A Historico-Cultural Review of Native American Woman’s Double Spatial Marginalization in the Post-Contact Era

Abstract

The present study explores Native American woman’s spatiality in the postcontact

or post-colonization era and its implications on the Native American

woman of contemporary America. The paper offers a historico-cultural critique

of Native American woman’s spatial marginalization as a result of the US

Government’s assimilation and acculturation policies. The present study employs

Tim Cresswell’s notion of normative geography to explore the socio-cultural

construction and reconfiguration of Native American normative geographic

structures in the post-contact era. This study claims that Euro-Americans used

religion, land treaties, education institutions, and legislative acts to destabilize

Native American woman’s positionality within Native American normative

geographies. The research concludes that the Euro-American expansionist

agenda that resulted in Native American woman’s double spatial marginalization

continues to mar Native American spatiality in contemporary United States.

Hence, to obtain socio-cultural emancipation, Native American woman needs to

contest her spatially marginalized position.