I was able to make the connection to the subjugation of the 1st Nation women by Europeans because of my Irish heritage. There was a time when the English nobility had the right of the first night — also known as jus primae noctis (law of the first night), droit du seigneur (the lord's right).
As Smith so insightfully points out in her essay by quoting Tadiar, “subjugation of women of the Native nations as critical to the success of the economic, cultural, and political colonization” (Smith 74) Smith breaks it down for us in her statement of, “Native women as bearers of a counter-imperial order pose a supreme threat to imperial order” (74).
I was so appalled by the idea that there could be, in MY country, a video game which glorified rape of the 1st Nations women. I did a bit of research and saw that the game, Custer's Revenge, is still available for sale on Amazon. They are offering 6 used from $94.00 each!
I also learned that in my own county, Suffolk County, there was a lawsuit. “Multiple Industries pursued an $11 million lawsuit against Suffolk County, New York and legislator Philip Nolan "because of a resolution authorizing the county executive to take action to halt sales and distribution" of the game” (Billboard 8).
And what of the justification of lynching black men who are accused, or actually dared, to look at a white women?
It is what Smith quotes from Warren as another symptom of, “…patriarchal society is a dysfunctional system that mirrors the dysfunctional nuclear family…severe abuse in the family…regard it as ‘normal’” (Smith).
Works Cited
Billboard. 'Custer' Game Is Subject of Two Lawsuits. 11 12 1982. Print.
Smith, A. "Not an Indian Tradition: The Sexual Colonization of Native Peoples." Hypatia, 18 (2), 70-85. 2003.