SETTLER COLONIALISM (and the building of a Canadian nation)

"We won the war."

Government policies

Indian Act

Assimilation projects

Forced European cultural norms onto Indigenous people

Indigenous cultures were disparaged considered 'savage' and 'uncivilized'

Social & cultural practices

Effects

Created legal "Indian" status; government controlled all aspects of Indigenous people's lives

Banned potlatch and other Indigenous ceremonies

Stereotypes

Treating diverse Indigenous cultures like a monolith

settler myths & misunderstandings about history

Prejudice & discrimination

Loss of Indigenous languages, knowledge

"We bought the land." (misunderstanding of how treaties function)

Christian missionaries believed the mission to 'civilize' was benevolent

Residential Schools

Sixties Scoop

Children had English names & language forced on them

Indian Agents

Reserves

"We won the war."

Treaties

Were they signed in good faith?

Even if they were, the treaties were frequently broken

Indigenous leaders sometimes signed out of desperation, to save their people from starvation, etc.

Many areas are not covered by treaties (i.e., unceded land), but still claimed

Forced enfranchisement; loss of Indian status (especially for women)

Need to secure land, western expansion

Forced relocations

Genocide

Removal of children

Forced sterilizations

Starvation

Infrastructure projects for settler cities

Shame, alienation

Intergenerational trauma

Lack of economic opportunity & security

Systemic racism

Racist media depictions