Sean Carleton
@SeanCarleton
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Settler historian/Indigenous Studies. Books: When The Pine Needles Fall; Lessons in Legitimacy; Dissenting Traditions; Direct Action Gets the Goods.
Winnipeg, Treaty 1
Joined October 2011
I'm happy to share that today is the release of the paperback edition of my book Lessons in Legitimacy: Colonialism, Capitalism, and the the Rise of State Schooling in British Columbia:
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In less than two years, we’ve gone from “we’re all in this together” and “flatten the curve to support frontliners” to “it’s your duty to keep working and get sick/die for the economy.” COVID is the virus, but capitalism has always been the pandemic.
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It’s so frustrating, as an historian of Indigenous-settler relations, to hear fellow settlers say that treaties give Indigenous peoples “special privileges.” Without those treaties, settlers wouldn’t have the “special privilege” of living here. We need more treaty education.
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If you're a settler feeling lost as to where to "start" to learn more about residential schooling, I'm a non-Indigenous historian of the system. To help play my role, I'm making myself available to field your questions and to provide accessible resources etc. Hit me up.
Non-Indigenous folks - do not asks Indigenous friends and colleagues for our time and energy. Do not ask us what you can do. Do not burden us with your guilt. Amplify our voices. Commit to the work. Call for the truth. Deeply listen to survivors. Take action.
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Canada: this is just a reminder from a friendly historian that the RCMP was *literally* created to check and suppress Indigenous resistance to colonization and capitalist accumulation. What is going on at #Unistoten is not an anomaly, a "one-time" deal; it is Canada.
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Historian of schooling here to remind everyone that public universities are not, in fact, businesses.
Opinion: Facing pro-Palestinian protests, universities must realize they are businesses - and act like it
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Banning talk of "decolonization" on X is the most predictable, colonizer response to decolonization.
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@JeffFynnPaul For people new to this hot mess, Jeff's been at this white innocence project for a while. No credible historian takes him seriously. Even Foreign Policy eviscerated his "ideas," here's a good read to get you caught up:
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I see some confusion re: the relationship between residential schools and "Canada Day," so as an historian let me clarify: residential schools were developed and defended by Canada as part of its strategy of colonization + nation-building; Canada and the schools are intertwined.
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Mulroney loved Canada *so much* that he sent in the army to end the 1990 Mohawk resistance, defending the right of settlers to build a golf course and condos over an Indigenous cemetery. That’s how much he loved Canada aka capitalist accumulation by colonial dispossession.
Brian Mulroney loved Canada. I’m devastated to learn of his passing. He never stopped working for Canadians, and he always sought to make this country an even better place to call home. I’ll never forget the insights he shared with me over the years – he was generous, tireless,.
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Canadians, a few weeks ago, responding to #ShutDownCanada: all these Wet'suwet'en solidarity actions are inconvenient and hurting the economy. We can't just cancel everything to fix social problems. Canadians, now, responding to #COVID19: #CancelEverythingNow #ShutDownCanada.
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Remarkable that Angus Reid shared a disinformation video re: church arsons and engaged in residential school denialism - and defended it in the same week as Orange Shirt Day - and no media outlets reported the story. He's deleted his account, but let me connect the dots 🧵
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As an historian of residential schooling with a family member still suffering from their experiences in a BC school, I just want to encourage folks to read the TRC's report in light of recent events. It's free online. We need truth before reconciliation:
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As a historian trained in political economy, it is my duty to inform you (and other Canadians) that free market capitalism did not, in fact, build this country. Indigenous genocide did; captitalist accumulation proceeded because of government facilitated colonial dispossession.
Why is the CBC acting like capitalism is a bad thing? The CBC posted an article quoting a university professor who argued the children’s TV show, Paw Patrol, encourages children to embrace capitalism. Free market capitalism built our country. So lets celebrate it, not condemn it!
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Pretty wild to watch Canadian media pretend that the 1990 Oka “Crisis” didn’t happen, that Mulroney didn’t send in the army to intimidate, harass, and suppress Indigenous Peoples for having the audacity to *checks notes* prevent a golf course being built over their cemetery 🙃.
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Brent Chapman is not "controversial" - he is a residential school denialist who, in the lead up to Orange Shirt Day, said on a podcast that "the residential school business" has been exposed as a "massive fraud." He is also now an MLA, having won in Surrey South handily. Wild.
