Re-peopling in a settler-colonial context

The intersection of Indigenous laws of adoption with Canadian immigration law

Bibliographic Data

ID2389151
AuthorsAmar Bhatia (0000-0002-9223-5119, York University, corresponding author)
Year2018
Volume14
Issue4
Pages343-353
Publication date2018-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAlterNative An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1177-1801 • E-ISSN: 1174-1740
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/1177180118809274
OpenAlexW2901135458
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited24

This article examines the intersection of Indigenous and Canadian ways of making and maintaining relations through the specific examples of adoption and immigration. Canada and all Indigenous societies assert the authority to re-people themselves. Unlike Canada, Indigenous peoples must do so in the face of ongoing settler colonialism. I argue that Indigenous peoples and nations have authority to regulate these matters under Indigenous laws and systems of treaty relations. However, Canadian laws and policies have served to obscure this authority. I argue that non-metaphorical decolonization requires the continued exercise of Indigenous authority over "peopling" powers. These powers necessarily include authority over adoption at societal, familial, and individual levels via, respectively, ongoing treaty relations and customary membership. Adoption has formed part of this resistance but remains limited by Canadian sovereignty and the state's assertions of control over borders and immigration

Colonialism · Decolonization · Geography · Immigration · Indigenous · Indigenous rights · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Sovereignty · Treaty · Canadian Identity and History · Indigenous Health, Education, and Rights · Indigenous Studies and Ecology · Law

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