Indigenous & Black

Mothering in Canada
during a global pandemic (Covid-19)

Exploring the lack of access to resources due to

Click to edit Master text styles race and gender-based discrimination using
Second level
Feminist Ethnography as a decolonial practice!
Third level
Fourth level
Fifth level
Friday October 02, 2020
IAMAS Conference-
Caring About Mothers: Before,
During, and After COVID

By: Emma Posca

PhD
1
Candidate: Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies
 Introduction

“With the existence of colonialism and whiteness there is a

relentless discussion about the politics of how things should be
and a relentless critique and engagement about how things
actually are. Colonization, which holds at its core the ideas of
whiteness, humiliates and impoverishes a population through a
system of subjugation and denigration” (Canon 2011, 09).

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 Introduction:
Colonization & Whiteness
• Colonialism creates dehumanizing situations and alienates those that are
colonized not only from themselves but from their culture, language and lands.
Colonialism is rooted in domination, self-righteousness, and greed.

• Settler colonialism is defined as “settlement over Indigenous people and lands”

(Hart 2007, 02).

• When you connect colonialism to Indigenous people, especially women, in

Canada we need to focus on the ideas of exclusion, marginalization and
assimilation.

• For Indigenous women in Canada, colonialism, created controlling and

eradication mechanisms in the form of residential schools, Indian hospitals and
reserves which have had long term effects on Indigenous communities.

• Upon the take-over of Indigenous lands; colonizers enacted laws about trading,
farming and land management that became a way to marginalize and/or
restrict Indigenous people, especially women in Canada (Canon 2011, 89).

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 Introduction:
Colonization & Whiteness
• Indigenous people in Canada, specifically women, are currently at a
social, legal, political and economic disadvantage as they have had to
give up their lands and identities and are forced to live on reserves.
• Canada’s record for protecting the rights of Indigenous people is
abysmal. The systemic inequalities and discrimination that these
communities face create Indigenous people to suffer disproportionately
from Covid-19.
• For example, federal and provincial governments have urged
handwashing and social distancing as the best defense against the
virus. However, many Indigenous communities lack access to clean
water and inadequate funding for on-reserve housing leading to
severe overcrowding, making social distancing difficult. In urban
settings, Indigenous people are overrepresented in populations in
heighted risk of Covid-19 (Burk et.al,. 2020, 04).
4
 Introduction:
Colonization & Whiteness
• Throughout colonial history, Black populations were forcefully removed from
their countries and forced into slavery to a nation of whites.

• Going as far back as the late 1700's white British slave traders removed black
populations from Africa in chains. These black populations became part of the
transatlantic slave trade; but more importantly part of the North-American
slave trade.

• Colonialism was about trading bodies for the purposes of labor and monetary
gain. The black body was only valued for how much money it could make for
slave traders.

• The identities of those that were taken from Africa were lost to slavery because
they were forcefully removed from their homes and forced into servitude.

• This reinforces the concept of marginalization because it was those that were
black that were forced into roles of servitude.

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 Introduction:
Colonization & Whiteness
• Forced assimilation is at the core of colonization so that “Black and
Indigenous people are made to interweave better with mainstream society”
(Brock 2017, 08).

• However, even those that have assimilated feel the impact of economic
marginalization as they are still not considered as being equal to those
that are white.

• The ideas of “whiteness” and “white heterogeneous” principles exist to

be able to re-assert modes of imprisonment, the construction of identities,
and the marginalization of both Indigenous and Black people, especially
women (Henry, F.et.al, 2017).

• Constructed identities exist within spaces and places, like various

employment sectors, and the health care system in Canada, due to the
distribution of white power.

6
 Introduction:
Colonization & Whiteness
• Good health is a product of access, social, cultural and economic factors.
Similarly; structural and systemic inequalities are contributors to poor health
outcomes.

• For example, in Canada-specifically in Ontario it has been understood that a variety

of factors affect health outcomes for Black populations. Ontario, is home to the
largest proportion of Black people in Canada, and has the highest rates of poverty,
poorer health outcomes and overrepresentation in the criminal justice system
(*).

