ABSTRACT
This chapter will discuss the historical, colonial, contemporary, and sociopolitical realities of Indigenous mothering by drawing attention to the assimilationist policies that have implicated Indigenous families and communities for generations. The chapter also introduces the Indigenous ideologies of motherhood that informed Indigenous worldviews and ancient traditions of physically and spiritually bringing forth new life since time immemorial. In the controversies and challenges section, I discuss notions of settler environmentalism, along with the acts of ongoing gendered and colonial violence that continue to target Indigenous mothering practices. I also discuss the continued “policing” of Indigenous motherhood; the imposition of binary understandings of patriarchal models of motherhood; the issues associated with maternal evacuation and the work that is being done to reclaim Indigenous midwifery. As a direction for future research, I propose a deeper examination of the connections between contemporary forms of violence against Indigenous women and the ongoing interventions and systemic attacks on Indigenous motherhood. Finally, contemporary physical and spiritual modes of birthing the nation are presented as acts of resistance that highlight the revolutionary possibilities of empowered Indigenous mothering.
