On Sept. 25, Prime Minister Stephen Harper proclaimed an astonishing statement at the G20 Summit in Pittsburgh, USA.

He said colonialism never existed in the history of Canada. This is an erroneous portrayal of Canadian history because Canada was created on a foundation of colonialism.

As Indigenous peoples, we should be concerned of this statement made by the highest official of this country and what its consequences are.

Colonialism is an act of domination involving the subjugation of a sovereign people by another sovereign power. There is historical documentation recording events where sovereign nations began extending their powers onto foreign lands. Some examples include the British occupation of India, and the colonization of other countries such as Africa and so on.

The occupying nations often were in search of new lands and wealth to support their metropolitan states.

Imperialistic expansion led to colonial rule over Indigenous nations, deprivation of lands and natural resources, cultural transformation, and other aspects of exploitation, and suppression of political and human rights.

In Canada, early European explorers and missionaries began arriving and settling on Indigenous peoples’ territories.

During this period, Canada became a colony of Great Britain and all authority originated from there. The British North America Act governed the affairs of the colony. Soon the settlers came to distinguish themselves as a separate identity from their Mother Land. Canada’s constitution was repatriated in 1982 and is now considered a decolonized country.

Is it really a decolonized country? In the first place, Canada never possessed the necessary international prerequisites to be recognized as a nation state. Decolonization  involves the occupiers leaving the country and returning to their home countries. This happened in India where the British left the country, and the real “Indians” of India took  over their nation once again.

In Canada, the occupiers are still here. Indigenous nations are still under colonial rule. Colonialism is alive and well in Canada today.

The settler governments’ premise for subjugation is that the natives were savages and inferior, and perceived them as incapable of governing themselves. The occupiers felt it was their divine right and duty to fend for the natives. Instead, the effects of colonialism have been very devastating on the cultural identity, political and territorial integrity of the Indigenous peoples. Treaties paved the way for European settlement and economic expansion.

The BNA Act relegated Indigenous nations as perpetual “wards of the state”. They were then relocated onto “Indian Reserves”. Jurisdiction of natural resources were delegated to the provincial governments. Indigenous territories were demarcated into municipal, provincial, national and international boundaries.

A federal parliament and provincial legislatures were instituted to reinforce colonial laws enforcing every aspect of how the people will live in their communities. The colonial Indian Act governs the affairs of the reserves and dictates how the Chief and band council will be elected and how they will govern.

There was the “ Child Scoop” era, and the infamous Residential School period. Roads, railways, and other infrastructure were constructed towards the interior of Canada displacing Indigenous populations along the way. Billions of dollars of natural resources have been exported to international destinations. History and retrospect verifies the disintegration of Indigenous societies as borne by current statistics of poverty, disease, homelessness. The settlers have thrived with the bountiful homelands of the Indigenous nations.

The Government of Canada has apologized for the residential schools. But, the residential schools policy is only one instrument of colonialism and oppression. Perhaps, the Prime Minister can now apologize for the impacts colonization has had on the Indigenous Peoples along with the appropriate means of recompense for all the loss we have suffered under colonial rule. We need our freedom and resources so we can rebuild our communities for a better future.    

Dean Cromarty,
Wunnumin Lake First Nation

(Backgound: 2008 Lakehead University graduate with a degree in Political Science and Indigenous Learning, former Chief of Wunnumin Lake, and executive director of Shibogama, chairman of Wasaya Group Inc.)