Excerpt: An examination of settler colonialism from a psychoanalytic perspective is valuable in several ways. Unfortunately, too many people view this very complex topic from a binary perspective, oversimplifying causes as well as modes of redress. One source of oversimplification is a result of the difficulty in managing/mastering our own aggression that is stirred up when we think of horrors from the past and observe them in the present. A variety of defense mechanisms are available to us to deal with our own pain and conflict. Splitting allows us to see the world as consisting of either good people or bad people, denying the ever present ambiguities. Projection allows us to imbue our own forbidden impulses and wishes onto those with whom we disagree.