• Many Black women in Ontario are unable to access support for their families;
especially during Covid-19. Poverty, food insecurity, isolation and mental health
concerns are aggravated.

• A significant number of Black communities need interventions to ensure housing

security. Many Black families live in multigenerational homes where
overcrowding is an issue and therefore physical distancing and self-isolation
during Covid-19 becomes impossible. Black communities need urgent
implementation of rent and health relief measures (*).
7 *(Race Data Collection, 2017-2020)
 Introduction:
Indigenous and Black Mothering in Canada
during a global pandemic (Covid-19)-
• The burden on women, that are mothers (biological or non-biological) in
both Black and Indigenous communities has increased exponentially in
both time and concern during Covid-19; as mothers are running households
with little to no support under impossible conditions.

• Mothers are front-line workers that keep families functioning during the
pandemic which means they do 50% more domestic labor and childcare
than fathers in isolation.

• Mothers are responsible for engaging in paid labor from home as well as
continuing with children’s education as daycares and schools are closed.

• Single-mothers have no relief from the 24/7 days in the “pandemic

microenvironment” especially with no one being allowed in the home (*).

*(YFile-York University-O’Reilly)

8
 Introduction:
Indigenous and Black Mothering in Canada
during a global pandemic (Covid-19)-
• Therefore, Covid-19 has impacted Black and Indigenous women in various
communities in Canada in both negative and disproportionate ways.

• The physical, financial and psychological impact on women (mothers-

biological or non-biological) in these communities needs recognition as they
are exasperated by gender and race-based discriminations.

• Both communities in Canada have had to deal with a lack of accessing

support and resources for their families and communities due to race and
gender-based discriminatory institutional colonial structures.

• The income gap is pervasive in Canada: white women earn more than
Black and Indigenous women. In Ontario, on average, white women earn
about $16,000 more annually than racialized women in various
employment sectors which creates a financial barrier Brock 2017, 119).

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 Introduction:
Theoretical Frameworks & Concepts
• The concept of the subaltern discussed by Antonio Gramscai,
and the concept of the “racialized other” that was discussed by
Frantz Fanon are connected and applicable to both Black and
Indigenous women.
• For example, whiteness deemed Black and Indigenous women the
subaltern, also known as undesirable, racialized and deemed
suitable for tasks such as slavery and/or those that need to be
“excluded, marginalized and eradicated” (Hart 2009, 04 and
Fanon 1967, 111).
• The intersects of race and gender are obvious when examining the
exclusionary procedures that exist due to the discourses of the
“racialized other.”

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 Introduction:
Theoretical Frameworks & Concepts
• These discourses and concepts reflect a white patriarchal
homogenous state that perpetuates gender and racial inequalities.
Power and privilege do not belong to non-white women under
patriarchal regimes.
• Patriarchy normalizes and naturalizes the concept of gender roles
where women are responsible for most of the household duties that
include childcare.
• Patriarchy also normalizes and naturalizes the ideas of whiteness
and the racial discrimination that exists towards both Black and
Indigenous women in Canada. Therefore, under patriarchy the
notion that women, especially Black and Indigenous women, are to be
excluded from affluent employment, post-secondary education,
health care, and social structures are prominent (Dow 2016,182).

11
 Introduction:
Theoretical Frameworks & Concepts
• According to Black feminist thought; Black women are oppressed because
they live in a racist and heterogeneous society. This is linked up to the
intersects of race and gender.

• Indigenous feminism is an important connection here because it will

formulate a resistance towards colonization by Indigenous women.
“Feminism, when linked to Indigenous women, is both a theoretical
approach and activist stance” (Green and Bourgeois 2017, 07).

• Indigenous feminism draws on one or more elements of Indigenous cultures,

“which is the connection to the land, territory through relationships framed as
a sacred responsibility predicated on reciprocity and definitive ideas of
culture and identity” (Green and Bourgeois 2017, 04).

