Assimilation and Partition: How Settler Colonialism and Racial Capitalism Co-produce the Borders of Indigenous Economies

2020 ◽  
Vol 119 (2) ◽  
pp. 301-324
Author(s):  
Shiri Pasternak
Keyword(s):  
First Nations ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Supreme Court Of Canada ◽  
Critical Material ◽  
Aboriginal Rights ◽  
Economic Rights ◽  
Racial Capitalism ◽  
The Status ◽  
History Of ◽  
Settler Colonization

The history of colonialism in Canada has meant both the partition of Indigenous peoples from participating (physically, politically, legally) in the economy and a relentless demand to become assimilated as liberal capitalist citizens. Assimilation and segregation are both tendencies of colonization that protect the interests of white capital. But their respective prevalence seems to depend on the regime of racial capitalism at play. This paper examines the intersection of settler colonization and racial capitalism to shed light on the status of Indigenous economic rights in Canada. I ask, to what extent are Indigenous peoples understood to have economic rights—defined here as the governing authority to manage their lands and resources—and, how we can we analyze these rights to better understand the conjoined meanings of colonialism and capitalism as systems of power today? In this paper, I look at two sites to address this problem: first, I examine how the Supreme Court of Canada has defined the “Aboriginal right” to commercial economies since the patriation of Aboriginal rights into the Constitution in 1982; and, second, I examine how these rights are configured through state resource revenue-sharing schemes with First Nations, in particular from extractive projects, over the past few years. Each case study provides critical material for analyzing the economic opportunities available to First Nations through democratic channels of state “recognition,” as well as when and why tensions between state policies of segregation and assimilation emerge.

Indigenous Struggles for Epistemic Justice

2019 ◽  
pp. 637-653
Author(s):  
Robert Nichols
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Oral Traditions ◽  
Supreme Court Of Canada ◽  
Critical Survey ◽  
Epistemic Justice ◽  
Settler Societies ◽  
History Of ◽  
Settler Colonization ◽  
Anglophone World

This chapter explores how questions of epistemic justice are expressed in the context of indigenous struggles against settler colonization in the anglophone world. It focuses specifically on how indigenous peoples in the Anglo-settler world (1) tend to preserve and transmit knowledge about their societies and the history of their struggles against colonization through various oral traditions, rather than the text-based or scriptural traditions of many other societies, and (2) have been subject to a particular form of eliminatory violence that has sought not only to subordinate and exploit them, but also to erase and replace them altogether with neo-European settler societies. This chapter considers how these two features articulate as problems of epistemic justice. Part I introduces a specific case study—the 1997 Supreme Court of Canada decision Delgamuukw v. British Columbia—as a means of clarifying the stakes and contours of the first problem. Part II offers a critical survey of work that has developed in the twenty years since Delgamuukw, which has increasingly linked the two highlighted issues.

scholarly journals Perspectives on Reconciliation & Indigenous Rights

2009 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 111-128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nina Burridge
Keyword(s):  
First Nations ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Indigenous Rights ◽  
Political Context ◽  
Indigenous Australians ◽  
Unfinished Business ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Community Attitudes ◽  
The Status ◽  
National Reconciliation

This paper provides an overview of discourses of the movement for national reconciliation prevailing within the Australian socio-political context since the inception of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation in 1991, to the national apology delivered by the Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on 13th February 2008. It provides an framework for the various discourses of reconciliation, by exploring and analysing the accrued meanings to such terms such as ‘genuine’, substantive or ‘true’ reconciliation; the Howard’s Government’s ‘practical reconciliation’ and the Rudd government’s great attempt at ‘symbolic’ reconciliation in the national apology to Indigenous Australians. In the changing political context in Australia today this paper revisits the debates on reconciliation, and endeavours to locate the movement solidly within a human rights framework that includes first nation rights. This requires an examination of the roots of the reconciliation movement including community attitudes to reconciliation and the nature of the peoples’ movement as well as the differing perspectives of policy makers, politicians and of course, Indigenous peoples. It asks crucial questions about the progress of reconciliation and the type of reconciliation mainstream Australians will accept. In truth therefore, was the ‘National Apology’ a grand symbolic gesture by mainstream Australia to maintain the status quo and divert our eyes from the more searching questions of the ‘unfinished business’ of ‘substantive’ reconciliation which encompasses first nations rights for Indigenous peoples.

Recent Developments in Canadian Aboriginal Law: Overview of Case Law and of Certain Principles of Aboriginal Law

2008 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 319-350
Author(s):  
Patricia Ochman
Keyword(s):  
Supreme Court ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Supreme Court Of Canada ◽  
Treaty Rights ◽  
Aboriginal Rights ◽  
The Supreme Court ◽  
Key Concepts ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Aboriginal Law

AbstractThe author reviews the most recent judgments rendered by the Supreme Court of Canada and certain provincial courts, in order to provide an update in the sphere of Aboriginal law practice in Canada, destined mainly for foreign lawyers and academics. Throughout the review of those recent judgments, the author provides an overview of certain key principles and concepts of Canadian Aboriginal law. Besides providing an overview of recent judgments in the sphere of Aboriginal law, the author seeks to illustrate how meaningful the protection and recognition of Aboriginal rights and treaty rights are in practice, through the overview of key concepts and principles of Canadian Aboriginal law and how they were recently interpreted by Canadian courts. The author briefly addresses Canada's vote against the adoption of the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Born the Year after the Flood

