人妻少妇专区 history professor wins two prizes for her first book.
, an assistant professor of history at the聽人妻少妇专区 has won two awards for her first book, 聽(University of North Carolina Press, 2019). She is the recipient of the from the Western History Association and the from the Coalition for Western Women鈥檚 History.
Named after the late American ethnologist聽and museum curator who was instrumental in establishing the National Museum of American History, the John C. Ewers award is given annually for the best published book on the North American Indian ethnohistory, including Mexico.
The Coalition for Western Women鈥檚 History awards the聽Armitage-Jameson Prize聽annually for an outstanding monograph or edited volume, published in the history of western women, gender, and sexuality. The prize is named in honor of Susan Armitage and Elizabeth Jameson for their pioneering work in the field of western women鈥檚 history, which includes the geographic regions of Canada and Mexico, as well as U.S. territories, past and present.
Reproduction on the Reservation traces the history of reproductive health care and reproductive politics on reservations during the last century, including the notorious sterilizations that occurred in the 1970s when US doctors sterilized an estimated 25 to 42 percent of Native American women of childbearing age, some as young as 15.
Even the lower estimate鈥攐ne quarter of Native women鈥攊s a mind-boggling statistic. The sterilizations, subsidized by the federal government and often performed without consent or under great duress, marked the culmination of a long history of efforts by federal and local authorities to manage the reproductive lives of Native families, explains聽Theobald:
鈥淭he federal government and local authorities have long tried to control indigenous families and women鈥檚 reproduction, using tactics such as coercive sterilization and the removal of indigenous children into the white foster care system.鈥�
Theobald鈥檚 book traces those efforts, but also the response from Native Americans themselves鈥斺�渨idespread activism across Indian country鈥� that arose as a direct consequence of federal reproductive policies.
She finds that, while essentially colonial in their approach, federal policies regarding Native women鈥檚 reproductive decisions were carried out unevenly in the early 20th century, hinging largely on local conditions and actual enforcement on the ground.
鈥淭he implementation, or lack thereof, of reproduction-related policies was shaped by local conditions, the availability of resources, the whims of individual employees鈥攁nd perhaps most significantly, Native response and engagement,鈥� says Theobald.
, an assistant professor of history at the and the executive director of the , says the award committee members were 聽鈥渆xtremely impressed with the originality鈥� of the book, 鈥渋ts scope, and its significant contribution to the field of North American Indian ethnohistory.鈥�
The monograph 鈥渟tood out for its analysis of wide-ranging archives and testimonies, and for its critical insights about Native women鈥檚 reproductive histories and ongoing activism,鈥� writes an associate professor of history at the , who chaired this year鈥檚 prize committee for the .
As a long-time member of the Western History Association and the Coalition for Western Women鈥檚 History, Theobald says 鈥渋t鈥檚 an honor to have my work recognized by them in this way.
, professor and chair of the Rochester , calls the monograph 鈥渉istorical research and writing at its finest.鈥�
鈥淗er path-breaking work on reproduction and childbearing by Native American women challenges existing categories and eschews reductionist interpretations, all in accessible, beautifully crafted prose,鈥� says Smoller.
鈥淲hile聽Theobald聽does not shy away from the larger social and political implications of her research, what she presents above all are the deeply human stories of women, like Susie Yellowtail, who exerted their own agency in the face of what she鈥攍ike the Native activists with whom she begins her book鈥攔eadily labels 鈥榮ettler colonialism.鈥櫬燭heobald鈥檚 keen sense of the way in which writing history and telling people鈥檚 stories can itself also be empowering shines throughout the book, from the cover illustration by a Crow artist, to the fact that she literally gives the last word to a Crow woman, a descendant of Susie Yellowtail,鈥� Smoller adds.
Because of Covid-19 both prizes are awarded virtually. Writing the book, Theobald received grant funding from Smith College, the Western Association of Women’s Historians, the Western History Association, the Coalition for Western Women’s History, the American Historical Association, and the Charles Redd Center.
Read more
Native Americans, government authorities, and reproductive politicsIn her new book, Brianna Theobald traces the long history of efforts by federal and local authorities to manage the reproductive lives of Native families.
Detained migrants susceptible to a range of reproductive abuses and medical neglectThe history of eugenics in the US leaves today鈥檚 migrant women vulnerable, argues 人妻少妇专区 history professor Brianna Theobald in a Washington Post 鈥淢ade by History鈥� op-ed.
