As well, Native American feminism deconstructs the racial and broader stereotypes of indigenous peoples, gender, sexuality, while also focusing on decolonization and breaking down the patriarchy and pro-capitalist ideology.
[2] In her view, Native feminism is intersectional, and relationships between race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, class and nations in North America from colonialism onward are to be reexamined as a means of understanding and identifying feminist praxis.
[2] Native American women continue to face racial and ethnic stereotypes due to the discourse caused by colonialism in the 15th century.
[4][5] With these misconceptions and stereotypes can cause much harm, such as rape and assault which only increase the statistics of the violence against Native American women”.
[7] A core issue in Native American Feminism is the missing and murdered Indigenous women (MMIW) crisis.
[8] Through this movement, Native American feminists are looking to amplify the rates in which indigenous women are being attacked and murdered in hopes to bring awareness to the injustice that they are facing.
[12] Maile Arvin writes that during colonization white settlers imposed their heteropatriarchal practices onto Indigenous communities.
Arvin states that Native American Feminists are reinforcing matriarchal processes through education and activism.
[13] She goes on to say that feminism as a concept, however, by whatever name, has a special meaning to Native women, including the idea of promoting the continuity of tradition, and consequently, pursuing the recognition of Tribal sovereignty.
[13][2] Tribal sovereignty is central to Indigenous feminism, as well a pivotal political concern in Indian country, with Native American self-determination considered foundational to both cultural and material survival.
[2] Crystal Ecohawk writes,[14] Sovereignty is an active, living process within this knot of human, material and spiritual relationships bound together by mutual responsibilities and obligations.
From that knot of relationships is born our histories, our identity, the traditional ways in which we govern ourselves, our beliefs, our relationship to the land, and how we feed, clothe, house and take care of our families, communities and Nations.Before the modern feminist movement was apparent in society, indigenous communities had long before that been practicing female power.
With this came the attempt to persuade indigenous communities to instill this thinking, and this caused in emergence in feminism in later years.