Abstract: The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada states the revitalization and application of Indigenous laws is vital for re‐establishing respectful relations in Canada. It is also vital for restoring and maintaining safety, peace and order in Indigenous communities. This thesis explores how to accomplish this objective. It examines current challenges, resources and opportunities for […]

Abstract: Being homeless in one’s homeland is a colonial legacy for many Indigenous people in settler societies. The construction of Commonwealth nation-states from colonial settler societies depended on the dispossession of Indigenous peoples from their lands. The legacy of that dispossession and related attempts at assimilation that disrupted Indigenous practices, languages, and cultures—including patterns of […]

Abstract: This paper examines judicial reasoning in the area of Aboriginal title, paying particular attention to the Supreme Court of Canada’s Tsilhqot’in Nation (2014) decision. While the decision has been heralded as a ‘game-changer’ within media circles and legal commentaries for its recognition of a claim to title under section 35(1) of the Constitution Act, […]

Abstract: The New Zealand and Canadian Crowns are guided in their dealings with Indigenous peoples by common law fiduciary duties. In both countries, these duties have evolved into the constitutional principle of the ‘honour of the Crown’, which requires governments to consult with Indigenous peoples when contemplating legislative and executive action affecting their distinctive interests, […]

Abstract: This research demonstrates how a European plant, Cirsium arvense, common to North America since the sixteenth century and commonly considered a weed, became “Canadian ” when Early National Americans labeled it the Canada thistle in the years leading up to the War of 1812. This naming comprised part of a host of actions citizens […]

Abstract: In the early stages of research into the life of my great-great-grandfather, George Graham, I have repeatedly come across scraps of his life story relating to trees in various central city locations in Auckland, New Zealand, locations now abutting and on the university campus at which I work. These trees and places directly link […]

‘Oregon wildlife refuge occupiers cleared’, BBC News, 28/11/16. ‘Riot police move in on N Dakota pipeline protesters’, BBC News, 28/11/16.

Exxcerpt: A couple of years ago, I got a call from my oldest grandson, Jeremy. He was beginning middle school and taking his first class devoted to American history. For their initial homework assignment the teacher asked the students to speak with an older relative about their view of the American past and report on […]

Description: Sarah Carter’s “Imperial Plots: Women, Land, and the Spadework of British Colonialism on the Canadian Prairies” examines the goals, aspirations, andchallenges met by women who sought land of their own. Supporters of British women homesteaders argued they would contribute to the “spade-work” of the Empire through their imperial plots, replacing foreign settlers and relieving […]

Abstract: This dissertation project serves as an inquiry into Canadian representational practices and discourses surrounding colonialism, wilderness, nature and nationhood. The written thesis presented here is part of a multidisciplinary project that also comprised of an art exhibition held at Western’s McIntosh Gallery, from June 3rd to Junes 25th, 2016. This paper, alongside the drawing, […]