Indigenous Gender Reformations: Physical Culture, Settler Colonialism and the Politics of Containment

Norman, Moss E.; Hart, Michael H.; Petherick, LeAnne

doi:10.1123/ssj.2018-0130

Cited by 14 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…To further the paper's argument, I draw on Norman et al. 's (2019) concept of the “settler colonial grid of recognizability,” the process by which Indigenous people are “contained” (see Goodyear‐Ka'opua 2013) and made knowable or legible as a certain “type of subject” (see Hokowhitu 2012, 34, for an analysis of how the British sought to reform Maori men through elite education to be “recognisable to the colonial state”). In the context of the nascent Canadian state, the prevailing political economic order required defusing any lingering threats posed by Indigenous sovereignty, in turn requiring the “taming” of Indigenous people into recognizable colonial subjects through assimilative education.…”

Section: The Settler State Residential Schools and Student Labour: mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Consequently, the school was the subject of extended profiles in local and provincial newspapers, contributing to heightened public visibility of the institution. These stereotypical media portrayals form a central part of the settler colonial grid of recognizability (Taylor 2013; Norman et al 2019). BRS was converted to a residence in 1960 and enrollment would reach 200 before the end of the decade.…”

Section: The Brandon Residential Schoolmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Though these authors draw from Goodyear‐Ka'opua's 2013 introduction of the term as a corollary to Wolfe's (2006) logic of elimination, their usage differs slightly. As part of the settler colonial apparatus, Goodyear‐Ka'opua's (2013, 8) “containment” refers to the settler‐state's allowance of Indigenous cultural difference within defined parameters that do not “threaten or undermine settler‐colonial relations of power.” Norman et al (2019) adapt this logic of containment to include confining Indigenous people to reserve spaces, residential schools, comprehensible spatialized (read: bounded, surveyed) zones, and legible cultural forms. Residential schools became spaces to “contain children” (de Leeuw 2009, 129), but the schools functioned as more than simple containers.…”

Section: The Logic Of Containmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This paper proceeds in agreement with McCallum's (2013, 30) contention in her foundational scholarship on Indigenous women and work that residential school students' labour is more properly categorized as "unwaged (and unfree)." Indigenous student labour allowed Indigenous youth to become legible subjects through the settler colonial grid of recognizability (see Norman et al 2019 for this concept, further outlined below).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…I argue that the labour exploitation of pupils throughout the residential schooling system should be considered a key tenet of settler colonialism, of which the burgeoning industrial capitalist system was an inextricable part. This paper proceeds in agreement with McCallum's (2013, 30) contention in her foundational scholarship on Indigenous women and work that residential school students' labour is more properly categorized as “unwaged (and unfree).” Indigenous student labour allowed Indigenous youth to become legible subjects through the settler colonial grid of recognizability (see Norman et al 2019 for this concept, further outlined below).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Indigenous student labour and settler colonialism at Brandon Residential School

Giancarlo

2020

Canadian Geographies / Géographies canadiennes

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• Indigenous student labour at residential schools comprised a central component of settler colonialism. • These labour demands were exploitative, unfree, and intended to reduce school and system expenses. • Indigenous student labour regimes sought to demonstrate to the settler public that Indigenous youth would become productive, assimilated members of Euro-Canadian society. This paper contends that unfree Indigenous student labour at residential schools was a key-and underappreciated-component of settler colonialism in Canada. Colonial administration and the churches attempted to "civilize" and assimilate Indigenous people-and prepare the frontier for white settlersthrough residential schooling. Labour, in accordance with Euro-Canadian gender norms, was expected to usher Brandon Industrial Institute (later Brandon Residential School) students from the "backwardness" of traditional lifeways to the industriousness and assimilation necessary for their roles in the serving classes of modern society. I use archival sources-newspapers, unpublished reports, Department of Indian Affairs documents, and United Church correspondence and photographs-and employ a version of Norman et al.'s "settler-colonial grid of recognizability" to examine student labour. This paper argues that the Department of Indian Affairs and church officials at Brandon Residential School sought to make Indigenous youth "legible" under the settler-colonial grid of recognizability through agricultural and manual work for boys and domestic labour for girls, both of which ensured the school's financial viability. I propose that this underexplored aspect of settler colonialism could be understood through three main themes-imperial settlerhumanitarianism, the logic of containment, and productive bodies-that are traced across the lifetime of the school.

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Section: The Settler State Residential Schools and Student Labour: mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Brandon Residential Schoolmentioning

confidence: 99%