Controversial candidate Brent Chapman wins Surrey South riding
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While some Canadians melt down over an Indigenous teen refusing to stand for the national anthem at school, this is a good time, as an education historian, to point out a) the anthem was only officially adopted in 1980 + b) singing it daily in schools is a recent-ish development.
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Conrad Black is not an historian. His rambly, regressive hot takes on Canadian history for the National Post are embarrassing and best ignored. Yours sincerely, an actual historian.
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CANADA: this is a reminder, from a historian of Indigenous-settler relations who teaches a course on the 1990 Oka conflict, that the events of 1990 started with the Mayor of Oka enforcing an injunction on unceded land so that a golf course could be built over a Mohawk graveyard.
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PSA: updating the Canadian passport - which happens regularly - does not erase Canadian history. Neither does removing a problematic statue, changing the name of a school or building etc. That’s not how history works. Sincerely, .An actual Canadian historian.
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Residential school denialists don’t want you to watch Sugarcane - a new documentary about the St. Joseph’s Residential School that’s getting Oscar buzz and is now streaming on Disney+ and Hulu. That’s a good reason to check it out and learn about the legacy of the IRS system.
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Since Terry Glavin goes out of his way to say that his most recent piece is not "residential school denialism," let me quickly explain why it is. A thread on residential school denialism 🧵:
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I don't think a lot of #Canucks fans realize that Gino Odjick wore the number 29 to honour his father, Joseph, a Survivor of the Spanish Indian Residential School in Ontario. He was given 29 as his registration number at the school. Here's more about Gino:
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Canadians: wow, I just can't believe the extent of government-sanctioned police and military violence in the US right now. That would never happen here. Me, as the 30th anniversary of the so-called Oka Crisis draws closer: *stares in historian*
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The Queen's University Law School voted 29-3 to change the name of Sir John A. Macdonald Hall. Although people like Erin don't like it, as an historian let me be clear: reconsidering honorific names is not cancel culture nor is it destroying history. That's not how history works.
Cancel culture strikes again. We can’t keep destroying our history.
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Serial killer Jeremy Skibicki was sentenced to four life sentences this week in Winnipeg. But his murders targeted Indigenous women, and he spread anti-Indigenous racism - including residential school denialism - online at the time of his crimes. This needs to be recognized.
Police quickly cut off access to Jeremy Skibicki's facebook pages after he was arrested, but not before I was able to confirm that he was spreading residential school denialism around the time of his serial killings of Indigenous women in Winnipeg. Here are the screengrabs:
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Earlier this year, @UAlberta said their hands were tied about a residential school genocide denialist speaking/fundraising on campus despite pressure from students and faculty. Today, they immediately called in riot police to crack down on their students for protesting a genocide.
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The Government of Canada unanimously passed a motion on Thursday to recognize residential schooling as genocide. Unsurprisingly, the National Post published an oped today by Chris Dummitt debating the definition of genocide. Here's a thread on how this kind of denialism works🧵:
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Let's remember that *just in December* the Conservative Leader, Erin O'Toole, was caught on camera coaching right-wing students on how to use residential school denialism to score cheap political points:
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Normalize confronting residential school denialists. That's it. That's the tweet.
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Many of the insufferable, chest-pumping Canada Day articles this week briefly referred to residential schooling as a “dark chapter,” an unfortunate blip; this kind of minimization must stop! The IRS system ran from 1883 to 1997. That’s 114 years!.
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Police quickly cut off access to Jeremy Skibicki's facebook pages after he was arrested, but not before I was able to confirm that he was spreading residential school denialism around the time of his serial killings of Indigenous women in Winnipeg. Here are the screengrabs:
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Jason Kenney implying yesterday, without evidence, that northern Alberta's spike in COVID-19 cases is the result of vaccine hesitancy in Indigenous communities - and not mass resource extraction camps and community transmission - is straight up anti-Indigenous racism.
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This is upsetting news, but the community had a feeling and the discovery confirms what many of us know to be the truth: that the residential school system was genocidal and its effects are ongoing.
Tk'emlups confirms bodies of 215 children buried at former #Kamloops Indian Residential School site | #BREAKING:
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I get that @ABDanielleSmith is taking heat for making strange comments about Nazis and posting links to antisemitic blogs. She should also, though, be roundly critiqued for promoting residential school denialism and extreme right-wing conspiracies that no children died.
