Overview

This important collection of essays expands the geographic, demographic, and analytic scope of the term genocide to encompass the effects of colonialism and settler colonialism in North America. Colonists made multiple and interconnected attempts to destroy Indigenous peoples as groups. The contributors examine these efforts through the lens of genocide. Considering some of the most destructive aspects of the colonization and subsequent settlement of North America, several essays address Indigenous boarding school systems imposed by both the Canadian and U.S. governments in attempts to ""civilize"" or ""assimilate"" Indigenous children. Contributors examine some of the most egregious assaults on Indigenous peoples and the natural environment, including massacres, land appropriation, the spread of disease, the near-extinction of the buffalo, and forced political restructuring of Indigenous communities. Assessing the record of these appalling events, the contributors maintain that North Americans must reckon with colonial and settler colonial attempts to annihilate Indigenous peoples. Contributors. Jeff Benvenuto, Robbie Ethridge, Theodore Fontaine, Joseph P. Gone, Alexander Laban Hinton, Tasha Hubbard, Margaret D. Jabobs, Kiera L. Ladner, Tricia E. Logan, David B. MacDonald, Benjamin Madley, Jeremy Patzer, Julia Peristerakis, Christopher Powell, Colin Samson, Gray H. Whaley, Andrew Woolford

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9780822357636

Table of Contents

Reviews

Colonial Genocide in Indigenous North America is one of the best anthologies I have read in the field of American Indian and Indigenous studies. Within North American history, few have seriously tackled the central question of this anthology: to what extent were Indigenous-settler relations genocidal? The failure of U.S. and Canadian scholars to address this question in a deep and sustained way makes this insightful collection particularly timely and important. -- Ned Blackhawk, author of Violence over the Land: Indians and Empires in the Early American West The field of genocide studies is finally waking up to the colonial dimensions of genocide, both in terms of Lemkin's own ground-breaking work and now more broadly in the work of numerous contemporary scholars. This excellent collection deals head on with the often neglected, or intentionally ignored, cases of colonial genocides in North America, and for that reason alone it will make a significant contribution to the field of genocide studies. Moreover, the quality of individual contributions will ensure this key text sets the standard for many years to come. -- Damien Short, author of Reconciliation and Colonial Power: Indigenous Rights in Australia This is a welcome addition to the ongoing discussions in the increasingly sophisticated literature that explores the applicability, extent, and lasting significance of genocide in North America... The editors deserve praise for the comparative dimensions of the volume, which look across time and space in North America and rightly anchor their project in the emerging field of critical genocide studies... Highly recommended. -- C. R. King Choice Colonial Genocide in Indigenous North America is a welcome revision of the long history of colonialism in North America... [It] could be used in undergraduate history courses to great effect. -- Garrett W. Wright The History Teacher This volume provides a wide ranging perspective on current research and ongoing debates regarding colonial genocide in North America - highlighting a great diversity of approaches and conclusions and demonstrating the courage of those within the field to push the limits of prevailing understandings. The volume is all the more valuable for its inclusion of the research and findings of Indigenous scholars. -- Kerry A. Bailey Ethnic and Racial Studies In challenging fellow scholars, indigenous communities and wider society with the question of what genocide is, the contributors to this important collection have done a great service, presenting new ways of conceptualizing and perhaps reconciling our collective and often dark past with what could be a brighter future together. -- James Daschuk Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History Colonial Genocide in Indigenous North America offers powerful and profound insights into the widespread and abundant abuse of genocide by European colonists and American and Canadian citizens and their governments toward indigenous peoples. -- Joel R. Hyer Western Historical Quarterly For anyone curious about the true impact of Manifest Destiny, colonial expansionism, and settler societies, this book will open eyes and introduce an often-ignored reality... This timely and valuable contribution will undoubtedly inform these debates and add to our understanding of the ways in which the destructive and often genocidal colonial practices and policies impacted the Indigenous populations of Canada and the United States. -- Stefanie Kunze The Canadian Journal of Native Studies What a timely anthology!... Such a survey is useful both for scholars who are fully engaged in genocide studies already and for those who want to consider how the field may apply to their research. More broadly, this volume could be a great benefit to scholars of genocide from outside North America who are looking for an up-to-date overview of the field for comparative purposes. -- Brenden W. Rensink Ethnohistory This tightly packed anthology not only reviews the contemporary issues of and positions on colonial genocide in North America, but stands as a wedge of discourse around the histories and interpretations of group destruction as part of the civilizing project... Woolford, Benvenuto, and Hinton's collection serves to challenge the so-called Pax Americana of peaceful assimilation in a not quite post-colonial North America. -- Christopher Davey Genocide Studies and Prevention Colonial Genocide in Indigenous North America contributes to a growing chorus of indigenous scholars, genocide analysts, and Native leaders who are bringing this most important topic into greater clarity, and makes an excellent resource for academics and university courses to launch that discussion. I encourage you to read and utilize the work, continuing the rise of indigenous voices about genocide. -- James V. Fenelon American Indian Culture and Research Journal

