"They Would Do As They Pleased, As They Had the Power": Gender Violence and the American Settler-Colonial Project, 1830-1890
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Authors
Iati, Noelle
Issue Date
2021-05-01
Type
thesis_open
Language
Keywords
American history , Western studies , statutory rape , Washington , California , Trail of Tears , American Politics
American Studies
History of Gender
Indigenous, Indian, and Aboriginal Law
Indigenous Studies
Legal History
Other Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Political Theory
Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration
Social and Cultural Anthropology
Social Justice
United States History
Women's History
Women's Studies
Alternative Title
Women's History Theses
Abstract
This thesis investigates the role of gender violence and sexual terror in westward settler expansion of the United States in the nineteenth century. I posit that gender violence was not simply a symptom of war and colonization, but an integral piece of the American colonization strategy. Using studies of three locations during three different periods, I have found that the local, territorial, state, and federal governments all actively deployed sexual assault and other forms of gendered terror as methods of removing Indigenous peoples to reservations and rancherías, opening their lands to settlement and resource exploitation for the purpose of acquiring wealth and power for both individuals and the state itself. Through the lens of critical Indigenous feminist studies and utilizing the theories of Indigenous woman scholars, I have made connections between historical violence and the current crisis of violence against Indigenous women, girls, queer, trans, and two-spirit people, and, in particular, their abduction and murder, colloquially known as MMIWGQ2ST. While my research findings are oftentimes quite dark, I highlight the survival and resistance (survivance) of Indigenous women and girls and the hope on the horizon for decolonization, justice, and healing.