2019 ◽  
Vol 118 (4) ◽  
pp. 921-927
Author(s):  
Jeremie Caribou
Keyword(s):  
First Nations ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Ecological Integrity ◽  
Indigenous Rights ◽  
Indigenous Identity ◽  
Indigenous Lands ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Right ◽  
Political Governance ◽  
Gain Access

This essay reveals the true history of my people. It demonstrates our highly developed social, spiritual, and political governance structures. Our use of the water systems underscores the ecological integrity of sustainable development that we fostered for thousands of years. Yet, due to colonization and oppressive policies designed to destroy Indigenous identity, culture, and history, Indigenous knowledge and governing systems have been put in jeopardy. Colonial policies intended to dispossess and oppress First Nations by depriving us from Indigenous lands, controlling all aspects of our lives, which created dependence by limiting Indigenous peoples’ abilities to provide for themselves. Furthermore, these policies had no Indigenous input or representation and were designed to eradicate or eliminate Indigenous rights, titles, and the right to self-determination to easily gain access to Indigenous lands for development and industrialization, such as in the case of the massive hydroelectrical dams that continue to alienate my home community today.

scholarly journals Thin or Thick Inclusiveness? The Constitutional Duty to Consult and Accommodate First Nations in Canada

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 149-175
Author(s):  
Ian James Urquhart
Keyword(s):  
First Nations ◽  
Oil Sands ◽  
Aboriginal Peoples ◽  
Resource Exploitation ◽  
Judicial Interpretation ◽  
Treaty Rights ◽  
Aboriginal Rights ◽  
The Status ◽  
Natural Resource Exploitation ◽  
General Thrust

What has the addition of aboriginal rights to the Canadian constitution in 1982 meant for the place of First Nations’ interests in the Canadian constitutional order? This article considers this question in the context of natural resource exploitation – specifically, the exploitation of the oil or tar sands in Alberta. It details some of the leading jurisprudence surrounding Section 35 of the Constitution Act 1982, the section of the Constitution recognizing existing aboriginal and treaty rights. Arguably, Section 35 represented an important effort to improve the status of aboriginal peoples in Canada, to enhance the extent to which Canada included and respected the values and interests of First Nations. The article specifically considers how the judicial interpretation of the Crown’s duty to consult and accommodate aboriginal peoples is related to the theme of inclusivity. It argues that the general thrust of judicial interpretation has promoted a thin, or procedural, version of inclusiveness rather than a substantive, or thicker, one. Such a thicker version of inclusiveness would be one in which the pace of oil sands exploitation is moderated or halted in order to allow First Nations to engage in traditional activities connected intimately with aboriginal and treaty rights.

scholarly journals Suicide Ideation and Attempts among First Nations Peoples Living On-Reserve in Canada: The Intergenerational and Cumulative Effects of Indian Residential Schools

2017 ◽  
Vol 62 (6) ◽  
pp. 422-430 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robyn Jane McQuaid ◽  
Amy Bombay ◽  
Opal Arilla McInnis ◽  
Courtney Humeny ◽  
Kimberly Matheson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
First Nations ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Suicide Ideation ◽  
Suicide Attempts ◽  
Cumulative Risk ◽  
Residential Schools ◽  
Regional Health ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
History Of ◽  
Suicidal Thoughts And Behaviors

Objective: Suicide rates among Indigenous peoples in Canada are at least twice that of their non-Indigenous counterparts. Although contemporary stressors contribute to this increased risk, historical experiences such as the Indian Residential School (IRS) system may also have continuing links with the risk for suicidal thoughts and behaviors. The current investigation examined the intergenerational and cumulative links between familial IRS attendance in relation to lifetime suicide ideation and attempts among First Nations adults living on-reserve. Method: Data from the 2008-2010 First Nations Regional Health Survey were analyzed, and participants comprised a representative sample of First Nations adults older than 18 years (weighted N = 127,338; IRS attendees were excluded). Of those who knew their familial IRS history, 38.0% had no history of attendance, 19.3% had a grandparent who attended, 16.2% had a parent who attended, and 26.5% had a parent and grandparent who attended. Results: Exposure of one previous familial generation to the IRS experience was associated with increased risk for lifetime suicide ideation (odds ratio [OR], 1.46; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.16 to 1.84; P = 0.001) and attempts (OR, 1.44; 95% CI, 1.07 to 1.94; P < 0.016) compared with those with no IRS history. Having 2 generations of IRS familial history was associated with greater odds of reporting a suicide attempt compared with having one generation (OR, 1.35; 95% CI, 1.05 to 1.75; P = 0.022), which was reduced when current levels of distress and ideation were accounted for. Conclusion: Findings support the existence of linkages between intergenerational exposure to IRS and risk for suicidal ideation and attempts and for a potential cumulative risk in relation to suicide attempts across generations.

