womanhood is the reduction of the whole people to a sub- human level. Animals beget animals. The dictates of patriarchy demand that beneath the Native male comes the Native female. The dictates of racism are that Native men are beneath white women and Native females are not fit to be referred to as women."

Maracle's voice has often been stifled and as a feminist she is asserting her right to be heard. As an academic and activist she is invited to speak on issues of racism or specific Native issues "to teach, to sensitize them [non- Natives]," but she is not considered an authority on women's issues or included as an equal within the women's movement. She has been marginalized by white, middle-class academics whose offers to speak or write demand that she address Native issues, not women's issues independent of ethnicity.

Maracle confronts the white woman's racism and shames any notion of a movement that is not all inclusive: "I am not interested in gaining entry to the doors of the 'white women's movement.' I would look just a little ridiculous sitting in their living rooms saying 'we this and we that.'" Excluding women of colour from serious feminist discourse and discussion is a problem that feminist theorists, activists and scholars should not feel immune to, because they are indeed guilty of exclusion. This must be rectified. Why are so many feminists reluctant to realize and equate the parallels between sexism and racism? Feminist discourse must include the diverse discourses of writers who have to date been relegated to the status of marginality. Further, the women's movement can only be a powerful movement for social change if it is inclusionary-not exclusionary.

I Am Woman calls for unity between oppressed people. It is a work composed of resistance, activism, love and hope. Hope for a strong Native community-for the strong Native woman-who must become independent from and topple the intolerance, forced compliance and discrimination that has been the trademark of colonization.


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