Canada's Second People: Reconciling Ourselves

• Author / Creator

  Letendre, Avery

• The primary research question for this thesis was: How have we, as colonizers, been impacted by settler colonialism? Questions that followed were: how have settler Canadians experienced historical and intergenerational trauma, in what ways have settlers experienced losses, and how do settlers continue to experience losses and trauma today? Settler colonialism is seldom considered detrimental to settlers due to their/our positional power and associated material privileges. Therefore, for many people this question has a degree of 'shock value' because it makes settler Canadians, not Indigenous people, the object of analysis. Nonetheless, this is a crucial aspect of reconciliation that has received little attention from settlers - the second people to live with and on these territories that are now called Canada.
  As little scholarly work has been generated on the topic, this thesis addresses a significant research gap. To explain, reconciliation efforts have largely been actions 'for' Indigenous peoples (Regan, 2010, p. 11), but this study contributes knowledge to understand the settler colonial relationship and how it can be reconciled differently. To do so, settler Canadians, and the settler Canadian culture, values, relationships, and behaviours (Ghostkeeper as cited in Jobin & Letendre, 2017), were critically examined and nuanced from Indigenous perspectives (Innes, 2010, p. 2). The aim is to reframe settler society through Native Studies - a discipline that "conducts research that benefits Native people and/or communities" through "research methods and theories that will achieve these goals" (Innes, 2010, p. 2). Native Studies "seeks to understand the experiences and lives of Aboriginal people and communities past, present, and future - not on their own but in their relationships with those of settler society" (https://apps.admissions.ualberta.ca/programs/ns/ns010/ns10).
  Knowledge was gathered from twelve open-ended interviews and was confirmed in a focus group. Study participants were Indigenous and non-Indigenous people who were recruited through a partnership with Reconciliation in Solidarity Edmonton (RISE). The thesis analysis combined interview contributions, focus group data, and secondary research that was drawn from a diverse set of disciplines, including Native Studies, Women's and Gender Studies, Epidemiology, Sociology, Philosophy, Law, and Political Science.
  This study was exploratory in nature and used qualitative research methods. A co-constitutive research methodology was utilized where participants were approached reciprocally. The theoretical framework incorporated concepts of mutual liberation, found in Indigenous feminism (Anderson, 2010), and interrelatedness, from the Cree and Métis natural law of wâhkôwtowin (Cardinal & Hildebrandt, 2000) and Medicine Wheel teachings. The study drew comparison to men's liberation within patriarchy by comparing settler relationships and consciousness to men-women relations and men-men relations (Whitehead & Hearn, 2006).
  As a result, settlers are found to experience harms and poverties in the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual realms. Evidence is provided to demonstrate how settler colonialism separates settlers from our own humanity, the humanity of others, and from non-human beings, in a distinct structure that dispossesses Indigenous peoples of their lands and operates alongside capitalism and racism. Settler harms and poverties result from participation in settler colonialism and are consequences from living within the settler colonial structure. As such, settler harms and poverties are indicators of wellbeing and exist theoretically alongside settler privileges. Accordingly, this study establishes the theory that settler colonialism is a societal determinant of settler health and posits that the settler colonial culture and value system have highly influenced settler wellbeing, in addition to Indigenous health and wellbeing.
  By centering Indigenous worldviews about interrelatedness and colonial power in the study, the results uncover new ways to understand and approach reconciliation. This study assists settlers to realize and acknowledge the harms and poverties that are experienced within the structure of settler colonialism to facilitate intrinsic motivation and mutual liberation. It is hoped that nuanced settler discourses, ideologies, and beliefs will contribute to efficacious solidarity work. Ultimately, the intention of the project is to shape settler consciousness, as a way to bring about cultural change, in order to advance Indigenous self-determination and the return of lands.
  The study's analysis, visuals, and theory can enhance pedagogies in higher education and Indigenous awareness training. This exploratory work can be built upon in future research in a myriad of ways, through action research and in collaboration with other disciplines, such as Education, Psychology, Sociology, and Epidemiology and Public Health.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • settler consciousness
  • settler colonialism
  • decolonization
  • reconciliation
  • Canadian settlers

• Graduation date

  Fall 2018

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Arts

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3WH2DW7V

• License

  Permission is hereby granted to the University of Alberta Libraries to reproduce single copies of this thesis and to lend or sell such copies for private, scholarly or scientific research purposes only. Where the thesis is converted to, or otherwise made available in digital form, the University of Alberta will advise potential users of the thesis of these terms. The author reserves all other publication and other rights in association with the copyright in the thesis and, except as herein before provided, neither the thesis nor any substantial portion thereof may be printed or otherwise reproduced in any material form whatsoever without the author's prior written permission.