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Indigenous Peoples and the “Politics of Recognition” in Canada

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Indigenous Peoples and the “Politics of Recognition” in Canada Subjects of Empire? Indigenous Peoples and the “Politics of Recognition” in Canada By Glen Sean Coulthard B.A., University of Alberta, 2001 M.A., University of Victoria, 2003 A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY The Department of Political Science © Glen Sean Coulthard University of Victoria All rights reserved. This dissertation may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photo-copying or other means, without the permission of the author. ii Subjects of Empire? Indigenous Peoples and the “Politics of Recognition” in Canada By Glen Sean Coulthard B.A., University of Alberta, 2001 M.A., University of Victoria, 2003 Supervisory Committee Dr. James Tully, Supervisor (Department of Political Science) Dr. Taiaiake Alfred, Departmental Member (Department of Political Science) Dr. Avigail Eisenberg, Departmental Member (Department of Political Science) Dr. Michael Asch, Outside Member (Department of Anthropology) iii Supervisory Committee Dr. James Tully, Supervisor (Department of Political Science) Dr. Taiaiake Alfred, Departmental Member (Department of Political Science) Dr. Avigail Eisenberg, Departmental Member (Department of Political Science) Dr. Michael Asch, Outside Member (Department of Anthropology) ABSTRACT Over the last forty years, the self-determination claims of Indigenous peoples in Canada have increasingly been cast in the language of “recognition”: recognition of Indigenous cultural distinctiveness, recognition of an Indigenous right to land and self-government, recognition of the right to benefit from the development of Indigenous territories and resources, and so on. In addition, the last fifteen years have witnessed a proliferation of scholarship which has sought to flesh-out the ethical, legal and political questions that these claims tend to raise. Subsequently, “recognition” has now come to occupy a central place in our efforts to comprehend what is at stake in contestations over identity and difference in liberal settler-polities more generally. The purpose of this dissertation is twofold. First, I want to challenge the now commonplace assumption that the colonial relationship between Indigenous peoples and Canada can be reconciled via such a politics of recognition. Second, I want to explore glimpses of an alternative politics. More specifically, drawing critically from Indigenous and non-Indigenous intellectual and activist traditions, I will explore a politics of self-recognition that is less oriented iv around attaining an affirmative form of recognition from Indigenous peoples‟ master- other (the liberal settler-state and society), and more about critically revaluating, reconstructing and redeploying Indigenous cultural forms in ways that seek to prefigure alternatives to the colonial social relations that continue to facilitate the dispossession of Indigenous lands and self-determining authority. v Table of Contents Supervisory Page………………………………………………………………………………...ii Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………………..iii Table of Contents………………………………………………………………………………...v Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………………….vii Chapter One – Introduction: From “Wards of the State” to Subjects of Recognition? …...1 Introduction…...……….………………………………………………………………...1 I. Marx, Colonialism and the Politics of Dispossession in Post-White Paper Canada…………………………………………………………………………………..10 II. Frantz Fanon and the Politics of Recognition in Colonial Contexts…………...23 III. Argument Structure/Chapter Synopsis…………………………………………26 Chapter Two - Frantz Fanon and the Problem of Recognition in Colonial Contexts……37 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………….37 I. Recognition from Hegel‟s Master-Slave to Charles Taylor‟s “Politics of Recognition”……………………………………………………………………………39 II. Fanon‟s “Sociodiagnostic” Critique of Recognition in Colonial Contexts…….46 III. Self-Recognition and Anti-Colonial Empowerment……………………………65 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………...70 Chapter Three - Place Against Empire: The Dene Nation, Land Claims and the Politics of Recognition in the North………………………………………………………………….........73 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………….73 I. A Brief History of Denendeh……………………………………………………….76 II. “That is Not Our Way”: Challenging Colonial Development……………….