By Mason Van Luven, GSU staff rep
Why say “Settler”?
The term "Settler" is popular, and it is complicated enough to cause confusion as to whom it applies to and whom it does not. My goal is to provide some clarity and, after reading this article, I hope you will have a better sense of whether you find yourself qualifying as a settler and what the term means to you.
Land is at the core of the debate
People from a diverse array of cultures and languages lived here for generations prior to the arrival of European settlers. Over a few centuries, settlers and colonial governments started to encroach upon Indigenous peoples’ land, and started claiming it for themselves one parcel at a time. Eventually, Indigenous peoples were forced onto reservations, monitored by “Indian Agents”, and sent to Residential Schools, while once traditional Indigenous territory became home to a new generation of ‘Canadians’. This relationship to the land for settlers (as articulated by Lorenzo Veracini in The Settler Colonial Present) was started by de-legitimizing Indigenous peoples' claim to their land in order to make room for new colonists and new forms of government.
In coming to terms with this part of Canada’s history, we can begin to reimagine a Canada that reconciles the damage its colonial legacy caused, and accept that remnants of this era persist today. Change begins with the individual, but as that individual endeavours to make a difference, they need to ask themselves: Am I a Settler?
Too often the definition of a Settler is overly simplified, or lobbed in with other terms that do not properly address who a Settler is.
Emma Lowman and Adam Barker write in Settler: Identity and Colonialism in [sic] 21st Century,
“There are terms that have been used as stand-ins… “White”, “newcomer”, “non-Aborignal”, “non-indigenous”, or simply “Canadian” (p.14).
They also speak to how families have been on the lands called Canada for generations, so we are not “new”, nor is Canada only “white”. Like ill-fitting clothes, these terms don’t fit the issue properly. When we try these identities on, some fit well, others are tight, or tell us little about who and what we are. Identity, then, is where the individual meets society, and its relation to a history that identity comes with.
Another aspect of the Settler identity that makes it confusing is how obscure the definition is. Enshrined in law is rigid legislation that determines who is and who is not Indigenous. There are problems with these definitions, illustrated by Metis peoples’ fights for Indigenous rights. For the Settler, it is obscure. There are no laws in legislation that defines who is and who is not a Settler. Instead, the construction of the Setter identity is determined by what it is not.
When accepting an identity, you need to accept the baggage that comes with it.
If you are a Rider fan, that means accepting that we have won the least number of Grey Cups.
For Settlers, this means accepting that your identity is rooted in the displacement of Indigenous people. However, no one Settler can transcend their colonial legacy or avoid it in today’s age. Nor is being a Settler an insult, or something to be ashamed of. It is what it is.
Herein lies the point of this article: Why say “Settler”?
The words we use to name ourselves are important. It is how we conceive ourselves collectively in a complicated world about who is included and excluded.
I write this as a Settler in hopes that this work in some small way impacts Canada in a positive way, and I encourage everyone to do something that marks their own positive contribution toward truth and reconciliation.
GSU is building a truth and reconciliation lending library. If you have resources you would recommend for our library or are interested in borrowing a book, contact staff rep Mason Van Luven at Mason@gsu.ca.
