tag:theconversation.com,2011:/ca-fr/topics/colonialism-2090/articlesColonialism – La Conversation2024-03-28T15:07:45Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2260872024-03-28T15:07:45Z2024-03-28T15:07:45ZColonialists used starvation as a tool of oppression<p>In this episode of <em>Don’t Call Me Resilient</em>, we <a href="https://theconversation.com/starvation-is-a-weapon-of-war-gazans-are-paying-the-price-226086">continue our conversation about forced famine</a> and its use as a powerful tool to control people, land and resources. Starvation has, for centuries, been a part of the colonizer’s “playbook.” </p>
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<p>We speak with two scholars to explore two historic examples: the decimation of Indigenous populations in the Plains, North America, which historian David Stannard has called the <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/american-holocaust-9780195085570?cc=ca&lang=en&">American Holocaust</a> and in India, the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/29/winston-churchill-policies-contributed-to-1943-bengal-famine-study">1943 famine in Bengal</a>. According to a <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-68311520">recent BBC story</a>, the Bengal famine of 1943 killed more than three million people. It was one of the worst losses of civilian life on the Allied side in the Second World War. (The United Kingdom lost 450,000 lives during that same war.) </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584865/original/file-20240327-24-2vsfp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584865/original/file-20240327-24-2vsfp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=698&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584865/original/file-20240327-24-2vsfp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=698&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584865/original/file-20240327-24-2vsfp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=698&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584865/original/file-20240327-24-2vsfp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=877&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584865/original/file-20240327-24-2vsfp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=877&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584865/original/file-20240327-24-2vsfp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=877&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Plains Cree Chief Mistahimaskwa resisted signing a treaty with the ‘Crown,’ until starvation of his people propelled him to sign Treaty 6 in the hopes of gaining access to food.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Library and Archives Canada/C-001873.</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<p>Although disease, environmental disasters and famine were features of life before colonialism, decades of research has shown how <a href="https://holodomor.ca/empire-colonialism-and-famine-in-comparative-historical-perspective-international-symposium/">these occurrences were manipulated by colonial powers to prolong starvation and trigger chronic famine.</a> In other words, starvation has been effectively used by colonial powers to control populations, acquire land and the wealth that comes with that. This colonization was accompanied by an <a href="https://academic.oup.com/book/32827/chapter-abstract/275134412?redirectedFrom=fulltext">“entitlement approach”</a> and the belief that Indigenous populations are inferior to the lives of the colonizer. </p>
<p>According to scholars, prior to the arrival of colonialists, both populations at the heart of today’s episode were thriving with healthy and wealthy communities. And although disease and famine existed before the arrival of Europeans, it cannot be denied colonial powers accelerated and even capitalized on chronic famine and the loss of life due to disease and malnutrition.</p>
<p>As the famous economist <a href="https://academic.oup.com/book/32827">Amartya Sen has said</a>, famine is a function of repression. It springs from the politics of food distribution rather than a lack of food. Imperial policies such as the Boat Denial Policy and Rice Denial Policy meant that, as <a href="https://www.documenta14.de/en/south/888_so_many_hungers">curator Natasha Ginwala wrote</a>: “freshly harvested grain was set on fire, or even dumped into the river.”</p>
<p>Joining on this episode were two experts on the North American and Bengal famines.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584491/original/file-20240326-24-kwv3yr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584491/original/file-20240326-24-kwv3yr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=897&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584491/original/file-20240326-24-kwv3yr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=897&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584491/original/file-20240326-24-kwv3yr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=897&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584491/original/file-20240326-24-kwv3yr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1127&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584491/original/file-20240326-24-kwv3yr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1127&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584491/original/file-20240326-24-kwv3yr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1127&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Cover of ‘Clearing the Plains’</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(University of Regina Press)</span></span>
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<p>James Daschuk is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology and Health Studies at the University of Regina. He is the author of <em>Clearing the Plains: Disease, Politics of Starvation and the Loss of Aboriginal Life</em>. </p>
