Canada’s Indians (sic): (Re)racializing Canadian Sovereign Contours Through Juridical Constructions of Indianness in McIvor v. Canada

• Author / Creator

  Kolopenuk, Jessica

• While scholarship has recognized the role that sex discrimination has played in the naming of “Indians” in Canada, one aspect of this depiction has been minimized. In addition to the gendering of Indigenous subjectivities, Canada has consistently racialized us/them through practices of juridical categorization. The latest court case dealing with Indian registration, McIvor v. Canada, (re)produced this practice. This thesis explores McIvor to understand the relational struggles, limitations, and authority the courts engender when existing constructions of Indigenous legal recognition are challenged. I use Bourdieu’s (1987) juridical field to position “law” as a dynamic arena whereby hierarchical struggles generate social realities. I also utilize Moreton-Robinson’s (2000, 2001, 2004a) theory of patriarchal white sovereignty to understand the ways in which, through its juridical system, Canada is a racialized and racializing state. I seek to demonstrate how Canadian sovereignty is (re)produced through racialized constructions of Indigenous legal recognition in McIvor.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Indigenous
  • Race
  • Gender
  • Indian
  • Law

• Graduation date

  Fall 2012

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Arts

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R39S3Q

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.