Settler colonialism is genocidal: Maureen S. Hiebert, ‘University Teaching of Indigenous Genocides in North America: A Pedagogical Perspective on Teaching “Our Own Case”’, Genocide Studies International, 16, 1, 2025 | settler colonial studies blog

Settler colonialism is genocidal: Maureen S. Hiebert, ‘University Teaching of Indigenous Genocides in North America: A Pedagogical Perspective on Teaching “Our Own Case”’, Genocide Studies International, 16, 1, 2025

18Jul25

Abstract: I explore the specific challenges of teaching genocides committed in the United States and Canada against Indigenous peoples through various methods and the very logic of settler colonialism. The positionality of settler professors and students means that this subject stands in sharp contrast to other commonly taught cases of genocide which are “far away” physically, psychologically, and often temporally. Teaching Indigenous genocide in North America involves the fraught experience of educating students about the intentional elimination of Indigenous communities by us on a homeland claimed by Indigenous peoples and settler states and societies. These efforts are further challenged by scholars and activists who reject the study of Indigenous genocide in both countries as “woke” campus culture intended to undermine Western values and civilization. Incorporating Indigenous genocides into genocide studies courses can be facilitated by making explicit our own positionality as settler instructors, avoiding cultural appropriation and making Indigenous students feel they must salve our conscience, careful case selection, and respectful collaboration with local Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers built on the sensitive cultivation of community relationships.

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