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 Introduction:
Theoretical Frameworks & Concepts
• Using both Indigenous and Black feminist theories are necessary to analyze
the violent, racist, and discriminatory practices and policies that exist in
social, political, economic and health care institutions and structures.

• An analysis of these institutions and structures using Indigenous and Black

feminist theory allows for the presentation of the lack of access to resources that
would prevent the spread of Covid-19 as well as present the impact on mothers
among Black and Indigenous communities in Canada (Race Data Collection
2017-2020 & Dow 2016, 184)

• Both Indigenous and Black feminism are important to this paper because first,
they will allow for the examination and the creation of inclusionary spaces for
both of these women; second, they will allow for a resistance towards this
violence and discriminatory practices; third they will create an awareness of
the violence and discrimination that continues to impact Black and Indigenous
women; and fourth create an awareness of the existence of Covid-19
amongst these communities in Canada as well as the impact on women in
these communities due to a lack of access to resources
13
 Introduction:
Theoretical Frameworks & Concepts
• Allies are defined as, “the dominant group members who work to
end prejudice in their personal and professional lives and
relinquish social privileges conferred by their group status to give
support of non-dominant groups” (Henry.et.al. 2017, 05-08).
Allies, then, are not fighting someone else’s battle, they are
aligning themselves within a battle (Henry.et.al. 2017, 05).
• Non-racialized female allies can become educated by Black and
Indigenous women in order to understand the experiences of "racial
tensions" and “discriminations” that exist in employment,
education and health care. This education formulates a resistance
against these practices to end barriers (Silman 1987, 08). The
formulation of these alliances will allow for the acceptance of
differences and break down the construction of the "racialized
other".
14
 Introduction:
Ethnographic Storytelling
• In this paper there is a focus on the use of ethnographic storytelling by Black and Indigenous
women because it; a) formulates a resistance to colonization & whiteness; b) becomes an
education for non-racialized people on the acceptance of differences rather than their
negative magnification; and c) becomes a way to create awareness of the impact of Covid-19
on women in Black and Indigenous communities in Canada

• This will create a breakdown of the order of the racial and discriminatory structures within
legal, social, political, economic and health institutions. Through education-there can be a
deconstruction of “white mythologies” and the dispelling of the “racialized other” (Davis
1983, 27).

• This can be considered decolonization because it is work towards the promotion of social
cohesion, the overcoming of identities and acknowledging that every individual has a value
to promote good health in these communities ;which will ultimately prevent further spread of
Covid-19.

• This will allow for the creation and reception of equity practices for Black and Indigenous
women in legal, economic, political and social spheres where these women have been
excluded from, because of the ideas of whiteness. Furthermore, this will aid in the creation of
awareness and alleviating the physical, financial and psychological burden on Black and
Indigenous women in Canada-due to the existence of Covid-19 (Burk.et,. 2020, 07).

15
 Introduction: Purpose
• This paper is a discussion of the negative and disproportionate ways
that Covid-19 has impacted Black and Indigenous women in various
communities in Canada.
• This paper then has a three-fold purpose with the use of ethnography
alongside Black and Indigenous feminism:

a) to create a discussion and education about Black and Indigenous

women in Canada that resist the existence of gender and race-based
discriminatory institutional colonial structures.

b) to create a discussion and education about the physical, financial

and psychological impact of Covid-19 on mothers in Black and Indigenous
communities in Canada due to a lack of access to support and resources.

c) to reinforce the importance of ethnography as a way to allow for the

tales of sovereignty to be told, the recognition of distinct people to exist as a
way to achieve equality legally, socially, economically and politically.

16
 The Sovereign Tales of Distinct Populations
~Methods of Storytelling~

• Storytelling, as used by the Mohawk community that is at the centre of Audra

Simpson’s book entitled, “Mohawk Interruptus: Political Life Across the Borders
of Settler States,” is essential to providing an account of the struggle against the
state. The stories in this book are the tales of sovereignty that exist within
themselves.

