Top 10 Settler Excuses for Colonialism

While I may not totally agree with all of its arguments, and some of it is clearly Australia-specific, this set of replies by the blog Blackfellas to the “Top Ten Colonist Self Justifications” offered by white Australians is hilarious. I have no doubt Aboriginal peoples in Canada and the US can easily adapt these rationalizations […]

What’s up, Doctrine? (part 2)

I probably first heard about the “Doctrine of Discovery” when I came upon my parents during one of their kitchen table sessions. Typically, Dad would make a point by poking a finger at the table. Mom might ponder a moment, maybe leaf through Felix Cohen’s Handbook of Federal Indian Law, or reach for a piece […]

What’s up, Doctrine?

Recently, I became a last-minute replacement for a panel discussion at a Montreal university for the “Anti-Capitalist Teach-in Against the G8/G20”. The person I replaced said he had to back out that day because of work. Later, he said he’d received a call from the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service, or CSIS. Lately, a lot […]