An Act of Genocide: Colonialism and the Sterilization of Aboriginal Women

Karen Stote, An Act of Genocide: Colonialism and the Sterilization of Aboriginal Women. Black Point, Nova Scotia: Fernwood Publishing, 2015. 200 pages. ISBN 978-1-55266-732-3. $25.00 paperback.

In An Act of Genocide: Colonialism and the Sterilization of Aboriginal Women, Karen Stote situates the mid-to-late twentieth century coercive sterilization of Native women in a much longer history of colonialism. In just under two-hundred pages, Stote familiarizes readers not only with "sterilization, birth control, and abusive abortions" (the focus of chapter three) but also with early 20th-century eugenics, Canadian federal Indian policy, and a broader investigation of the history and application of the term genocide. From the book's acknowledgements through its conclusion, An Act of Genocide makes its position clear: "it is meant as a statement of solidarity with those who have consistently resisted an unjust system which treats all of us poorly and continues to deny Indigenous peoples the right to exist on their own terms..." (vii). This text then is not only a study that relays a series of historical moments but one that advances strong arguments with clear political commitments. The author notes in the preface...