• Storytelling as reinforced by Simpson ensures that Indigenous women will be able

to survive colonialism and that a culture and peoples do not fall away and disappear
into the past.

• Indigenous women use storytelling as a form of resistance against the Canadian

government that took away their lands and identities and forced them onto
reserves. As indicated by Simpson, for Indigenous women, the concept of identity
is linked to sovereignty as well as lands and labor.

• Settler colonialism put Indigenous women first in residential schools and Indian
hospitals; then in laborious jobs and then on reserves out of the desire to eradicate,
marginalize and assimilate all in the name of colonialism.

17
The Sovereign Tales of Distinct Populations
~Indigenous and Black Mothering in Canada during a global pandemic (Covid-19)~

• Across Canada, public health officials are optimistic in their efforts to contain Covid-19
however, Indigenous communities are at risk. Systemic inequalities and discrimination that
is faced by various Indigenous communities create a disproportionate number of Indigenous
people that are contracting Covid-19.

• Government and public health officials have urged handwashing and social distancing as
the greatest defense against the virus. Many Indigenous communities, especially those in the
Northern regions of Canada, lack access to clean water and inadequate funding for on-
reserve housing leading to severe overcrowding which makes social distancing impossible.

• Indigenous people in urban settings, are overrepresented in populations at the heightened

risk of Covid-19-for example those experiencing homelessness, poverty and those living in
prisons.

• Many Indigenous people also face discrimination in accessing health care services. For
example, in Northern Indigenous communities nursing stations are ill-equipped and
understaffed. Travel to medical centres is expensive and challenging due to travel restrictions

• Furthermore, these Northern reserve communities, do not have access to the personal
protective equipment they need (gloves, masks & sanitizers). These communities may also
suffer from food insecurity especially since many rely on long-distance deliveries to replenish
food stocks.
18
 The Sovereign Tales of Distinct Populations
~Indigenous and Black Mothering in Canada during a global pandemic (Covid-19)~

• Indigenous women (biological mothers or not) are responsible for community welfare
which has become stressful during the Covid-19 pandemic.

• The experience of Roxanne Moonias, mother to an infant with a chronic illness, must
deal with having no access to clean water in the Neskantaga First Nations in
Ontario. Roxanne and her child are at high risk for Covid-19 as they do not have access
to clean water for washing-which is what is deemed necessary to prevent the spread of
the virus. (*)

• It has further been reported by other members of Roxanne’s community that due to
Covid-19; access to Diabetes needles and/or clinics is limited which has left them
vulnerable.

• As retold by many older generations in Roxanne’s reserve community, where women are
responsible for care, there are higher rates of underlying health issues that are
exasperated by Covid-19. Indigenous people who have diabetes and tuberculosis-require
care in the form of administering medicine via needles and/or attending treatment clinics
where there are limited access to medical equipment and physical attendance at clinics.
(*)
* (Systemic Inequities Increase Covid-19 Risk for Indigenous People in Canada).
19
The Sovereign Tales of Distinct Populations
~Methods of Storytelling~

• For Black women in Canada using ethnographic storytelling is a form of resistance

against colonial mentalities and is also a way to reinforce personal identities and to
become a part of a sovereign nation.

• Ethnographies and auto-ethnographies from Black female leaders across Ontario, that
have worked in the community health sector, have shed light on the factors that impact
health outcomes for Black populations in the province. (*)

• Research conducted on Black people in Ontario, indicated that race is a determinant

of health. Good health is a product of access to social, cultural and economic factors.
Structural and systemic inequalities are contributors to poor health outcomes. (*)

• Lived experiences from Black community members in the form of ethnographies

validate the meaning of anti-black racism. Black communities in Ontario experience
disproportionately higher rates of poverty, and poor health outcomes.

