Lecture 21 Flashcards
Franz Fanon
Wrote The Wretched of the Earth in 1961, where he analyzed the dehumanizing and violent effects of colonization upon the individual and the nation. In the book, he argues that decolonization is ongoing and requires you to decolonize yourself.
Two Row Wampum
A physical beaded representation of the agreement between the Dutch and the Haudenosaunee (also known as the Iroquois). “We shall each travel the river together, side by side, but in our own boat. Neither of us will try to steer the other’s vessel.”
Royal Proclamation 1763
A proclamation by the British Crown that recognized the indigenous right to land and indigenous nationhood. Because of that recognition, land could only be ceded to the Crown through treaty, nation to nation. The proclamation attempted to create a principle of peaceful coexistence and, when that failed, has been an important legal tool for reconciliation.
Indian Act 1867
The act that started an era of Canadian Paternalism towards indigenous peoples. The act created reserves with white “Indian agents” in charge, defined Indian and who could claim status, took land, forced Western governance styles, and turned all indigenous people into wards of the state.
1969 White Paper
A plan by Pierre Trudeau and Jean Chrétien that would have eliminated the Indian Act and all group recognition of indigenous peoples based on liberal principles. Was the catalyst for indigenous resistance, which fought hard to kill the plan.
Calder Decision 1973
The decision of the Supreme Court of Canada that land rights had never been extinguished and indigenous (“aboriginal”) title to land existed because of the Royal Proclamation of 1763.
Delgamuukw Decision 1997
The decision of the Supreme Court of Canada to reverse the decision of a British Columbia Court, which had decided that oral history was not an admissible form of evidence. The Supreme Court overturned that decision, accepting the oral history of indigenous people as evidence and generally affirming indigenous title to land.
UNDRIP
The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, a resolution passed in 2007 that defines the individual and collective rights of Indigenous peoples and sets a standard for consultation for all decisions. BC law explicitly affirms UNDRIP and must follow its principles.
Objectives of Indigenous Resistance
- Reject assimilation and residential schools
- Demand Inclusion in Decision-Making Processes
- Recognition of Treaty rights and Self Determination
- Recognition of Land Claims/Title
- Legal Reconciliation through Court Cases (Calder, Delgamuukw,
Tsilhqot’in) - Resurgence and Decolonization by rejecting the settler state and
colonialism and embracing and rebuilding indigenous ways of life
