Being Again of One Mind

Oneida Women and the Struggle for Decolonization

By Lina Sunseri
Categories: Gender & Sexuality Studies, Women’s Studies, History, Canadian History, Social Sciences, Sociology, Indigenous History, Anthropology, Indigenous Studies
Series: Women and Indigenous Studies
Publisher: UBC Press
Hardcover : 9780774819350, 216 pages, November 2010
Ebook (PDF) : 9780774819374, 216 pages, January 2011
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Table of contents

Foreword / Patricia A. Monture

Introduction

1 Theorizing Nations and Nationalisms: From Modernist to Indigenous
Perspectives

2 A History of the Oneida Nation: From Creation Story to the
Present

3 Struggles of Independence: From a Colonial Existence toward
a Decolonized Nation

4 Women, Nation, and National Identity: Oneida Women Standing
Up and Speaking about Matters of the Nation

5 Dreaming of a Free, Peaceful, Balanced Decolonized Nation:
Being Again of One Mind

6 Concluding Remarks

Notes

References

Index

By giving a voice to Oneida women’s thoughts on tradition and nation, this book challenges mainstream feminist critiques of nation and nationalism.

Description

Being Again of One Mind combines a critical reading of feminist literature on nationalism with the narratives of Oneida women of various generations to reveal that some Indigenous women view nationalism in the form of decolonization as a way to restore traditional gender balance and well-being to their own lives and communities. These insights challenge mainstream feminist ideas about the masculine bias of Western theories of nation and about the dangers of nationalist movements that idealize women's so-called traditional role, questioning whether they apply to Indigenous women.

Reviews

Being Again of One Mind...delivers a viable and inspiring alterNative view on indigenous history, as well as gender and postcolonial studies. It is a welcome addition to anyone interested in understanding the complicated course of European and North American encounters from a First Nation/Oneida perspective.

- Kathryn Magee Labelle

Sunseri’s multi-layered critique of the Eurocentric secondary literature on nationalism is skillful, respectful and highly readable … a thoughtful study of Oneida nationalism from the perspective of Oneida women, Being Again of One Mind is relevant to a broad audience and will be of special value to those interested in nationalism, decolonization, Indigenous research methodologies, women and gender and Indigenous people.

- Mary Jane Logan McCallum, University of Winnipeg