Understanding the ways, experiences, and voices of Indigenous women requires the reader to start with the self. Who are you and where do you fit into an Indigenous world? In many Indigenous traditions, governance starts with the self. We then fit into clans, families, communities and nations. Understanding yourself is always balanced by understanding your relationships. Primary among Indigenous relationships is our relations to the natural world. Territory is equally an important concept. This Aboriginal women's studies reader is organized under the above themes. It is intended to assist readers in learning about the great diversity across Aboriginal nations in Canada, but also the diversity of women within those nations. The articles chosen represent many of the struggles that Aboriginal women have faced in Canada. These include struggles with the Canadian criminal justice system, with inclusion in self-government and constitutional reform, issues of membership in bands and matrimonial real property. Many of the articles are framed around the quest for equality.

Patricia Monture is a citizen of the Mohawk Nation, Grand River Territory (near Brantford, Ontario). She is mother, sister and auntie. Since 1994, she has been employed at the University of Saskatchewan. Monture is presently a full professor in the Department of Sociology where she is also the academic director of the Aboriginal Justice and Criminology Program. Her research interests include crime, law and justice studies; the rights of Aboriginal peoples and a deep commitment to equality rights for women. She has published numerous papers and several books. In 2008, in acknowledgement of her commitment of women’s activism in the university, she received the Sarah Shorten Award from the Canadian Association of University Teachers and an honourary doctorate of law from Athabasca University

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Patricia D. McGuire is Anishinaabe Wiisaakodewikwe from Lake Nipigon. She is affiliated with Bingwi Neyaashi Zaagiing. She is a mother and grandmother. She is experienced in working with both urban and rural communities in community development and postsecondary education. Currently, she is completing a PhD in Sociology at the University of Saskatchewan. A consistent theme throughout her work has been the creation of respectful frameworks for the inclusion of Indigenous knowledge(s) in academic, social and political contexts. Patricia is a professor at Negahneewin located at Confederation College in Thunder Bay, Ontario.

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