• In health care; Black community members must contend with a lack of access to
health care based on race. Due to the existence of Covid-19 increasing pressure on health
infrastructure means service providers can and will make life and death decisions about
who can/cannot access care. (*)
20 * (Statement from Black Health Leaders on COVID-19’s impact on Black Communities in Ontario)
 The Sovereign Tales of Distinct Populations
~Indigenous and Black Mothering in Canada during a global pandemic (Covid-19)~

• Across Ontario, Black people, especially women are counted amongst the working poor-
as many have lost employment as a result of the pandemic and therefore lost access to health
benefits

• Ontario’s Anti-Racism Directorate's (2020): cited that Black people face more barriers in
gaining employment in the formal sector. Therefore, high numbers of Black people working
in the informal sector or belong to the “gig-economy” that has been disrupted by Covid-19.
This has created difficulties in accessing social, financial, and health relief for low income
households (Race Data Collection 2017-2020).

• Further research conducted on Black workers, particularly on women, during the pandemic
has yielded the result that Black women are overrepresented in front facing service provider
roles (PSW, RPN). (*)

• This information is troublesome because many of these women provide essential services
to others, yet they are unable to access essential support for their families during Covid-
19. This will aggravate poverty, food insecurity, isolation and mental health. (*)

• Furthermore, many Black families live in multigenerational houses where overcrowding is an

issue; these families will struggle to practice physical distancing and self-isolation during this
pandemic. (*)
*(Statement from Black Health Leaders on COVID-19’s impact on Black Communities in Ontario)

21
 The Sovereign Tales of Distinct Populations
~Indigenous and Black Mothering in Canada during a global pandemic (Covid-19)~

• The Covid-19 pandemic has drastically changed our way of life. The adaptation to the
“new normal” has created unprecedented stress and anxiety for many women in Canada.
The psychological, physical and financial impact on Indigenous and Black women in
various communities in Canada is obvious. (*)

• Adjusting to being at home all day with their families while working remotely, running a
household and undertaking the educator role to school-aged children with significantly
less resources is a frequent situation for many racialized households. This is the third
shift where mothers must take on more-especially in racialized communities. (**)

• The actual hands- on work has not changed however, there are many women (mothers)
in racialized households that cannot afford to outsource education (via tutoring) or
meals (uber/takeout) due to a lack of financial resources. As we have seen earlier in
the presentation-white women earn more than Black and Indigenous women.

• They must deal with remembering homework due dates, work deadlines, but also deal
with children’s fatigue, health, boredom, and anxiety which takes its toll
psychologically. (*)

*(YFile-York University-O’Reilly)
**(Statement from Black Health Leaders on COVID-19’s impact on Black Communities in Ontario)
22
 The Sovereign Tales of Distinct Populations
~Indigenous and Black Mothering in Canada during a global pandemic
(Covid-19)~

• “It is this type of work-that has been downloaded that is the ‘real labour’
that is not recognized but expected which therefore causes mental stress to
women and can lead to unhealthy home life.

• Income loss, financial and housing instability, single parenting, and

mothers in abusive situations are some of the factors that are
impacting Black and Indigenous women during this pandemic. (**)

• These factors have created psychological, physical and financial stress

for women in these communities. For example, there is a lack of access to
psychological/mental health services, lack of access to educational tools for
school-aged children who are homeschooled, and lack of access to health
services due to racial bias and discrimination. (*)

* (YFile-York University-O’Reilly)
**(Statement from Black Health Leaders on COVID-19’s impact on Black Communities in Ontario)

23
 The Sovereign Tales of Distinct Populations
~Black & Indigenous Feminism~
• Black & Indigenous feminist theories argue that social change can be made by
telling a story. Without telling the story then we as the reader cannot see the
problems in society in order to produce the solution to the problem. The
ethnographer attempts to incur change by presenting the inherent conflicts that exist
within various communities.

• According to Black feminist thought; Black women are oppressed because they live
in a racist and white heterogeneous society. This framework outlines the intersects
of race and gender.

• Indigenous feminism is applicable to usage of storytelling because it stresses the

importance of the role that Indigenous women play in the desire for sovereignty and
recognition of being a distinct people. It will also address the social, economic
and political problems that Indigenous women face in current society.

