Enacting settler responsibilities towards decolonisation

This special issue showcases research exploring the work of settler individuals and groups in support of projects of decolonisation in Aotearoa New Zealand, Australia, Canada and Israel. The papers gathered here were developed from presentations at an international symposium held in Auckland, New Zealand and online in February 2021. As symposium organisers and editors of this collection, we speak and write as settler subjects ourselves, and this collection is situated within the field of Settler Colonial Studies (SCS). This editorial provides an opening framing of the field into which these papers speak, and a survey of some of the key themes within the wider literature. We aim firstly to locate this work within the wider field of scholarship and activism on decolonisation and decoloniality, delimiting the particular focus of decolonisation within settler-dominated contexts. We then discuss the critiques that have been mounted against SCS and some important defences of the field. We argue that while settler colonialism persists, work in SCS has a contribution to make – in highlighting and critiquing settler logics and in identifying changes that it is within the power of settler peoples themselves to make as a contribution towards Indigenous-led decolonisation. Further, we argue that decolonising settler societies must involve settlers learning to be ‘in relation’ with Indigenous worlds and people outside of deeply habituated logics and practices of domination. The papers gathered here provide examples of settler subjects at various points on the path of decolonising themselves and learning the work of ‘being in relation’.

Calling in to Cut back: Settlers learning to listen for a decolonial future

Clearing the gorse, a particularly aggressive invasive plant, so that native plants can flourish has been used as a potent metaphor for decolonization ( Came, 2014 ), and described as labour appropriate for settlers to perform in the interest of just relations with Indigenous peoples. Yet, this labour is not simply one of negation, for it involves learning to bring one’s group difference alongside that of others rather than continuing to mistake that difference for the unmarked context of Indigenous-settler relations. Clearing the gorse is thus also connected to the labour of “gathering at the gate”: the requirement according to Māori protocols of encounter that visitors develop a sense of collective identity and purpose before any meeting can take place. Settler societies, as a rule, operate without a collective sense of the specific identity and history of being a settler people. How would these two forms of labour appropriate for tauiwi Pākehā to perform be connected, and how would performing them together serve broader projects of decolonization and honouring settler commitments in Te Tiriti o Waitangi? I reflect upon this question in light of insights from Tauiwi Tautoko, a recent nationwide anti-racism programme wherein tauiwi (non-Māori settlers) addressed anti-Māori racism online. Core to the programme’s novel anti-racism approach were listening strategies that both invited and modelled acknowledgment of the particular ground from which tauiwi Pākehā see and speak. These strategies have proven effective in creating openings and shifts regarding racist views in otherwise adversarial and toxic spaces. They offer innovative practical resources for the work settlers can and must do with our own people, if we are to contribute to a decolonial future.

"Walking the Talk"? An Ethnography of Biculturalism at Te Papa

<p>This thesis examines the implications of a bicultural framework for the everyday interactions of Māori and non-Māori staff at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa (TP thereafter). The research addresses gaps in the New Zealand literature on biculturalism, which has not hitherto explored the internal dynamics of cultural organisations in depth,as well as issues in the international literature of anthropology, museum studies and related fields to do with museums, indigenous people and cultural identity. The central research question is: how does biculturalism work in practice at TP? The approach is qualitative using mixed-methods, based on twelve months intensive fieldwork behind the scenes at New Zealand’s national museum. Drawing on 68 interviews and participant observations with 18 different teams across the organisation, the thesis explores how biculturalism is enacted, negotiated, practised and envisioned on different stages within the complex social institution that is the museum. Rather than seeing TP as a single bicultural entity, my analysis suggests that TP is a convoluted amalgam of several stages encompassing ‘contact zones’ where Māori and non-Māori engage to varying degrees. I propose that TP’s marae is the centre stage for Māori activities and rituals that serve a number of functions: to position people through mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion, display power, facilitate intercultural dialogue, empower Māori, and transform non-Māori through meaningful experiences. Throughout the thesis, I argue that biculturalism is neither an innocent aspiration nor a means to an end, but an ongoing struggle and negotiation process. The importance of ethnography to the anthropological enterprise and museum studies research is reaffirmed through this study; not only does this ethnographic study provide insights into museum practices, but also the complex processes of ‘grappling with biculturalism’, interactions between diverse museum staff as well as positioning of indigenous peoples in settler societies.</p>