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To be clear, there was an alternative pipeline route approved by the hereditary chiefs the whole time, but CLG didn’t want to have to absorb the costs of rerouting so they pressed on and created this entire conflict to protect their bottom line. That’s capitalism for you.
Why Coastal GasLink says it rejected a pipeline route endorsed by Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs | CBC News
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What do all of these four people have in common? Answer: they all engage/promote residential school denialism. Here's a 🧵with the receipts.
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I'm just an historian, but I'm pretty sure Louis Riel and the Winnipeg Police don't share the same vision of how to treat Indigenous people.
We proudly celebrate the vision of Louis Riel, the founder of Manitoba, that we are a province that embraces all cultures!.
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Genocide denial is not a good look, Erin.
Canada wouldn't exist without Sir John A. Macdonald. Canada is a great county, and one we should be proud of. We will not build a better future by defacing our past. It's time politicians grow a backbone and stand up for our country.
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This is probably a good a time to remind folks that Senator Lynn Beyak illegally donated to Donald Trump's failed re-election bid - just so we are clear on the political commitments of residential school deniers:
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This week has revealed what S. Razack calls Canada's racial "amnesia," the persistent denial of our long history of racism. As an historian, this forgetting is frustrating but not surprising. Here's a thread, using Heritage Minutes, to show how this amnesia is actually learned.
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As an historian, let me clarify. Contrary to Kenney's view that John A. Macdonald "took positions on issues at the time that we now judge harshly," Indigenous peoples judged the residential school system harshly from the start as did some settlers:
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What a devastating critique of Canada's white fragility re: the national anthem right now. If you see the truth as a threat. well, that is pretty revealing. Truth before reconciliation.
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As a University of Alberta alum, I am disgusted and disappointed that administration would rather use riot cops to violently repress students than listen to their peaceful demands to divest from a genocide. This, to be clear, is a failure of leadership.
This is what happening right now. This is going to have lasting impacts on University of Alberta as people around the world watch the brutality you inflicted on your students by sending riot cops on them.
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Saw lots of people today asking, but where does it end? . Answer: when we stop publicly celebrating imperialists, enslavers, and architects of genocide as a way of legitimizing ongoing colonialism.
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Richard Manuel, who drove his truck through a march of residential school Survivors in BC and yelled racist slurs, was found guilty today. Thanks to @rjjago who's been providing updates and prodding media to pay attention to the case. More to come:
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Now that Pierre Poilievre is officially the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, let's examine his and the CPC's recent connections to residential school denialism, a thread🧵:.
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So, @AngusReid gets busted sharing disinformation to promote residential school denialism and then just brushes it off like it’s no big deal and continues to push extremist conspiracy. This is very concerning.
Update: After I badgered him all day, @AngusReid has finally issued a mea culpa. This church was deconsecrated several years ago. It was under construction and being converted into condos when it caught fire. Still no retraction of his claim that this was an act of arson tho.
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I promised to do a residential school denialism wrap-up thread, debriefing and revealing the denialism we saw in September with receipts, so here we go. I hope this is helpful to share etc. Sadly, there is too much to cover, so I’ve limited it to some representative samples 🧵
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Residential school denialism takes many forms, including showing symbolic remorse for photo ops but building your entire political brand around defending the uncritical celebration of the architect of the residential school system, John A. Macdonald, like @erinotoole.
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All of the John A. Macdonald defenders are pretty quiet right now.
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Pretty wild that, amidst a concerning rise of residential school denialism, this news passed by with little coverage. To ensure this work isn't ignored, here's a 🧵on why this announcement by the Williams Lake First Nation is important and how it can challenge denialism:.
The Williams Lake First Nation in B.C. says at least 55 children died or disappeared while attending the St. Joseph's Mission Indian Residential School based on archival documentation. That number is more than triple than what was previously recorded.
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Quick history/political economy lesson: Canada was *literally* created by segregating Indigenous Peoples on reserves and imposing the Indian Act to "open" lands and create the "freedom" to facilitate colonial dispossession, capitalist accumulation, and Canadian nation-building.
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As an historian it is important to me that Canadians understand why this statement is wrong. First, the village is actually 14,000 years old. Second, Canada is only 152. Third, the village's inhabitants were not "prehistoric Canadians," but Indigenous people (possibly Heiltsuk).