Colonial Genocide in Indigenous North America is one of the best anthologies I have read in the field of American Indian and Indigenous studies. Within North American history, few have seriously tackled the central question of this anthology: to what extent were Indigenous-settler relations genocidal? The failure of U.S. and Canadian scholars to address this question in a deep and sustained way makes this insightful collection particularly timely and important. --Ned Blackhawk, author of Violence over the Land: Indians and Empires in the Early American West

Colonial Genocide in Indigenous North America is one of the best anthologies I have read in the field of American Indian and Indigenous studies. Within North American history, few have seriously tackled the central question of this anthology: to what extent were Indigenous-settler relations genocidal? The failure of U.S. and Canadian scholars to address this question in a deep and sustained way makes this insightful collection particularly timely and important. -- Ned Blackhawk, author of Violence over the Land: Indians and Empires in the Early American West The field of genocide studies is finally waking up to the colonial dimensions of genocide, both in terms of Lemkin's own ground-breaking work and now more broadly in the work of numerous contemporary scholars. This excellent collection deals head on with the often neglected, or intentionally ignored, cases of colonial genocides in North America, and for that reason alone it will make a significant contribution to the field of genocide studies. Moreover, the quality of individual contributions will ensure this key text sets the standard for many years to come. -- Damien Short, author of Reconciliation and Colonial Power: Indigenous Rights in Australia This is a welcome addition to the ongoing discussions in the increasingly sophisticated literature that explores the applicability, extent, and lasting significance of genocide in North America... The editors deserve praise for the comparative dimensions of the volume, which look across time and space in North America and rightly anchor their project in the emerging field of critical genocide studies... Highly recommended. -- C. R. King Choice Colonial Genocide in Indigenous North America is a welcome revision of the long history of colonialism in North America... [It] could be used in undergraduate history courses to great effect. -- Garrett W. Wright The History Teacher This volume provides a wide ranging perspective on current research and ongoing debates regarding colonial genocide in North America - highlighting a great diversity of approaches and conclusions and demonstrating the courage of those within the field to push the limits of prevailing understandings. The volume is all the more valuable for its inclusion of the research and findings of Indigenous scholars. -- Kerry A. Bailey Ethnic and Racial Studies In challenging fellow scholars, indigenous communities and wider society with the question of what genocide is, the contributors to this important collection have done a great service, presenting new ways of conceptualizing and perhaps reconciling our collective and often dark past with what could be a brighter future together. -- James Daschuk Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History Colonial Genocide in Indigenous North America offers powerful and profound insights into the widespread and abundant abuse of genocide by European colonists and American and Canadian citizens and their governments toward indigenous peoples. -- Joel R. Hyer Western Historical Quarterly For anyone curious about the true impact of Manifest Destiny, colonial expansionism, and settler societies, this book will open eyes and introduce an often-ignored reality... This timely and valuable contribution will undoubtedly inform these debates and add to our understanding of the ways in which the destructive and often genocidal colonial practices and policies impacted the Indigenous populations of Canada and the United States. -- Stefanie Kunze The Canadian Journal of Native Studies

Author Information

Andrew Woolford is Professor of Sociology and Criminology and Social Justice Research Coordinator at the University of Manitoba. Jeff Benvenuto is a Ph.D. student in the Division of Global Affairs at Rutgers University, Newark. Alexander Laban Hinton is the Director of the Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights, Professor of Anthropology and Global Affairs, and the UNESCO Chair on Genocide Prevention at Rutgers University, Newark. Theodore Fontaine is the author of Broken Circle: The Dark Legacy of Indian Residential Schools: A Memoir.

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