…87 III. The Dene Declaration: Understanding Indigenous Nationalism……………..93 IV. Land Claims and the Domestication of Dene Nationhood……………………98 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………….113 Chapter Four – Resisting Culture: Essentialism and the Gendered Politics of Indigenous Self-Government………………………………………………………………………………119 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………...119 I. Social Constructivism and Deliberative Democracy……………………………122 II. Essentialism, Gender Discrimination, and Indigenous Self-Government…...126 III. Cultures of Resistance: Tradition as Transformative Strategy……………….142 IV. Social Constructivism, Colonial Domination and the State………………….145 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………….153 vi Chapter Five – Rethinking Recognition: Toward an Anti-Colonial Politics for the Present………………………………………………………………………………………….156 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………...156 I. Passing from the Particular to the Universal: Sartre, Identity Politics and the Colonial Dialectic……………………………………………………………………..160 II. Fanon on Negritude and Self-Recognition from Black Skin, White Masks to The Wretched of the Earth………...……………………………………………………170 III. Self-Recognition and Decolonization in Contemporary Indigenous Theory and Practice...………………….………………………………………………………186 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………….210 Chapter Six – Summary and Conclusion…………………………………............................213 Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………………...219 vii Acknowledgments The research and writing of this dissertation would not have been possible without the insight and guidance offered by many friends and colleagues. The unwavering support of my dissertation supervisor, James Tully, has been particularly valuable to me, as has the guidance and direction of Taiaiake Alfred. I consider both Jim and Taiaiake mentors of the highest order. I would also like to gratefully acknowledge the intellectual debt I owe to the rest of my dissertation committee, professors Michael Asch, Avigail Eisenberg, and Peter Kulchyski. Your thoughtful feedback has been invaluable to me and this project. I would also like to thank the many people I have met over the years who have influenced my thinking in innumerable ways. In particular, I would like to gratefully acknowledge the contributions of John Munro, Robert Nichols, Jakeet Singh and Rita Dhamoon, all of whom have read and commented on many of the chapters in this dissertation. I am confident that the end product is of a much higher quality because of their kind yet critical scrutiny. This project has also benefitted immensely from conversations I have had over the years with Andrea Smith, Audra Simpson, Dory Nason, Richard Day, Chris Andersen, Melissa Williams, Duncan Ivison, Edward Andrew, Jeffery Webber, Todd Gordon, Jeremy Webber, Stella Spak, Jeff Corntassel, Deborah Simmons, Brad Brian, Nikolas Kompridis, James Ingram, Linc Kesler, Bruce Baum, Laura Janara, Sheryl Lightfoot, Barbara Arneil, Paige Raibmon, Leanne Simpson, Mark Wilson, Cliff Atleo Jr., Ruth Ogilvie, Lana Lowe, Brock Pitawanakwat, David Dennis, Joanne Barnaby, Jennifer Duncan, Elaine Alexie, Stephanie Irlbacher-Fox, Erin Freeland, Ivan Drury, Stacey Bishop, and Dale Turner. viii Thanks also must go to my parents, Richard and Christine Coulthard, whose love and support I value more than anything. I save my deepest respect and gratitude for my partner Amanda Dowling, to whom I owe everything. It is to her and our children, Hayden and Tulita, that I dedicate this dissertation. Mahsi cho! Chapter One – Introduction: From “Wards of the State” to Subjects of Recognition? “Real recognition of our presence and humanity would require a genuine reconsideration of so many people‟s role in North American society that it would amount to a genuine leap of imagination.”1 - George Manuel and Michael Posluns Introduction Over the last forty years, the self-determination efforts and objectives of Indigenous peoples2 in Canada have increasingly been cast in the language of “recognition.” Consider, for example, the formative declaration issued by the political organization representing my community, the Dene Nation, in 1975: We the Dene of the NWT insist on the right to be regarded by ourselves and the world as a nation. Our struggle is for the recognition of the Dene Nation by the Government and people of Canada and the peoples and governments of the world. […] And while there are realities we are forced to submit to, such as the existence of a country called Canada, we insist on the right to self-determination and the recognition of the Dene Nation.3 […] 1 George Manuel and Michael Posluns, The Fourth World: An Indian Reality (Don Mills: Collier-Macmillan, 1974), 224. 2 When deployed in the Canadian context, I use the terms “Indigenous,” “Aboriginal” and “Native” interchangeably to refer to the descendants of those who traditionally occupied the territory now known as Canada prior to the arrival of Europeans settlers and state powers. At a more general level I will also use these terms in an international context to refer to the non-Western societies that have suffered under the weight of European colonialism. I use the specific terms “Indian” and “First Nation” to refer to those legally recognized as Indians under the Canadian federal government‟s
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