A student found an ancient Canadian village that's 10,000 years older than the Pyramids
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One of Murray Sinclair's teachings that I've tried to centre in my work, is to put truth before reconciliation and do the hard work to show that residential school denialists are wrong. So, since denialists are trying to misrepresent his legacy, here's how they get it wrong👇🧵
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"No relationship is more important to Canada than the relationship with Indigenous People" - Prime Minister Trudeau, 21 June 2017.
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Why do Indigenous Peoples get “things for free,” complains the fools of a society founded - and maintained - on stolen Indigenous land.
The Toronto Zoo has announced it will begin offering year-round complimentary general admission to First Nations, Inuit and Métis People.
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To all those Canadians smugly thinking this week that it is only the US that has rampant racist killings, machismo gun culture, and systemic injustice:.
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In a week filled with ignorant and arrogant settler politicians saying some pretty wild things, Scheer telling Indigenous peoples to “check their privilege” takes the colonial cake.
“These protesters, these activists may have the luxury of spending days at a time on a blockade, but they need to check their privilege,” said @AndrewScheer. “They need to check their privilege and let people whose job depends on the railway system. do their jobs.” #cdnpoli
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As a Canadian historian, the true “disgrace” here is the butchering of history: a) Macdonald didn’t build the railway, Chinese migrant workers did b) the railway was a destructive tool of settler capitalism c) changes to commemoration don’t erase history, that’s not how it works.
Our founding Prime Minister. The man who built the railway that united our country. We can certainly learn from our history, but we cannot and should not erase our history. And certainly not the impact of our first Prime Minister. What a disgrace.
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The Whole Foods #poppy ban is a corollary of their decision to ban workers from wearing Black Lives Matter masks this summer. And, I know, you'll say the poppy is just a sign of respect but a BLM mask is "political," and I'm here to tell you that's how white supremacy works.
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Just a quick note: the right-wing extremist who just confronted Trudeau while on vacation to get clicks on his propaganda site is the same former Rebel News guy who collaborated with a white supremacist to invent the so-called "mass grave hoax" conspiracy theory. Don't be fooled.
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Montreal’s Macdonald statue has fallen. I know settlers are going to loose their minds, but as an historian I have to remind folks that JAM, in addition to using starvation politics to pursue western colonization, was the architect of Canada’s genocidal residential school system.
The John A. Macdonald statue in Montreal has fallen! It was taken down minutes ago by anonymous protesters at the end of the #DefundThePolice demo.
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“Oasis of peace.”
Globe editorial: Canada is an oasis of peace worth the work
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To honour the passing of Murray Sinclair, I’ve put an orange shirt in my window - and I’m inviting others to do the same across the country. We owe him, and the residential school survivors he supported, a great deal for helping to put us on the path of truth and reconciliation.
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1. It seems this tweet is hitting a nerve. I'm having a hard time keeping up with up the comments, questions, + threats. Now that the #Unistoten solidarity actions have finished for today, I wanted to take just a few moments to reflect +offer some further thoughts as a historian.
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Every performance of Canada’s national anthem is a land acknowledgment (in the white possessive sense); this slight tweak reflects a more honest account of Canada’s past and present.
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As a professional historian, let me reassure you: that’s not how history works. Removing a statue uncritically celebrating a genocidal politician such as Macdonald does not erase him from history; it’s just a statue.
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You know who was very much in favour of "cancel culture"? John A. Macdonald. As prime minister he used his power to support a number of genocidal policies - Indian Residential Schooling, bans on Indigenous ceremonies etc - in an effort to cancel Indigenous culture.
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As an historian, it is my public duty to inform you that taking down statues uncritically commemorating imperialists, white suprematists, and architects of genocide is not erasing history. That’s not how history works.
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In light of sports teams in Cleveland, Washington, and Edmonton getting rid of racist and appropriated Indigenous team names/logos, it's time to have a discussion about the Vancouver @Canucks's Indigenous appropriated Orca logo. Here's a thread.
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Pretty revealing that the same people demanding that First Nations exhume potential unmarked graves at residential school sites are now the ones refusing to support #SearchTheLandfill to locate murdered Indigenous women. Why? Answer: anti-Indigenous racism and hatred.
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Continuing to fight Indigenous kids in court is a strange way to "honour their memory.".
My heart breaks for the Cowessess First Nation following the discovery of Indigenous children buried at the former Marieval Residential School. We cannot bring them back, but we will honour their memory and we will tell the truth about these injustices.