scholarly journals Indigenous Mental Health: Imagining a Future Where Action Follows Obligations and Promises

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Constance MacIntosh
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
First Nations ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Current State ◽  
The Status ◽  
State Obligations ◽  
Indigenous Mental Health ◽  
Inuit Peoples ◽  
Mental Well Being

This article considers what it would mean if Canada fulfilled select existing commitments and obligations concerning the mental health needs of Indigenous peoples, as identified through current programs and recent jurisprudence: that is, where would we be if Canada carried through on existing commitments? After identifying the role of law in perpetuating poor mental well-being, it assesses programs for First Nations and Inuit peoples and determines they are unlikely to be effective without operational changes and responsive funding. The article then turns to the situation of Metis and non-status First Nations and the implications of Daniels v. Canada for changing the status quo – both by requiring appropriate mental health supports, and by dismantling the racist legal logic that has long undermined the mental well-being of non-status First Nations and Metis persons, by positioning them as not counting as true Indigenous peoples. The article concludes that merely fulfilling current state obligations could bring considerable short-term gains, and some long-term gains, for the mental well-being of Indigenous peoples in Canada.

Civilian Initiatives of Indigenous Peoples in the Sphere of Language Policy

Sibirica ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 83-91
Author(s):  
Akulina Mestnikova
Keyword(s):  
Language Policy ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
State Government ◽  
Language Maintenance ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Public Organizations ◽  
Sociological Study ◽  
The Status ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Republic

The article provides an overview of recent initiatives spearheaded by indigenous peoples in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) that seek to improve the existing language policy put forth by the state government. Although there has been some research conducted on the activities of public organizations and associations of indigenous peoples in the region, more must be done to better understand activities specifically related to language policy. The article presents a history of indigenous and minority organizing in the republic since the end of the Soviet era, with special attention paid to the campaigns regarding the status of native language and its presence within the educational sphere. It then analyzes the results of a 2011 sociological study regarding people’s beliefs about responsibility for native language maintenance and revitalization.

Why Is Aboriginal Title Property if It Looks Like Sovereignty?

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-44
Author(s):  
Douglas Sanderson ◽  
Amitpal C. Singh
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Theoretical Basis ◽  
Property Right ◽  
Future Generations ◽  
Supreme Court Of Canada ◽  
Private Land ◽  
The Supreme Court ◽  
The Status ◽  
Aboriginal Title ◽  
The Right

According to the Supreme Court of Canada, Aboriginal title is a property right, albeit of a distinctive kind. Most significantly, the right is subject to an inherent limit: title lands cannot be used in a way that deprives present and future generations of the right to use the land. Aboriginal title is also encumbered by a restraint on alienation, and has its source in Aboriginal legal systems that predate and survive the assertion of Crown sovereignty. In this paper, we argue that these features of Aboriginal title are not burdensome judicial innovations on a property right, but are instead the essential contours of a sovereign right. That is, the Court’s own description of Aboriginal title does not comport with sound theoretical understandings of a property right. Aboriginal title is much more akin to a right of sovereignty—the right to make laws about the use of a territory. Aboriginal title is the right of law-making jurisdiction over the title lands. The existing literature, while edging towards the view that Aboriginal title is a sovereign right, has lacked the unifying theoretical basis needed to decisively dispatch the Court’s property paradigm. In particular, all extant accounts find the inherent limit inexplicable. The account in this article theorizes and explains the inherent limit, as well as all of the sui generis elements of Aboriginal title, and shows their interconnectedness. Our view additionally answers a number of questions that the Court’s property paradigm does not, including: (1) what laws primarily govern title lands; (2) who has standing to question whether any particular use of title land violates the inherent limit; (3) what is the status of private land interests that overlap with Aboriginal title lands; and (4) how should the doctrine of Aboriginal title be updated in light of jurisprudential developments emphasizing that Indigenous peoples never ceded their sovereignty?

scholarly journals Queer Settlers: Questioning Settler Colonialism in LGBT Asylum Processes in Canada

Refuge ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine Fobear
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Orientation ◽  
Gender Identity ◽  
First Nations ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Settler Colonialism ◽  
Forced Migration ◽  
History Of ◽  
Sexual And Gender Minority ◽  
Refugee Claim ◽  
And Gender

Refugee and forced migration studies have focused primarily on the refugees’ countries of origin and the causes for migration. Yet it is also important to also critically investi- gate the processes, discourses, and structures of settlement in the places they migrate to. This has particular signifi- cance in settler states like Canada in which research on refugee and forced migration largely ignores the presence of Indigenous peoples, the history of colonization that has made settlement possible, and ways the nation has shaped its borders through inflicting control and violence on Indigenous persons. What does it mean, then, to file a refugee claim in a state like Canada in which there is ongoing colonial violence against First Nations communities? In this article, we will explore what it means to make a refugee claim based on sexual orientation and gender identity in a settler-state like Canada. For sexual and gender minority refugees in Canada, interconnected structures of col- onial discourse and regulation come into force through the Canadian asylum and resettlement process. It is through this exploration that ideas surrounding migration, asylum, and settlement become unsettled.

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