Taken from The Conversation.
Tuesday April 8, 2025 / From: Frank Deer
Traduction Johan Wallengren
As part of his absurd rhetoric and from time to time, which also includes a proposal for the acquisition of Greenland and the Gaza Strip, some have said that Trump’s interest in the annexation of Canada was an imperialist impulse.
As a Kanien’Kehà Educator: Ka having at heart the teaching of indigenous languages, civic education and reconciliation, I believe that it is essential to look at how Canadians approach the concept of indigenous nation in a context where threats weigh on the sovereignty of their country. I would add that an annexation of Canada by the United States would be devastating for indigenous peoples.
Reaffirm the Canadian nation in the face of threats
Trump said Canada is likely to be annexed by economic force, while others have hypothesized that military invasion could be part of this attempt to conquer.
Although Trump’s threats directed against Canada seem aberrant, many Canadians take them seriously and consider current imperialist rhetoric as a threat to Canadian sovereignty.
Political figures, intellectuals and Canadian citizens reacted to this threat by rallying around the Canadian nation, sovereignty and identity. Some suggest that a feeling of national unity has been fueled in Canada for the first time in generations.
However, this feeling of unity that many feel in Canada – and which could encourage voters to change the outcome of the approaching federal elections – camouflages the realities of the Canadian nation. The State of Nation of Canada deserves more than one title that is dwelling, in particular from the angle of unity in the face of current American threats. But I am particularly concerned about the fact that the national anchoring of First Nations, Inuit and Métis can be particularly threatened by an American annexation.
Aboriginal peoples
Canada is a nation state that occupies traditional territories with many indigenous nations representing a vast diversity of cultures and languages. The indigenous peoples of these nations were the guardians of the territories of North America much longer than the European colonizers who ended up seizing them.
Many colonial and postcolonial behaviors of the Canadian government, seconded by its institutions (for example, the churches of various confessions), have been genocidal in nature.
These colonial interventions have had the consequence that indigenous communities have become constituent elements of a unified nation – Canada. On the public scene, the narratives very often omit that the indigenous peoples had upstream established their own concepts of nation and belonging to a nation. These concepts were supplanted by those of the powers that have taken control of the territories.
The concept of indigenous nation
As well as today, indigenous peoples apprehend their community links and responsibilities as being from their nation.
A whole set of founding values characterize the indigenous nations. The sociologist Stephen Cornell, who worked with nations and indigenous organizations in North America, Australia and new Zealand, gives off five main axes in this regard covering links with the earth and those of blood, the stories and the history associated with the earth and culture, self-management and collective well-being.
For example, many Anishinaabe consider that the nation is based on stories and traditions and that it is shaped by relations and communities. The diversity of indigenous peoples therefore enriches their vision of the world.
The Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) share many stories, traditions and languages that influence the way they perceive themselves as a nation and their approach to treaties and conventions (such as the Kaswenta Entente). But the Haudenosaunee also consist of different indigenous nations – including mine, the Kanien’Kehà: Ka -, each with its own forms of knowledge, reminiscences and indigenous conscience.
These different nations have had synergistic operations based on alliances and land sharing agreements between them.
-Canada is not a unique and homogeneous nation
The colonialist incursions of the French, British and later Canadian authorities have obscured the way in which native concepts can be included by Canadians.
A shadow was thrown on various attributes of the indigenous nations due to the exploitation of land, the division of families and communities, the denaturation of historical stories, the suffocation of self -management and the primacy of individual enjoyment compared to the collective sense, thus marginalizing the concept of Aboriginal nation in the conscience of the general public in Canada.
Moreover, the general perception of the Canadian population is that Canada is a single and relatively homogeneous nation. This may seem desirable for some, even idyllic, but this is a myth.
Legal acquired and path of reconciliation
What relationship can we establish between the concept of indigenous nation and the threats of an American president against Canadian sovereignty?
The concept of indigenous nation has not only been part of the consciousness and the lifestyle of the natives for centuries, but it is now closely linked to the legal and constitutional principles established and in the process of drawing up in Canada.
After generations of surveillance and subjugation, these principles finally allow indigenous nations to explore and implement approaches to self -determination and self -government.
Trump threats involve the abolition of existing Canadian legal and constitutional frameworks. They also suggest that the cultural and linguistic customs of indigenous nations would be more threatened than ever. The reconciliation process – which relied on the work of the Canada Truth and Reconciliation Commission – would be almost certainly abandoned.
The 51st state and the treaties and conventions
Trump threats are worrying for indigenous nations, some of which have more to fear than others in particular areas. For example, many First Nations have concluded treaties and conventions with the crown.
These treaties and conventions are used to codify First Nations relations with the Government of Canada. Many works are currently underway to better conceptualize them in the context of the modern era. If Canada becomes the 51st American state, the provisions of treaties and conventions will be put an end, as well as efforts to better contextualize them.
Aboriginal peoples have come a long way-in some cases in collaboration with non-native partners-in order to improve their situation and position themselves better in the world, in order to trace tracks for the future.
Of course, there is still a lot to do. Poverty, for example, is still very widespread among the indigenous peoples, the languages and cultures of many of them are threatened and the native women and girls continue to be treated in a horrifying way. But the route of Aboriginal nations towards better living and self-determination has led to achievements whose indigenous peoples can be proud.
Would this trip continue within a 51st state? I have reason to doubt it.
Frank Deer is a professor at the Faculty of Education of the University of Manitoba.
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