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This image of Queen Victoria's head in the Assiniboine River sure is a way to mark the 150th anniversary of the signing of Treaty 1 (the first of the Numbered Treaties, signed in Vicky's name in 1871). Say what you want about statues, THIS is commemoration to remember.
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Next week is the 3rd anniversary of the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc's announcement re: potential unmarked graves at the Kamloops residential school, and the flurry of residential school denialism has already started. So, here's a 🧵with receipts and resources to hold space for truth.
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Here's a thread about residential school denialism, using this example 🧵.
Not a single grave has yet been identified—let alone 215 of them. But if Tim Hortons' archaeological & forensics teams have evidence to report, maybe let us know about that instead of tweeting about orange donuts.
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Folks outraged about the vaccine tourist couple that travelled a great distance to steal from Indigenous peoples for their own benefit are in for a *trip* when they find out how Canada was created and the ongoing theft of Indigenous lands and resources that underpins it today.
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One of the “noble causes” Mulroney spent his political capital on was deploying Canada’s military against Mohawks in 1990 to protect Canada’s right to trample Indigenous rights to build golf courses and condos on unceded lands and cemeteries.
“You accumulate political capital to spend it on noble causes for Canada. If you're afraid to spend your capital, you shouldn't be there.” - The Right Honourable Brian Mulroney 🇨🇦
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In the last 36 hours, statues uncritically celebrating slavers, imperialists, and white supremacists have been toppled/graffitied/thrown in lakes and the sea. As an historian, let me say: this is the kind of creative reckoning with the past that gives me hope for the future.
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Just a reminder that Conrad Black, who’s behind the residential school denialist movement in Canada, is in Jefferey Epstein’s black book, went to jail for fraud, and wrote this odd book about Trump. And he thinks *I* shouldn’t be taken seriously. Lol.
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The level of disgusting residential school denialism yesterday, on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, was wild. I’ll do a more thorough debrief soon, but sending a note of thanks to everyone who shared Survivor truth-telling/held space for truth/ignored the goofs.
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This time, around Orange Shirt Day, is difficult for many Survivors as they share truths about their residential school experiences. It is also a time where we unfortunately see a rise in IRS denialism. Here's a thread for settlers on how to combat it and hold space for truth🧵.
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Manitoba “stood firm” in ousting Heather Stefanson, and you love to see the PC’s horribly racist campaign be rejected from majority power. But, the rhetoric the PC’s used will linger and needs to be challenged and changed in the period ahead. Lots of work still to do.
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Calling to retire the term genocide while a genocide is happening because it makes those committing genocide (and those who support it/are complicit) uncomfortable - to be clear - is how genocide happens when it could be stopped.
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“Yes, he (Macdonald) had flaws but he built this great country” is a retort I’ve seen over and over today. Listen, orchestrating a genocide isn’t just a “flaw” - what’s wrong with you? - and Macdonald “built this country” by orchestrating and defending that genocide, to be clear.
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Pretty sad to think that the residential school denialist "movement" is just a handful of retired, non-expert academics and cancelled pundits who write denialist articles for far-right websites - often the ones they run - for profit. It's the monetization of misinformation.
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This Wall Street Journal op-ed, no doubt timed to be published on the eve of “Columbus Day” in the US, shamelessly pushes the debunked, far-right “mass grave hoax” conspiracy theory, even suggesting residential schooling wasn’t so bad. IRS denialism isn’t just a Canadian problem.
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You guys, Canadian far-right influencer, Lauren Southern, is connected to this company, including her content pushing the so-called "mass grave hoax" about residential schools that serial killer, Jeremy Skibicki, was sharing at the time of his murders of Indigenous women. Wild.
Two RT Employees Indicted for Covertly Funding and Directing U.S. Company that Published Thousands of Videos in Furtherance of Russian Interests. 🔗:
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The descent into residential school denialism, a short history:
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Just in the *last week* police in Canada have:.-stood by while white fishers terrorize Mi’kmaw.-arrested Secwepemc land defenders on their unceded territory.-threatened Wet'suwet'en with arrest again.-shot up #1492LandBackLane with rubber bullets, escalated the situation.
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If your response to news of unmarked graves at residential schools has been to get indignant and dig in your heels about unreservedly celebrating Canada this July 1, well, now you know why the IRS system was allowed to run for 100+ years even though its horrors were well-known.
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