"Walking the Talk"? An Ethnography of Biculturalism at Te Papa

<p>This thesis examines the implications of a bicultural framework for the everyday interactions of Māori and non-Māori staff at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa (TP thereafter). The research addresses gaps in the New Zealand literature on biculturalism, which has not hitherto explored the internal dynamics of cultural organisations in depth,as well as issues in the international literature of anthropology, museum studies and related fields to do with museums, indigenous people and cultural identity. The central research question is: how does biculturalism work in practice at TP? The approach is qualitative using mixed-methods, based on twelve months intensive fieldwork behind the scenes at New Zealand’s national museum. Drawing on 68 interviews and participant observations with 18 different teams across the organisation, the thesis explores how biculturalism is enacted, negotiated, practised and envisioned on different stages within the complex social institution that is the museum. Rather than seeing TP as a single bicultural entity, my analysis suggests that TP is a convoluted amalgam of several stages encompassing ‘contact zones’ where Māori and non-Māori engage to varying degrees. I propose that TP’s marae is the centre stage for Māori activities and rituals that serve a number of functions: to position people through mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion, display power, facilitate intercultural dialogue, empower Māori, and transform non-Māori through meaningful experiences. Throughout the thesis, I argue that biculturalism is neither an innocent aspiration nor a means to an end, but an ongoing struggle and negotiation process. The importance of ethnography to the anthropological enterprise and museum studies research is reaffirmed through this study; not only does this ethnographic study provide insights into museum practices, but also the complex processes of ‘grappling with biculturalism’, interactions between diverse museum staff as well as positioning of indigenous peoples in settler societies.</p>

Collective Psychological Ownership and Territorial Compensation in Australia and South Africa

Collective psychological ownership as a sense that a territory belongs to a group might explain attitudes of the White majority toward territorial compensation for Indigenous Peoples in settler societies. Ownership can be inferred from different general principles and we considered three key principles: autochthony (entitlements from first arrival), investment (entitlements from working the land), and formation (primacy of the territory in forming the collective identity). In two studies, among White Australians (Study 1, N = 475), and White South Africans (Study 2, N = 879), we investigated how support for these general principles was related to perceived ingroup (Anglo-Celtic/White South African) and outgroup (Indigenous Australian/Black South African) territorial ownership, and indirectly, to attitudes toward territorial compensation for the Indigenous outgroup. Endorsement of autochthony was related to stronger support for territorial compensation through higher perceived outgroup ownership, whereas investment was related to lower support through higher perceived ingroup ownership. Agreement with the formation principle was related to stronger support for compensation through higher outgroup ownership, and simultaneously to lower support through higher ingroup ownership.

Revisiting Distant Relations

In 2000, I published Distant Relations: How My Ancestors Colonized North America, a non-fiction exploration of my own family’s involvement in North American colonialism from the 1600s to the present. This personal essay reflects on the context, genesis, process, and consequences of writing this book during a decade of intense ferment in Indigenous–settler relations in Canada amid the revelations of horrific abuse at residential schools and the discovery that my highly respected grandfather had been involved with one. Considering the book from the perspective of 2021, I consider the strengths and limitations of this kind of critical family history and the degree to which public discourses and academic discussion of Canada’s history and settler complicity in colonialism have changed since the book was published. Arguing that critical reflection on family history is still an essential part of unlearning colonial attitudes and recognizing the systemic and structural ways that colonial disparities and processes are embedded in settler societies, I share a critical family history assignment that has been an essential and transformative pedagogical element in my university teaching for both Indigenous and non-Indigenous students.

ANALYZING INDIGENEITY IN ACADEMIC AND ARCHITECTURAL FRAMEWORKS

While the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada fosters agency for Indigenous Canadians, this mandate like others, attempts to Indigenize an existing colonial system. The acknowledgement of the Indigenous experience within academic institutions must begin with a deconstruction of educational frameworks that are enforced by pre-existing neo-colonial policies and agendas. The colonial worldview on institutional frameworks is rooted in systemic understandings of property, ownership and hierarchy that are supported by patriarchal policies. These pedagogies do not reflect Indigenous beliefs or teachings, resulting in an assimilation or dissociation of Indigenous members into Western-centric educational systems. Addressing this disconnect through Indigenizing existing institutional frameworks within state control favours a system that re-affirms settler-societies. The tokenization and lack of Indigenous participation in the decision-making process reinforces misinformed action towards reconciliation. decentralized. The case studies explored emphasize the rediscovery of an authentic culture-specific vernacular, facilitation of customs through programme, and the fundamental differences between Indigenous and colonial worldviews. The critical analysis of these emerging academic typologies may continue to inform future architectural projects while fostering greater responsibility for architects and positions of authority to return sovereignty to Indigenous communities and incorporate design approaches that embody Indigenous values. This paper will propose the decolonization of academic frameworks to reconstruct postcolonial methodologies of educational architecture that serve Indigenous knowledge and agency.

The Relationships Between Racialized Immigrants And Indigenous Peoples In Canada: A Literature Review

This literature review assesses the current status of Indigenous and racialized newcomer relations in Canada and provides recommendations for future research, government policy, and grassroots organizing. In Canada, as is other “white settler-societies”, there is a strict separation between two intersecting debates surrounding identity, citizenship, and belonging—one revolves around the immigrant experience and the other around Indigenous peoples. To break down the barriers separating these two debates, this paper will explore what the nature of the relationship is between immigrants and Indigenous peoples through a review of the literature using postcolonial and decolonized anti-racist frameworks. This literature review attempts to contribute to the unsettling of insider/outsider, minority/majority, Indigenous/settler, and black/white binaries, which are pervasive within the racialized and colonized Canadian society, and build dialogue and cross-cultural collaboration in anti-racist activism and scholarship.