Contaminating and collapsing Indigenous space: judicial narratives of Canadian territoriality

November 28, 2021 Siddhant Goyal

Date of Publication: Jul 23, 2014

Author: Michael McCrossan

Summary:

This paper examines the intricate connection between settler colonialism and judicial narratives of -˜Canadian’s territoriality, paying particular attention to the case of Delgamuukw v. British Columbia. The paper shows that the territorial commitments of judicial actors are often manifested through the representation of different spatial organizations. Where lower court narratives have often involved the judicial emptying and collapsing of space to deny Indigenous territorial claims, judicial narratives at the Supreme Court level, on the other hand, have served to fill those spaces with the lingering presence of non-Aboriginal populations and present territorial interests. Ultimately, the paper argues that the representations of space provided by members of the judiciary not only demonstrate that the settlement of -˜Canadian’s territory is an ongoing colonial project, but also that -˜Crown sovereignty’s itself is an entity continually being reshaped and produced by judicial actors to discount the claims presented by Indigenous people.

Link to Full Reading:

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/2201473X.2014.925609