White mother to a dark race : settler colonialism, maternalism, and the removal of indigenous children in the American West and Australia, 1880-1940 / Margaret D. Jacobs.
"In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, American Indians in the United States and Aboriginal people in Australia suffered a common experience at the hands of state authorities: the removal of their children to institutions in the name of assimilation. Although officially characterized as benevolent, these policies often inflicted great trauma on indigenous families and ultimately served the settler nations' larger goals of consolidating control over indigenous peoples and their lands. White Mother to a Dark Race examines the key roles white women played in these removal policies. Government officials, missionaries, and reformers justified the removal of indigenous children in particularly gendered ways by focusing on the supposed deficiencies of indigenous mothers, the alleged barbarity of indigenous men, and the lack of a patriarchal nuclear family in indigenous societies. Often they deemed white women the most appropriate agents to carry out child-removal policies. Inspired by the maternalist movements of the era, many white women were eager to serve as surrogate mothers to indigenous children and maneuvered to influence public policy affecting indigenous people. Although some white women developed caring relationships with indigenous children and others became critical of government policies, many became ensnared in this insidious colonial policy." --Back cover.
Record details
- ISBN: 9780803211001
- ISBN: 0803211007
- ISBN: 9780803235168 (paperback)
- ISBN: 080323516X
- Physical Description: xxxii, 557 pages : illustrations, maps, portraits ; 24 cm
- Publisher: Lincoln : University of Nebraska Press, [2009]
- Copyright: ©2009
Content descriptions
General Note: | "2010 winner of the Bancroft Prize, the Athearn Western History Association Prize, and the Armitage-Jameson Prize."--Pbk. back cover. |
Bibliography, etc. Note: | Includes bibliographical references (pages 499-528) and index. |
Formatted Contents Note: | Gender and Settler Colonialism in the North American West and Australia -- Designing Indigenous Child Removal Policies -- Great White Mother -- Practice of Indigenous Child Removal -- Intimate Betrayals -- Groomed to Be Useful -- Maternalism in the Institutions -- Out of the Frying Pan -- Challenging Indigenous Child Removal. |
Awards Note: | Bancroft Prize, 2010. Coalition for Western Women's History Armitage-Jameson Award, 2010. Western History Association Robert G. Athearn Award, 2010. |
Search for related items by subject
Topic Heading: | Indigenous. |
Available copies
- 1 of 1 copy available at University College of the North Libraries.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 1 total copy.
Show Only Available Copies
Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Holdable? | Status | Due Date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Thompson Campus Library | E 98 .C89 J33 2009 (Text) | 58500000076133 | Stacks | Volume hold | Available | - |