Making Aboriginal People ‘Immigrants Too’: A Comparison of Citizenship Programs for Newcomers and Indigenous Peoples in Postwar Canada, 1940s–1960s

Penal nationalism in the settler colony: On the construction and maintenance of ‘national whiteness’ in settler Canada

“…In brief, I delineate three 'phases' of penal nationalism, which should be understood as ideal types, rather than hermetically sealed models. These phases are; the Confederation era of explicit white supremacy 2 and the use of criminal punishment to isolate, segregate, and displace 'others' so as to institutionalize settler sovereignty (Kiiwetinepinesiik Stark, 2016); the post WWII era of official pluralism and the use of criminal rehabilitation to compel assimilation into white cultural norms (Bohaker and Iacovetta, 2009;Mackey, 1999); and finally, the neoliberal period of abstract individualism which sought to define citizenship as a lack of state reliance and, subsequently, criminality as an excess of state dependence (Gavigan and Chunn, 2004;Moore and Hannah-Moffat, 2005). In analyzing each period, I point to three key elements of penal nationalism: the use of penal policy to (re)define social solidarities during crises of state legitimacy; the strategic use of penal policy to define a 'good' citizen in a racially coded manner; and the conflation of non-conformity to the ideal model of citizenship with threat to the nation, legitimizing the detention, isolation and often violent treatment of the 'other'.…”

“…On a global scale, formally sanctioned racial superiority was no longer legitimate or palatable, marking a general historical shift from regimes of racial naturalism and toward racial historicism (Goldberg, 2001;Mackey, 1999). Furthermore, the passage of the Canadian Citizenship Act in 1947 rekindled interest in national identity and the need to balance ostensible commitments to humanitarian liberal democracy, with the extant 'superiority' of the white settler ruling classes (Bohaker and Iacovetta, 2009;Mackey, 1999). At the same time, endogenous processes such as the movement for Quebecois separatism, the resettlement of wartime refugees, Indigenous population growth, 4 and Indigenous sovereignty movements also stoked fear that marginal and foreign groups might threaten existing power bases (Bohaker and Iacovetta, 2009).…”

“…Things like the fetishization of individualism and private property, the valorization of electoral politics, etc. were all products of the colonial architecture which managed and maintained the supremacy and power of white settlers (Bohaker and Iacovetta, 2009). Despite the official language of pluralism, the project was one of ongoing assimilation, as registered by the consolidation of the Departments of Indian Affairs and Canadian Citizenship into the newly formed Department of Citizenship and Immigration (1947).…”

Rooster Town: Winnipeg’s Lost Métis Suburb, 1900–1960

“…As Heidi Bohaker and Franca Iacovetta have argued, treating Aboriginal people as immigrants denied their history and the special responsibilities that the Canadian state has had for them. 39 In an appendix to the Lagassé report, anthropologists W. E. Boek and J. K. Boek elaborated on the ways that slum behaviours, necessary for survival, compromised the ability to integrate into white urban society. 40 Aboriginal slum-dwellers frequently depended on friends and relatives for gifts, food, loans, shelter, and help in finding work.…”

The Relationships Between Racialized Immigrants and Indigenous Peoples in Canada: A Literature Review

“…In many instances when both Indigenous peoples and immigrants are included in the same dialogue or study, the discussion revolves around comparing and/or contrasting experiences of marginalization and exclusion within Canadian society through analysis of health outcomes (for example : Higginbottom et al, 2011), urban settlement patterns (Peters & Starchenko, 2005), access to affordable housing (Carter & Osborne, 2009), labour market outcomes (Kuhn & Sweetman, 2002), or educational outcomes (Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, 2008). Indeed, there has been a tendency in academia, public discourse, and government policy to "make Aboriginals [sic] immigrants too" (Bohacker & Iacovetta, 2009) by treating Indigenous peoples as another minority group to be assimilated and absorbed into the mainstream.…”