<p>We also spoke with Janam Mukherjee, an Associate Professor of History at Toronto Metropolitan University, and the author of <em>Hungry Bengal: War, Famine and the End of Empire</em>. Mukherjee was recently a primary historical advisor on the BBC Radio 4 series “Three Million,” a five-part documentary on the Bengal famine of 1943.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584490/original/file-20240326-18-es47ox.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584490/original/file-20240326-18-es47ox.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=939&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584490/original/file-20240326-18-es47ox.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=939&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584490/original/file-20240326-18-es47ox.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=939&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584490/original/file-20240326-18-es47ox.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1180&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584490/original/file-20240326-18-es47ox.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1180&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584490/original/file-20240326-18-es47ox.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1180&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Cover of ‘Hungry Bengal’</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Oxford University Press)</span></span>
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</figure>
<h2>Listen and follow</h2>
<p>You can listen to or follow <a href="https://dont-call-me-resilient.simplecast.com/"><em>Don’t Call Me Resilient</em></a> on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/dont-call-me-resilient/id1549798876">Apple Podcasts</a> <a href="https://www.apple.com/ca/newsroom/2024/03/apple-introduces-transcripts-for-apple-podcasts/">(transcripts available)</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/37tK4zmjWvq2Sh6jLIpzp7">Spotify</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_mJBLBznANz6ID9rBCUk7gv_ZRC4Og9-">YouTube</a> or wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts. </p>
<p><a href="mailto:dcmr@theconversation.com">We’d love to hear from you</a>, including any ideas for future episodes.</p>
<p>Join the Conversation on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/dontcallmeresilientpodcast/">Instagram</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/ConversationCA">X</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/theconversationcanada">LinkedIn</a> and use #DontCallMeResilient.</p>
<h2>Resources</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/when-canada-used-hunger-to-clear-the-west/article13316877/">“When Canada used hunger to clear the West”</a> (by James Daschuk, July 19, 2013)</p>
<p><a href="https://uofrpress.ca/Books/C/Clearing-the-Plains"><em>Clearing the Plains: Disease, Politics of Starvation and the Loss of Indigenous Life</em></a> (by James Daschuk, 2013)</p>
<p><a href="http://doi.org/10.1353/his.2013.0015">“Administering Colonial Science: Nutrition Research and Human Biomedical Experimentation in Aboriginal Communities and Residential Schools, 1942–1952” </a>(in <em>Social History</em> by Ian Mosby, 2013) </p>
<p><a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/proposed-class-action-seeks-damages-for-intergenerational-trauma-from-residential-schools-1.7136548">“Proposed class action seeks damages for intergenerational trauma from residential schools”</a></p>
<p><a href="https://goodminds.com/products/ashes-and-embers-stories-of-the-delmas-indian-residential-school"><em>Ashes and Embers: Stories of the Delmas Indian Residential School</em> by Floyd Favel</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/madhusree-mukerjee/churchills-secret-war/9780465022601/?lens=basic-books"><em>Churchill’s Secret War</em></a> (by Madhusree Mukerjee, 2010)</p>
<p><em><a href="https://academic.oup.com/book/2861">Hungry Bengal: War, Famine and the End of Empire</a></em> (by Janam Mukherjee, 2015)</p>
<p><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0hd7scf">“Three Million”</a> (The documentary podcast by the BBC)</p>
<p><a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1470412919879067">“Witnessing famine: the testimonial work of famine photographs and anti-colonial spectatorship”</a> (<em>Journal of Visual Culture</em> by Tanushree Ghosh, 2019)</p>
<p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/mar/21/we-are-about-to-witness-the-most-intense-famine-since-world-war-ii-in-gaza">“We are about to witness in Gaza the most intense famine since the second world war” (<em>The Guardian</em>, March 21, 2024, by Alex de Waal)</a></p>
<h2>From the archives - in The Conversation</h2>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/making-our-food-fairer-dont-call-me-resilient-ep-12-171554">Making our food fairer: Don't Call Me Resilient EP 12</a>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/colonialism-was-a-disaster-and-the-facts-prove-it-84496">Colonialism was a disaster and the facts prove it</a>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-worlds-most-powerful-democracies-were-built-on-the-suffering-of-others-208443">The world's most powerful democracies were built on the suffering of others</a>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/john-a-macdonald-should-not-be-forgotten-nor-celebrated-101503">John A. Macdonald should not be forgotten, nor celebrated</a>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/churchill-and-india-imperial-chauvinism-left-a-bitter-legacy-36452">Churchill and India: imperial chauvinism left a bitter legacy</a>
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</em>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/226087/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
