Terra Mandala

ReMembering Indigenous Matricultures in Canada (Excerpt 3)

Paula Gunn Allen (Laguna) (1986) has long asserted the prevalence of matricultures as an “advanced social system” on Turtle Island (p. xiii). In my research into Indigenous matricultures in Canada, I privilege the voices of Indigenous scholars who write from lived experience in their cultures. By reviewing scholarly literature and community-based communications, I find Indigenous cultures in Canada that self-identify as matriarchal or mother-centred. Let me illustrate.

Susan Hill (Haudenosaunee-Mohawk) (2017), citing The Great Law, describes the duties of Haudenosaunee female leaders as holders of the Land:

The lineal descent of the Five Iroquois Nations shall run on the female side and the women shall be considered as the progenitors of the Nation, and the title of ownership of the land or soil of the Nation’s country shall be vested in the said women, and the descendants of these women shall follow the status of their mothers. (p. 60)

Hill illustrates that The Great Law confirms the matrilineal structure of Haudenosaunee society through clan families (p. 46). I am curious how curricula represent Haudenosaunee matriculture.

The Honourable Jody Wilson–Raybould (Kwak’wala) served as Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada from 2015 to 2019. Wilson-Raybould (2019) is rooted in a matrilineal society with Matriarchs and Hereditary Chiefs where descent is traced through the mother line:

My grandmother’s name was Pugladee-the highest-ranking name in our Clan-The Eagle Clan. Her name means “a good host”-a name that was given to my older sister, Kory, at the same time I was given my name Puglass [which] means “a woman born to noble people.” These names were given in a naming Potlatch at Gilford Island when I was five…We are “potlatching” people. A Potlatch is a traditional institution of governance. (p. 5)

Wilson-Raybould recognizes that the matrilineal political and legal order of her culture that has existed “since time immemorial” is “incomprehensible” to the patriarchal system of governance that was imposed on her people by European colonizers (p. 182). How do curricula represent the diverse matricultures of the North Pacific region? xx

The people of Haida Gwaii declare that they are a matriarchal society and that Hereditary chiefs and Matriarchs continue to lead their clans, families, and traditional territories:

We the Haida have lived on Haida Gwaii for millennia and have been living with and managing the land and water of the island for just as long…Our culture remains strong, and we are defined by our connection to the land and waters. We value our relationships to each other; we are a matriarchal society, governed by our Hereditary Chief and Matriarchal clan system. (Skidegate Community, 2011, p. 9)

The Haida and Wet’suwet’en matricultures resist the unauthorized intrusion of oil pipelines in their unceded territories. How do curricula represent the political actions taken by traditional governance that are do not align with Canadian law?

Leslie Dawson (2017) describes traditional birthing and midwifery practices in Tlicho (Dene) culture. How do curricula represent the matricultural value placed on birthing and midwifery?

Jeannette Armstrong (Sylix) (2007) declares, “In our society, we are egalitarian” meaning “what we can do for and with each other-how we consider each other” (p. 7-11). How do curricula represent egalitarianism in Indigenous cultures?

Rematriation is the political process of “restoring and reclaiming roles and authority of Indigenous women alongside traditional governance structures and political orders” (Kuokkanen, 2019, p. 98). Rematriation is occurring in Cree, Anishinaabeg and Wabanaki cultures and takes diverse forms. For example, the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (2017) representing Dene, Dakota, Cree, and Anishinaabeg First Nations established the Grandmother Council (p. 12). Indigenous matricultures are reclaiming traditional practices of birthing as ceremony and Indigenous midwifery (Lavell-Harvard and Lavell, 2006; Lavell-Harvard & Anderson, 2014; Neufeld and Cidro, 2017). Reclaiming Indigenous food sovereignty is a movement led by women (Settee and Shukla, 2020). Indigenous women are leading political actions to protect water from extractivist industries (Anderson, 2016). How do curricula prepare settler youth to respect the co-existence of Indigenous matricultures and patriarchal settler society?

Respect for regenerative forces is embedded in the cosmologies of Indigenous cultures. Sky Woman’s gift of seeds and First Instructions to Haudenosaunee women are a living mandate to feed the people (Hill, 2017, pp. 56-62). Inuit people respect Sedna of the Sea and her ethic of harvesting only as much food as the community needs. According to Inuit philosopher Arnakak, Sedna is not a deity in the Western sense, but an “indweller”-an immanent generative force (Leduc, 2010, p. 182). Cultural continuity depends on respecting regenerative forces by acting ethically and by reciprocating the relationship through the performance of ceremonies and rituals. Leanne Betasamosake Simpson (Anishinaabe) (2011) insists that regeneration is political because it assumes that collective agential actions taken today ensure the continuation of future generations (p. 142).