An Examination Of Settler-Colonial Genocide In Canada At The Microlevel Of Reserves

Abstract

Genocide of the Indigenous peoples in Canada under colonization and settler-colonialism, is analyzed through Decolonization theory, using the United Nations Convention on Genocide definition of genocide, formally ratified by Canada in 1952. This includes the debate of ‘cultural’ genocide verse genocide period. Settler-colonialist mode of socioeconomic and political operation continues genocide via attrition, particularly via the healthcare disparity faced by Indigenous peoples. Issues: residential schools, overincarceration, obesity, inaccessibility of safe drinking water, opioid use, and the 60s scoop to present day millennial scoop. In a given Indigenous society, the elements and acts defining genocide are discernable, here from documents such as reports by the departments and institutional structures that comprise the Canadian system that have been directed towards Indigenous peoples. This is because genocide continues to be an ongoing process. Biigtigong Nishnaabeg First Nation Reserve my home community, is the societal example analyzed for examples substantive of the UN definition.