For centuries, colonial powers have used starvation as a tool to control Indigenous populations and take over their land and wealth. A look back at two historic examples on two different continents.Vinita Srivastava, Host + Producer, Don't Call Me ResilientAteqah Khaki, Associate Producer, Don't Call Me ResilientLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2232662024-03-28T12:50:01Z2024-03-28T12:50:01ZOne year ago, Pope Francis disavowed the ‘Doctrine of Discovery’ – but Indigenous Catholics’ work for respect and recognition goes back decades<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583533/original/file-20240321-24-zghkkq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=15%2C0%2C5289%2C3618&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Tzotzil women line up for Holy Communion during a Catholic Mass in Chiapas state, Mexico, in 2016. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/APTOPIXMexicoPopeIndigenous/0e5d46785792469db2511651be315c40/photo?Query=609821321857&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:asc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=1&currentItemNo=0">AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>It has been more than 500 years since Vatican decrees gave European colonizers permission <a href="https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-resources/spotlight-primary-source/doctrine-discovery-1493">to carve up the “New World</a>” – and just one since Pope Francis disavowed them.</p>
<p>On March 30, 2023, Francis <a href="https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2023/03/30/230330b.html">repudiated the “Doctrine of Discovery</a>”: a set of ideas the Spanish and Portuguese, in particular, used to justify seizing land they had “discovered” and colonizing Indigenous people in the land they came to call the Americas. <a href="https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2023/03/30/230330b.html">The Vatican’s statement</a> not only rejected the doctrine, but also apologized for historical atrocities carried out by Christians and affirmed the rights and cultural values of Indigenous peoples. </p>
<p>The repudiation can hardly undo centuries of oppressing Indigenous people and stealing their lands. Yet the statement is monumental in ways that signal cultural and political shifts within the Catholic Church. It recognized decades of work by Indigenous Catholics to demand that their very own church respect their history, culture and faith – a focus of my work <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=oC3uu6YAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">as a historian of Mexico and religion</a>.</p>
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<span class="caption">Pope Francis wears a crown of flowers, gifted to him by Indigenous Mexicans, as he arrives in Tuxtla Gutierrez, Mexico, in 2016.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/MexicoPope/820da54fa77c4b70820f7a84dead3c4d/photo?Query=francis%20flowers%20indigenous%20mexico&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:asc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=3&currentItemNo=1">AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia</a></span>
</figcaption>
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<h2>‘New World,’ new owners</h2>
<p>The Doctrine of Discovery has its roots in 15th century papal documents, called “papal bulls,” which were issued amid Spain’s and Portugal’s colonial expansion in Africa and the recently “discovered” Americas.</p>
<p>“<a href="https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-resources/spotlight-primary-source/doctrine-discovery-1493">Inter Caetera</a>,” for example, which was issued in 1493, drew a line 100 leagues, or around 350 miles, to the west of the Azores and Cape Verde in the Atlantic Ocean. The document declared that all lands west of that line were free to be discovered, colonized and Christianized by the Kingdoms of Castile and León – modern-day Spain. </p>
<p>In other words, the Catholic Church gave Spain a monopoly on the New World, on the condition that the natives be converted to Christianity. Soon after, however, Spain and Portugal negotiated the <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2967633">Treaty of Tordesillas</a>, settling Portuguese claims over modern-day Brazil.</p>
<p>More broadly, the Doctrine of Discovery shaped European kingdoms’ approach to colonizing the Americas, Asia and Africa. It was, simply put, the legal foundation of their claims over non-Christian peoples and territories.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583550/original/file-20240321-18-iwy51i.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An old-fashioned map of the world with several sections in vivid green and blue." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583550/original/file-20240321-18-iwy51i.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583550/original/file-20240321-18-iwy51i.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=282&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583550/original/file-20240321-18-iwy51i.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=282&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583550/original/file-20240321-18-iwy51i.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=282&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583550/original/file-20240321-18-iwy51i.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=354&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583550/original/file-20240321-18-iwy51i.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=354&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583550/original/file-20240321-18-iwy51i.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=354&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Cantino planisphere, made by an unknown Portuguese cartographer in 1502. A line on the left shows the Americas divided into Spanish and Portuguese territories.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cantino_planisphere_(1502).jpg">Biblioteca Estense Universitaria/Wikimedia</a></span>
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<p>Three centuries later, the Supreme Court of the newly independent United States cited the doctrine in a significant decision, <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/21/543/">Johnson v. McIntosh</a>. According to this 1823 ruling, Indigenous peoples had no permanent right to the territory they lived on.</p>
