Book Review

Abstract

Andrea Smith’s Conquest: Sexual Violence an American Indian Genocide is a complex narrative that is centered on advocacy, global mobilization, violence, reproduction rights, environmental injustice, accountability, and reparations. The emphasis is on feminism, specifically Native women and their struggles within their own communities that can be directly linked to “the process of colonization, sexual violence, dehumanization and marginalizing” (xvii). The foreword by Winona LaDuke and the introduction are the outline for the book. The analysis is that Indian people are oppressed through colonization, racism, and discrimination by the dominant society using sexual violence as a tool. Smith attempts to eradicate the limitations we have put on conceptualizing sexual and gender violence by taking a holistic approach in understanding its connection with patriarchy, assimilation, and genocide. In Chapter 1, Smith defines Native women and women of color in general as “rapable” (p. 10). More importantly, she provides historical evidence of rape as a means of control used by white colonizers. By combining torture, mutilation, rape, and murder, it reinforced subjugation. Furthermore, this legacy can be seen in the statistics that show women of color are more likely to be victims of sexual assault, sexual violence, and human trafficking compared to white women (Australia Bureau of Statistics, 2015). In Chapter 2, Smith examines the role government-mandated boarding schools played in Native communities to further colonize or “civilize” children. These institutions perpetuated social control, patriarchy, sexual violence, psychological abuse, among other abuses (i.e., sterilization) that have been internalized by generations of Indian people. Furthermore, boarding school survivors have been marginalized due to the lack of accountability on the part of the United States government and churches. Subsequently, families were removed from their land and as a result, cultural and spiritual traditions were destroyed. Instead of taking a separatist view, Smith asserts that Native people and African Americans should be united in their efforts to receive reparations for what is owed to them. Most important, acts of genocide, slavery, and relocation to reservations are direct violations of their human rights. Environmental injustice and destruction of Indian land are regarded as another form of rape. For example, Aboriginals, Eskimos, Islanders in Hawaii, and Natives in Canada