Class #2 Notes - Palmater - F2024.pdf

PPA124 - Indigenous Politics and Governance Tuesday, Sept.10, 2024 TMU - PPA124 Indigenous Politics and Governance Class #2 - The Colonial Context ©Pamela Palmater Pr...

PPA124 - Indigenous Politics and Governance Tuesday, Sept.10, 2024 TMU - PPA124 Indigenous Politics and Governance Class #2 - The Colonial Context ©Pamela Palmater Professor’s Notes (not comprehensive) Terminology Refer to terminology sheet with most important definitions Foundational Reports Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP) (1997) https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/aboriginal-heritage/royal-commission- aboriginal-peoples/Pages/final-report.aspx Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) (2015) http://www.trc.ca/ National Inquiry into Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) (2019) https://www.mmiwg-ffada.ca/final-report/ Colonial Indian Policy Review Objectives & Methods Historical quotes: “Our Indian legislation generally rests on the principle, that the aborigines are to be kept in a condition of tutelage and treated as wards or children of the State…every effort should be made to aid the Red man in lifting himself out of his condition of tutelage and dependence…” (Dept. of Interior, Annual Report,1876) “When the school is on the reserve the child lives with its parents, who are savages; he is surrounded by savages. Indian children should be withdrawn as much as possible from the parental influence.” (P.M. Sir John A. MacDonald, 1883) ©Pamela Palmater Page 1  PPA124 - Indigenous Politics and Governance “The happiest future for the Indian race is absorption into the general population, and this is the object of the policy of our government. The great forces of intermarriage and education will finally overcome the lingering traces of native custom and tradition.” (DSIG Indian Affairs, D.C. Scott, 1914) “I want to get rid of the Indian problem…Our objective is to continue until there is not a single Indian in Canada”. (DSIG Indian Affairs, D.C. Scott, 1920) “Indian children… die at a much higher rate [in residential schools]…but this alone does not justify a change in the policy…which is geared towards a final solution of the Indian problem”. (DSIG Indian Affairs, D.C. Scott, 1918) Did government officials know that this was wrong? “Doing nothing to obviate the preventable causes of death, brings the Department within unpleasant nearness to the charge of manslaughter.” (Government lawyer, 1907) COLONIAL INDIAN POLICIES & METHODS Review colonial methods - Divide - Control - Assimilate - Examples Review elements of Colonial Indian Policy - Assumptions - Policy Development - Policy Outcomes ©Pamela Palmater Page 2  PPA124 - Indigenous Politics and Governance “Genocide” and the Problem with Definitions Merriam-Webster Dictionary: “the deliberate killing of people who belong to a particular racial, political, or cultural group” Dictionary Synonyms: Bloodshed, blood bath, death, holocaust, massacre, slaughter, murder, carnage, homicide UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide - Approved Dec.9, 1948; - In force Jan.12, 1951; - Canada signed Nov.28, 1949, ratified Sept.3, 1952; Art. 2 In the present convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: - Killing members of the group; - Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; - Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; - Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; - Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group. National Inquiry into Murdered & Missing Indigenous Women & Girls - Published final report June 2019; - Included supplementary report on genocide; - Witness testimony, expert evidence, independent legal analysis (finding based on fact & law); - Part 1: Intro & Finding - Part 2: Defining “genocide” in international law, - Part 3: Canada’s Acts & Omissions as Genocidal Conduct (actus reus) - Part 4: Specific Intent to Destroy Indigenous Peoples - Part 5: Canada’s Responsibility for Genocide & Obligations to Make Reparations - Core elements – intention, conduct, responsibility ©Pamela Palmater Page 3  PPA124 - Indigenous Politics and Governance NI MMIWG Quotes: “Canada’s colonial history provides ample evidence of the existence of a genocidal policy a manifest pattern of similar conduct which reflects an intention to destroy Indigenous peoples.” “Canada has displayed a continuous policy with shifting expressed motives but an ultimately steady intention, to destroy Indigenous peoples physically biologically and as social units.” “This genocide has been empowered by colonial structures, evidenced notably by the Indian Act, the Sixties scoop, residential schools and breaches of human and Indigenous rights, leading directly to the current increased rates of violence, death and suicide in Indigenous populations.” “The National inquiry, without excluding the possibility that individuals could be held liable for genocide in Canada, and duly noting that acts and omissions of provinces within Canada, draws a conclusion on the responsibility of Canada as a state for genocide under international law.” Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report Quotes “For over a century, the central goals of Canada’s Aboriginal policy were to eliminate Aboriginal governments; ignore Aboriginal rights; terminate the Treaties; and, through a process of assimilation, cause Aboriginal peoples to cease to exist as distinct legal, social, cultural, religious, and racial entities in Canada. The establishment and operation of residential schools were a central element of this policy, which can best be described as “cultural genocide.” “Physical genocide is the mass killing of the members of a targeted group, and biological genocide is the destruction of the group’s reproductive capacity. Cultural genocide is the destruction of those structures and practices that allow the group to continue as a group. States that engage in cultural genocide set out to destroy the political and social institutions of the targeted group. Land is seized, and populations are forcibly transferred and their movement is restricted. Languages are banned. Spiritual leaders are persecuted, spiritual practices are forbidden, and objects of spiritual value are confiscated and destroyed. And, most significantly to the issue at hand, families are disrupted to prevent the transmission of cultural values and identity from one generation to the next. In its dealing with Aboriginal people, Canada did all these things.” ©Pamela Palmater Page 4  PPA124 - Indigenous Politics and Governance Always Critically Assess Documentaries Review pros & cons of the documentary assigned for class Review key terms & concepts they should have taken from the documentary Class Discussion of Readings Required Readings: NOW Toronto, Missing and Murdered: Canada’s Genocide Cover-up https://nowtoronto.com/news/missing-and-murdered-canada-genocide/ MMIWG Final Report: Genocide - “Part 5 Conclusion” at pages 26-27 https://www.mmiwg-ffada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Supplementary- Report_Genocide.pdf Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, “Honouring the Truth, Reconciliation for the Future: Summary of the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada” (Ottawa: Truth and Reconciliation Commission, 2015) “Residential Schools in Pre-Confederation Canada” pages 50 - 58. http://www.trc.ca/websites/trcinstitution/File/2015/Honouring_the_Truth_Reconcil ing_for_the_Future_July_23_2015.pdf Documentary: The Canary Effect https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uk9S6fcdPk ©Pamela Palmater Page 5