24
 The Sovereign Tales of Distinct Populations
~Black & Indigenous Feminism~

• The connections to feminism are important to review because only until recently
has it been acceptable for Black and Indigenous women to stand up for
themselves and create resistance towards colonialism. Using ethnography to
examine feminism and resistance towards colonialism has allowed for Black
and Indigenous communities to be brought closer together and reinforce
connections.

• “Feminism has worked to remove the binary definitions that are given to both
Black and Indigenous women that were/are based on white colonial attitudes”
(Stevenson 2011, 46).

• Black and Indigenous feminism will allow for an education of non-racialized

women to formulate decolonial movements. The lives of racialized Indigenous
and Black women are shaped by oppression and privilege which is something
that cannot be ignored, or else we ignore our complicity in the oppression and the
violence against Black and Indigenous women. Feminism will pave the way to
change and dismantle domination and hierarchies (Byrne 2016, 199).

25
 The Sovereign Tales of Distinct Populations
~Theories & Concepts~

• For the purposes of the essay I have made a direct correlation to the racialization of
Indigenous and Black women under colonialism that perpetuates the negative and
disproportionate impact of Covid-19. I have used scholars such as Hage, Roedgiger,
Davin, Bogues, Sommerville and Seshadri-Crooks as references. Race is determined and
categorized by those that are white to marginalize, infantilize, ghettoize, and even eradicate
groups of people from white societies.

• As indicated by Davin, whiteness categorizes the identities of those that are non-white in
order to establish superiority and exert power over those that are defined as different. Davin,
who shares similar sentiments to Lacan and Foucault, indicates the construction and
development of race-based identities. Visual differences, are defined based on the idea of
accentuating differences rather than accepting differences.

• Definitions of the racialized other are based on what people look like in order to determine
exclusionary and inclusionary procedures. Discourses of race penetrate social
consciousness in order to enhance the “practice of visibility” (Seshadri-Crooks 2000, 06).

• Through the practice of visibility, the ideas of racial difference construct the symbolic order.
The symbolic order is based on the way that race is socially constructed to build upon the fact
that it is acceptable to discriminate and exclude various subjects, which usually end up being
racialized/Black/Indigenous subjects, from a population.

26
 The Sovereign Tales of Distinct Populations
~Theories & Concepts~

• This symbolic order is usually developed usually by those that are white that are in
power to “fix the notion of superiority” (Roedigiger 2007, 17). By “fixing the notion
of superiority” thus fixes the symbolic order that perpetuates a system that induces the
social and legal validation of race as a natural order and discourse.

• As outlined in article entitled, “Wages of Whiteness” by Roedgiger, the development

and justification of slavery was accomplished because of the legal and social
domination of the white identity. Those that are non-white are given roles that allow
for white domination.

• The article written by Bogues, entitled “Black Jacobins and Black Reconstruction:
Writing Heresy and Revisionist Histories,” was an examination of Black history and
slavery as a way to unpack and re-write the historical knowledge that exists about Black
slavery especially in Canada and the United States.

• Bogues examines racial oppression by using Gramscai’s concepts of social order and
hegemony. Those who do not fit the mould of hegemonic whiteness are usually not
calculated into the social order of society.

27
 The Sovereign Tales of Distinct Populations
~Theories & Concepts~

• Those that are racialized are oppressed and placed into subordinate roles in
society. “Slavery, racial segregation and discriminations are predicated not
only on the ideas of Social Darwinism and survival of the fittest,” but on
the notion that those that are non-white are to be dominated by those that are
white (Bogues 2014, 160).

• White colonial mentalities adhere to Social Darwinism because, “The non-

white body and non-heterosexual body” are constructed by those that
dominate society in order to maintain a “natural order” (Sommerville 1994,
247).

• Sommerville uses Foucault’s ideas of discourse analysis to map out the

notion that race and gender are constructed by structural and hierarchical
domination to demonstrate the existence of race and gender-based oppression.
This is where the education of the life experiences of Black and Indigenous
women come into play when using ethnographic storytelling because this
will create a movement against this colonial domination and oppression.