<h2>Seeds of change</h2>
<p>Despite forced Christianization, church leaders repeatedly despaired that Indigenous Latin Americans had <a href="https://theconversation.com/latin-americas-colonial-period-was-far-less-catholic-than-it-might-seem-despite-the-inquisitions-attempts-to-police-religion-214691">not fully become Catholic</a>. The Spanish reluctantly tolerated Indigenous Catholic practices, such as worshipping the <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/us/universitypress/subjects/history/regional-history-after-1500/mexican-phoenix-our-lady-guadalupe-image-and-tradition-across-five-centuries">Virgin of Guadalupe</a>, an apparition of Mary in Mexico, and associating her with the Nahuátl mother goddess, Tonantzin. They reasoned that the Indigenous were novice Christians who would learn in time – an attitude that persisted for centuries.</p>
<p>The Catholic Church addressed multicultural questions in the 1960s, during <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-catholic-church-resists-change-but-vatican-ii-shows-its-possible-102543">the Second Vatican Council</a>. Over four years, in thousands of hours of meetings and consultations, the church embarked on its first major reforms in centuries. </p>
<p>The council approved using vernacular languages in Mass instead of Latin, promoted cooperation with other faiths and signaled a shift toward tolerating the diverse ways Catholics expressed their faith around the world. One of the resulting documents, “<a href="https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decree_19651207_ad-gentes_en.html">Ad gentes</a>,” promoted missionary activity among unconverted peoples. However, it recognized that all cultures contained “seeds” of Christianity and that cultural diversity in the church would strengthen the body of the Catholic Church as a whole.</p>
<h2>Building a movement</h2>
<p>Almost immediately, Indigenous Catholics throughout Latin America began organizing to make these possibilities real. </p>
<p>In Mexico, a group of young priests and seminarians organized the <a href="https://www.amerindiaenlared.org/uploads/adjuntos/1349836940_attach52.pdf">Movement of Indigenous Priests</a>. Spearheaded by a young Indigenous priest, Eleazar López Hernández, they pushed back against the notion that men entering the priesthood had to choose between their Indigenous and priestly identities.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583553/original/file-20240321-30-dvx3us.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A boy in a red headdress and bright blue shirt stands holding a small brass instrument." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583553/original/file-20240321-30-dvx3us.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583553/original/file-20240321-30-dvx3us.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583553/original/file-20240321-30-dvx3us.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583553/original/file-20240321-30-dvx3us.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583553/original/file-20240321-30-dvx3us.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583553/original/file-20240321-30-dvx3us.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583553/original/file-20240321-30-dvx3us.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A young Indigenous musician waits ahead of a Mass that Pope Francis celebrated in San Cristobal de las Casas, Mexico, in 2016.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/APTOPIXMexicoPope/7a8d960f2bd240ddba65d1e2566b455c/photo?Query=730687673175&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:asc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=1&currentItemNo=0">AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>At the core of their demands was the insistence that multiple Catholicisms could exist within the same Catholic Church. For instance, in 1971, <a href="https://www.proquest.com/openview/4a55a5e688ec5dc2862ecae0a7ca1de5/">López Hernández</a> testified about the importance of having Indigenous priests in Indigenous communities. These Catholics, he argued, deserved clergy who spoke their language, could participate meaningfully in traditional rituals, understood their roots, and who could honor Indigenous spirituality in addition to Catholicism’s message of salvation.</p>
<p>Their demands inspired new Catholic institutions. In 1969, several dioceses founded the Regional Seminary of the Southeast, called SERESURE. The seminary’s <a href="https://www.proquest.com/openview/4a55a5e688ec5dc2862ecae0a7ca1de5/">explicit mission</a> was to train priests to work in poor Indigenous areas, and it became a hub for Indigenous Catholicism. SERESURE developed an innovative structure that drew on <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/644412">Indigenous traditions of governing their communities by assembly</a>, challenging strictly hierarchical church practices.</p>
<p>Yet SERESURE was <a href="https://www.sinembargo.mx/21-02-2016/1626817">shuttered in 1989</a> over <a href="https://www.proquest.com/openview/4a55a5e688ec5dc2862ecae0a7ca1de5/">allegations of incorrect doctrine</a>, Marxism and supporting <a href="https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501750755/reagans-gun-toting-nuns/">armed revolutionary movements</a>. There was some truth to the first two allegations, but the third had little basis in truth.</p>
<p>It spoke, however, to the types of work some church agents were doing with Indigenous people in the region. Young priests, religious sisters and lay Catholics were fanning out to work with communities living in desperate poverty, trying to both provide economic opportunity and preserve local cultures and languages. This poverty had given birth to <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/specters-of-revolution-9780199936595?cc=us&lang=en&">armed movements in Mexico</a>, Guatemala and beyond during the Cold War.</p>
<p>For many of these Catholics, salvation did not only mean going to heaven, but building a more just world.</p>
<h2>Steps forward – and back</h2>
