Browsing by Subject "indigeneity"

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Phatic rituals of the liberal democratic polity: Hearing voices in the hearings of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples
(2015) Slotta, James
The truth and reconciliation commissions of Latin America and Africa are paradigms of transitional justice, often regarded as part of the process of transitioning from authoritarian to democratic rule. But truth commissions are also common in first-world settler states, which raises the question of what “transition” such commissions effectuate in Canada, Australia, and the United States. This paper examines the efforts of Canada’s Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples to resolve a controversy over a government relocation of Inuit families in the 1950s for which the relocatees were demanding compensation. Concurrent with historical controversies in the Canadian courts concerning Aboriginal rights and title, the historical controversy over the relocation raised questions about the Canadian state’s ability to “hear the voices” of First Nations people, who objected that their accounts of the past had been disregarded by government-contracted historians and courts alike. I argue that the Royal Commission’s efforts to hear the voices of Inuit relocatees, showcased in nationally televised hearings, was a phatic ritual in which communicative contact between marginalized citizens and the state was ritually established. The ritual was presented as a remedy for failures to achieve phatic communion among citizens and state—a condition of communicative contact held up as essential to the realization of liberal democratic ideals. The work of the Royal Commission and other truth commissions highlights the growing prominence of communication, particularly liberal communicative events construed as “open,” “equal,” and “free,” as a concern of both theory and practice in liberal democratic polities.
THERE’S STILL A WOMAN:Analyzing Portrayals of Malintzin as a Means of Assessing Gendered Power Dynamics
(2023-04) Conway, Olivia
Malintzin (La Malinche) has remained a central figure in Mexican and Chicano history since she served as Hernan Cortés’ translator during the Spanish Conquest. However, her story has been distorted over the centuries, in part due to the lack of archival material written from her perspective, but also because her position as a formerly enslaved indigenous woman assisting Spanish conquistadors in the destruction of the Mexica empire raises difficult questions concerning race, class, colonization, and gender. Artists and historians have honored Malintzin as the mother of modern Mexico, vilified her as the ‘Mexican Eve’ who betrayed her own people, and turned her into a feminist symbol of resistance and agency. Holding an indigenous woman solely responsible for Spanish Conquest not only sets unreasonable expectations for Mexican/Chicana women, but also inspires a dangerous form of self-loathing for anyone whose heritage includes both Spanish and indigenous Mesoamerican ancestry. Vilification of Malintzin has created an origin story defined by incorrect understandings of Mesoamerican society and a symbolic founding mother despised by her children. Separating the process of identity formation from the lasting consequences of colonization proves impossible but reclaiming Malintzin as a representation of empowerment and resilience rather than defeat may provide a path to reconciliation of the internal conflicts that began with the first encounters between Spaniards and Mesoamericans. The evolution of Malintzin’s image over the past several centuries serves as a valuable means of assessing how Mexican and Chicano communities construct gendered power dynamics, perceive indigeneity, and understand the Mexican origin story.