28
 Allyship & Equity Practices & Policies
• Both Black and Indigenous women can counter the white hegemonic
perspective and oppositional standpoint against the ideas of privilege,
subordination and domination by using ethnographic storytelling.

• Using ethnographic storytelling is a way to educate non-racialized

people about the colonial race-based violence that existed and still exists
for Black and Indigenous women. This education is a way to eliminate
hierarchies and promote a genuine encounter with differences and a
movement towards the elimination of the racialized other (Roedigiger
2007, 17).

• Allies, especially white allies, need to learn from the specific auto-
ethnographies of Black and Indigenous women that depict their racialized
human experiences at the core of their oppression.

29
 Allyship & Equity Practices & Policies
• When Black and Indigenous women are overt about their oppression this becomes
an education for non-racialized allies about racially discriminatory practices that
exist in a white hegemonic society that are reinforced in employment, health and
social infrastructures.

• This will promote allies to use their power and privilege to fight colonialism and
end the ideas of what is thought to be an “inferior race” (Canon 2011, 197).
White allies will be able to examine a governmental institutional structure;
such as the health care system in order to dismantle the racial and
discriminatory practices that do not consider Black and Indigenous women as
equal members of society.

• As part of the concept of free speech, white allies, need to “listen to the voices
of racialized and Black and Indigenous women” (Henry and Dua.et.al. 2017,
115). By giving attention to the free speech that is expressed by Black and
Indigenous women using ethnographic storytelling, white allies can influence
changes where there is a need for equal representation of both of these women.

30
 Allyship & Equity Practices & Policies
• Allyship is an important part of this discussion because those that are non-
racialized align themselves with those that are racialized for the creation and
reception of equity practices for Indigenous and Black women in social, legal,
economic, health and political spheres of society.

• Allyship leaves room for the development to express views about racism without
having that expression be dismissed as “angry and/or too emotional” (Henry. Et.
al 2017, 111)

• “Women of color and/or Indigenous women who talk about these things carry a
different weight than someone who is not a person of color and/or Indigenous
talking about those things. Women of color and/or Indigenous women have no
choice but to stand up for themselves. After all, having a choice is itself a
privilege” (Suzack 2013, 99).

• Those that are white can become allies with Black and Indigenous people to evoke
inclusionary spaces. Those that occupy white privileged spaces need to stand
up to create change.

31
 Conclusion
• In conclusion, in this paper we have had a discussion of the negative and
disproportionate ways that Covid-19 has impacted Black and Indigenous women
in various communities in Canada.

• The existence of colonialism and whiteness in Canada has and continues to

marginalize, oppress and eradicate those that are not part of the white
hegemonic ideal such as Indigenous and Black women. Therefore, these
identities of the racialized other has been defined, categorized and
constructed based on the existence of the structures of a white hegemonic
society.

• Exclusionary procedures come into play for these women in health care
structures which has created the negative impact of Covid-19 on these women in
these communities. When we look at the intersects of race and gender, we
cannot help but notice that a white patriarchal homogenous state prohibits
equality especially when it comes to giving access to financial, physical and
psychological resources for Indigenous and Black women to deal with Covid-
19.

32
 Conclusion
• By sharing their life experiences, through ethnographic storytelling, Black and
Indigenous women attempt to expand upon their lived experiences as well as those
in their communities to be able to build a resistance against colonialism to create
equality.

• Allyship is vital to this research paper because alliances between Black and Indigenous
women and allies are reinforced to ignite change. By providing an education for non-
racialized women, Black and Indigenous women will create decolonization
movements socially, legally, politically and economically.

• Being a white ally that listens to the ethnographic/auto-ethnographic stories that are told
by Black and Indigenous women there is the recognition and the taking of
responsibility in creating decolonial movements that will work towards making
change regarding systemic and institutional racism and discrimination that
perpetuates inequality, lack of access of resources and oppression.

33