Myths are structures: Eric W. Marlow, The Myths and Institutional Structures that Maintain Settler Colonialism in the United States, MA Dissertation, University of Oklahoma, 2016 | settler colonial studies blog

Myths are structures: Eric W. Marlow, The Myths and Institutional Structures that Maintain Settler Colonialism in the United States, MA Dissertation, University of Oklahoma, 2016

24Aug16

Excerpt: Columbus’ words in describing the first Indigenous inhabitants that he encountered in the Western Hemisphere laid the groundwork for what would become the structures of settler colonialism. Like laying the first stem of irises in a flower bed, the words Columbus used set in motion the myths and structures that would grow, just like the rhizome stem of an iris into multiple flowering parts of the flower bed of settler The growth of settler colonialism’s myths and structures was much like the horizontal growth of rhizome irises as each segment of the plant links it to all other parts and each flower that shoots up depends on all of the other shoots for its health and success. Each new horizontal segment of the plant is representative of the differing segments of settler colonialism that have worked together to create the tactics that provide for the overall strategic attack on Indigenous peoples and even on Indigeneity itself.

Filed under: Uncategorized | Closed