Guides: Decolonization, Indigenization and Reconciliation: Companion Resource Guide: Colonialism

Definitions

Colonialism: "the control over one territory and its peoples by another, and the ideologies of superiority and racism often associated with such domination." Dictionary of Human Geography

"Settler colonialism is different from other forms of colonialism in that settlers come with the intention of making a new home on the land, a homemaking that insists on settler sovereignty over all things in their new domain. In order for the settlers to make a place their home, they must destroy and disappear the Indigenous peoples that live there... Settler colonialism is a structure and not an event." Decolonization is not a metaphor

Colonialism: Recommended Resources for Further Learning

Colonized Classrooms by Sheila Cote-Meek
Publication Date: 2014
Indigenous students confront narratives of colonial violence in the postsecondary classroom while at the same time living and experiencing colonial violence on a daily basis. Using interviews with students, teachers and Elders, Cote-Meek deftly illustrates how colonization and its violence are, rather than a distant experience, being negotiated every day in universities across Canada.
Settler: identity and colonialism in 21st century Canada by Emma Battell Lowman; Adam J. Barker
Publication Date: 2015
Being a settler means understanding that what is now called Canada is deeply entangled in the violence of colonialism, which continues to define contemporary political, economic and cultural life. It also means accepting our responsibility to struggle for change. This book offers ways to decolonize relationships so that we can find new ways of being on the land, together.
Impact: colonialism in Canada by Warren Cariou (Editor); Katherena Vermette (Editor); Niigaanwewidam James Sinclair (Editor)
Publication Date: 2017
A collection of fiction, poetry, essays and creative non-fiction, this anthology features works by over 20 Indigenous Canadian writers. The book focuses on the effects of colonialism in Canada from both historical and contemporary perspectives.
Racism, colonialism, and indigeneity in Canada : a reader by Martin J Cannon (Editor), Lina Sunseri (Editor), Taiaiake Alfred
Publication Date: 2018
A collection of readings, written primarily by Indigenous scholars, examining the impact of racism and the obligations of Indigenous peoples and settler colonialists in terms of understanding, acknowledging, and taking responsibility for colonial injustices.
Clearing the Plains by James Daschuk.
Publication Date: 2013
Revealing how Canada's first Prime Minister used a policy of starvation against Indigenous people to clear the way for settlement, this multiple award-winning book sparked widespread debate about genocide in Canada.
Pollution Is Colonialism by Max Liboiron
Publication Date: 2021
A framework for understanding scientific research methods as practices that can align with or against colonialism. Focusing on plastic pollution, the book models an anticolonial scientific practice aligned with Indigenous, particularly Métis, concepts of land, ethics, and relations.
Fighting for a Hand to Hold: confronting medical colonialism against indigenous children in Canada by Samir Shaheen-Hussain; Foreword by Cindy Blackstock; Afterword by Katsi'tsakwas Ellen Gabriel
Publication Date: 2020
An indispensable case study of contemporary medical colonialism in Quebec. This book exposes the medical establishment's role in the displacement, colonization, and genocide of Indigenous peoples in Canada.
A Bounded Land by Cole Harris
Publication Date: 2020
Through a series of vignettes Cole Harris exposes the underlying architecture of colonialism, from first contacts, to the immigrant experience in early Canada, to the dispossession of First Nations. In the process, he unearths fresh insights on the influence of Indigenous peoples and argues that Canada's boundedness is ultimately drawing it toward its Indigenous roots.
Entering the Warzone by Donna K. Goodleaf
Publication Date: 1995
One of the earliest Kanien’kehaka accounts of the 1990 blockade at Oka and an in depth look at colonial aggression, dispossession of Kanien’kehaka land as well as Kanien’kehaka resistance in defense of sovereignty.
Wrestling with colonialism on steroids : Quebec Inuit fight for their homeland by Zebedee Nungak; Tagak Curley (Foreword)
Publication Date: 2017
In this concise, lively account, Zebedee Nungak relates the inside story of how the young Inuit and Cree "Davids" took action when Québec began construction on the giant James Bay hydro project. They fought in court and at the negotiation table for an accord that effectively became Canada's first land-claims agreement.
No surrender : the land remains indigenous by Sheldon Krasowski; Winona Wheeler (foreword)
Publication Date: 2019
According to Sheldon Krasowski's research, Canada understood that the Cree, Anishnabeg, Saulteaux, Assiniboine, Siksika, Piikani, Kainaa, Stoney and Tsuu T'ina nations wanted to share the land with newcomers--with conditions--but were misled over governance, reserved lands, and resource sharing. No Surrender demonstrates that the land remains Indigenous.
Canada and Colonial Genocide by Andrew Woolford (Editor); Jeff Benvenuto (Editor)
Publication Date: 2016
This volume provides scholarly analyses of the multiple dimensions or processes of settler colonialism and its aftermaths in Canada. Various acts of genocidal violence are covered, including residential schools, repressive legal or governmental controls, ecological destruction, and disease spread.

Canada's Colonial Playbook - APTN Investigates and Infocus
APTN Investigates TV episode, and InFocus podcast, look at, and offer behind-the-scenes discussion about, Canada’s colonial past and present. See also this guide's Decolonization section and APTN's Colonial Toolkit to learn about ways First Nations Peoples are fighting back.

Colonization Road
Comedian Ryan McMahon travels Ontario’s colonization roads learning about their impact on First Nations and settlers.

Barker, A. J. (2012). Locating settler colonialism. Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History, 13(3).

Barker, A.J. (2009). The Contemporary Reality of Canadian Imperialism: Settler Colonialism and the Hybrid Colonial State. The American Indian Quarterly 33(3): 325-351

Choate, P., Bear Chief, R., Lindstrom, D., & CrazyBull, B. (2021). Sustaining Cultural Genocide—A Look at Indigenous Children in Non-Indigenous Placement and the Place of Judicial Decision Making—A Canadian Example. Laws, 10(3), 59.

Milloy, J. (2008). Indian Act Colonialism: A Century of Dishonour, 1869-1969. Research Paper for the National Centre for First Nations Governance.

Neegangwedgin, E. (2012). "Chattling the Indigenous Other": A historical examination of the enslavement of Aboriginal peoples in Canada. AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples 8(1): 15-26.

Wolfe, P. (2006). Settler colonialism and the elimination of the native. Journal of Genocide Research, 8(4): 387-409.

Find many more books and articles on the Colonialism in Canada guide.

Concordia Library Guide: Colonialism in Canada
Extensive list of books, articles and films about settler colonialism in Canada and Quebec. Part of the Indigenous Resources for Faculty library guide.