Terese Marie Mailhot: Being a good Indian and a good feminist

When I was a little girl it wasn’t unusual to be on my mother’s lap while she spoke to women at the shelter she worked at, or facilitated healing circles, or held a ceremony for women who were victims of sexual violence. I remember their stories, their cries, and their hopes for the future. My mother never explicitly stated what she was doing was being a good feminist, rather, she said it was being a “good Indian.” Feminism is a perplexing term for me since it was first used, in an exclusive way, for white women. I was able to interview two protectors of the earth, renowned authors, and, in my mind, women who represented the values a feminist or “good Indian” would have: Lee Maracle and Linda Hogan.

Maracle has already taught me so much about Indigenous feminism as an aunt and author. In her book ‘I am Woman,’ she writes:

“I want to look across the table in my own kitchen and see, in the brown eyes of the man who shares my life, the beauty of my own reflection. More. I want to look across my kitchen table at the women of color who share my life and see the genius of their minds, uncluttered by white opinion. I want to sit with my grown daughters and experience the wonderment of our mutual affection. I want us to set the standard for judging our brilliance, our beauty and our passions.”