The nature of indigeneity: Shianna McAllister, ‘From Sacred to Public: A Hidden Place into the Stein Valley Nlaka’pamux Heritage Park’, South Atlantic Quarterly, 118, 4, 2019, pp. 911-920 | settler colonial studies blog

The nature of indigeneity: Shianna McAllister, ‘From Sacred to Public: A Hidden Place into the Stein Valley Nlaka’pamux Heritage Park’, South Atlantic Quarterly, 118, 4, 2019, pp. 911-920

20Oct19

Abstract: This narrative essay discusses the transformative nature of colonialism in the creation of the Stein Valley Nlaka’pamux Heritage Park by highlighting how the creation of the park simultaneously tokenizes and erases Indigenous presence on the land and in the waters. Taking up themes of alienation and everyday violence, this essay considers the use of stereotypical notions of Indigeneity in the campaign to save the Stein and how this impacted the way that Nlaka’pamux communities relate to the park today. In doing so, this paper also brings into question the complexities of settler allyship and their potential cooptation of Indigenous assertions of jurisdiction when settlers recenter themselves in the struggle.

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