<p>By the early 1990s, conflicts between the Vatican and Indigenous peoples had bled into the public sphere.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583546/original/file-20240321-24-s2zr9c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A black and white photo shows several seated men in white watching two men in headdresses dance with their arms raised." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583546/original/file-20240321-24-s2zr9c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583546/original/file-20240321-24-s2zr9c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583546/original/file-20240321-24-s2zr9c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583546/original/file-20240321-24-s2zr9c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583546/original/file-20240321-24-s2zr9c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=561&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583546/original/file-20240321-24-s2zr9c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=561&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583546/original/file-20240321-24-s2zr9c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=561&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pope John Paul II watches a performance of the Mayan Creation dance during a 1993 visit to Mexico, where he apologized for Christian colonizers’ abuses.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/POPEMEXICOVISIT-/7945d4eed7e4da11af9f0014c2589dfb/photo?Query=930811034&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:asc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=1&currentItemNo=0">AP Photo/Mosconi</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>John Paul II <a href="https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/speeches/1987/september/documents/hf_jp-ii_spe_19870920_indigeni-fort-simpson.html">increased attention to</a> Indigenous Catholics with <a href="https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/travels/1990/travels/documents/trav_messico.html">his visits to southern Mexico</a>. During his papacy, however, the Vatican celebrated 1992 as <a href="https://scholar.lib.vt.edu/VA-news/ROA-Times/issues/1990/rt9005/900508/05080701.htm">the 500th anniversary</a> of bringing Christianity to the New World.</p>
<p>Indigenous movements across the Americas rejected such a rosy depiction of <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/1571458">colonization, enslavement and forced conversion</a>. Instead, they organized protests under the banner of “500 Years of Resistance,” celebrating Indigenous resilience, culture, language and spirituality. In Tehuacán, Mexico, Indigenous Catholic priests led a march of nearly 20,000 Nahua people that culminated in an open-air Mass <a href="https://www.proquest.com/openview/4a55a5e688ec5dc2862ecae0a7ca1de5/">conducted in Nahuátl</a> – the language of the Mexica, or Aztecs.</p>
<p>It was not until 2013, after Francis’ election as pope, that <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-25445819">the Vatican approved Nahuátl</a> as an official language of the Catholic Church – meaning it can be used to conduct Mass inside churches. In addition, the Vatican ordered Mexican bishops to translate Catholic liturgy and texts into Nahuátl. </p>
<p>This was a large first step in recognizing the decades of work of Indigenous Catholics to insist that multiple Catholicisms can and should exist side by side.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TQ8l9__cS3M?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The first official Catholic Mass held in the Nahuatl language, in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Since 2015, the Mexican Catholic Church has hosted an <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQ8l9__cS3M&t">annual Nahuátl Mass</a> in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The Mass opened with traditional rural Indigenous music, and the offerings and decorations evoked the sights, sounds and smells of an Indigenous community parish – an open embrace of Indigenous Catholicisms.</p>
<p>Across the Catholic world, the Vatican has been <a href="http://secretariat.synod.va/content/sinodoamazonico/en/documents/final-document-of-the-amazon-synod.html">opening to multicultural Catholicisms</a> in recent years. The Nahuátl Mass is but one example, as is the repudiation of the Doctrine of Discovery. </p>
<p>Francis’ statement was important as an institutional recognition of historical atrocities. More profoundly, it was a validation of Indigenous Catholic activists’ demands for <a href="https://adn.celam.org/seminaristas-indigenas-a-menudo-queremos-ir-al-seminario-pero-la-gente-piensa-que-no-tenemos-capacidad/">inclusion on their terms</a>, even while disputes over multiculturalism continue.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223266/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Eben Levey received funding from a Fulbright Fellowship and from the University of Maryland, College Park for his dissertation research. </span></em></p>Indigenous Catholics have long argued they should be able to embrace both sides of that identity.Eben Levey, Assistant Professor of History, Alfred UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2148352024-03-28T05:46:38Z2024-03-28T05:46:38Z‘Property poetry’? Real estate ads and literature have more in common than you might think<p>A few years ago, I turned some <a href="https://www.powderkegmagazine.com/amelia-dale">real estate advertisements into poems</a> by adding line breaks:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Fantastic views of the beach, ocean, <br>
headland and hinterland,<br>
you can see the Haven,<br>
you look straight up <br>
the green grass of the Skillion</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I was interested, among other things, in asking what happens when we compare the language of real estate copy with more obvious forms of poetry.</p>
