Quote:
Originally Posted by TheIronMaiden
Interesting. How do you all feel about contemporary Canadian Citizens being called settlers?
This is the common way to address Canadians in post colonial discourse. It doesn't bother me to be called a settler or a treaty person, but I know a few people who are quite upset when they are called settlers or treaty people.
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The term "settler" is technically correct, obviously, but I guess like "immigrant" it carries a pretty heavy political/moral load.
I have no problem being called a settler, except for the fact that one again it simplifies an incredibly complicated debate about what actually happened between white Europeans and indigenous people. It also oversimplifies Canadian identity - what about subsequent waves of mass immigration from China, and the rest of Asia? Are they spared the "settler" label? If you look at the current political conflict over resource redistribution from taxpayers to "status Indians," well obviously not.