<p>If you read a real estate ad with the same attention you might bestow on a poem you can observe how it deploys metre, metaphor, and the tropes of landscape poetry. You can note how some advertisements directly reference the sublime or the picturesque, and how others open with a rhyming couplet.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-poetic-metre-53364">Explainer: poetic metre</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Australian poet Lucy Van characterises real estate copy as a form of poetry. No other poetry, she <a href="https://www.liminalmag.com/liminal-review-of-books/agent-of-the-year">observes</a>, </p>
<blockquote>
<p>is more familiar to the Australian reading audience, more widely read and better understood, not only for what is said but importantly for what is not said, than the 150-200 word copy that flogs real estate.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Like other paid work involving some form of writing, real estate copywriting, or what Van calls “property poetry,” is a job that has attracted writers of literature. I know at least one Australian creative writer who has worked in this industry.</p>
<p>Courses on writing real estate advertisements are run by the <a href="https://www.writerscentre.com.au/store/courses/real-estate-copywriting/">Australian Writers’ Centre</a>: pitched at “a writer with a passion for property or an agent looking to hone your ad writing skills.” A key learning outcome of such a course is developing the ability to “add value,” or push up the price of the property through your description of it.</p>
<p>The literary nature of real estate copy raises several larger questions. What is the relationship between writing and ownership of land? What is the history of writers “adding value” to landed property? How does literature normalise and respond to the inequities of private property in Australia?</p>
<h2>19th-century real estate copy</h2>
<p>The history of people comparing the language of real estate to poetry is at least as old as the boom in property auctions and real estate advertisements that occurred in early 19th-century England.</p>
<p>Newspapers frequently joked about the poetic language used in real estate auctions and ads. They consistently, if facetiously, described the prominent real estate auctioneer, George Robins, as a landscape poet, on par with William Wordsworth.</p>
<p>Poets of the period were also aware of the proximities between their writing and that of the burgeoning real estate industry. In his long, rambling poem Don Juan, Lord Byron compares himself to an auctioneer. This is after his lengthy description of a Gothic Abbey:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>An old, old monastery once, and now <br>
Still older mansion, of a rich and rare <br>
Mix’d Gothic, such as artists all allow <br>
Few specimens yet left us can compare.<br></p>
</blockquote>
<p>Fittingly, Byron’s lines were taken up by his acquaintance, the auctioneer Robins, who quoted them in ads for the sale of an abbey in <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10509585.2016.1235824">The Times in 1846</a>.</p>
<p>Descriptive poems oriented around a house and property are, of course, older than real estate copy. An obvious example in English literature is the 17th-century Country House poem, which praises the country house owner through praising their property.</p>
<p>But these poems are not about houses or estates on the market. In England up until the 19th century, a real estate industry did not exist. Laws and cultural norms meant the family estate was typically passed down as an undivided parcel of land from one male heir to the next, rather than sold. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572353/original/file-20240131-19-eetcro.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Cover of Sense and Sensibility" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572353/original/file-20240131-19-eetcro.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572353/original/file-20240131-19-eetcro.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=920&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572353/original/file-20240131-19-eetcro.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=920&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572353/original/file-20240131-19-eetcro.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=920&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572353/original/file-20240131-19-eetcro.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1157&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572353/original/file-20240131-19-eetcro.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1157&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572353/original/file-20240131-19-eetcro.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1157&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Goodreads</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These laws – and their exclusion of women and younger sons of landowning families – motivate the plots of most of Jane Austen’s novels. </p>
<p>They are why, in Sense and Sensibility, Marianne and Elinor Dashwood must leave the house they grew up in when their father dies, and become dependent on the charity of their relatives. Similarly in Pride and Prejudice, Mr Bennet’s house and land – since he only has daughters – will go to Mr Collins upon his death. </p>
<p>Laws of primogeniture kept land ownership in the hands of a small, privileged and overwhelmingly male group. They also concentrated political power in that same class. Owning land brought with it political rights, such as the right to vote.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-the-revolutionary-vision-of-jane-austen-71000">Friday essay: the revolutionary vision of Jane Austen</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Real estate and the colony</h2>
<p>The more contemporary attitude towards land as a commodity (something that only comes up in Austen’s later work, especially her final, unfinished novel, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/166177.Sanditon?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=qZgoXYkuez&rank=2">Sanditon</a>) is inextricable from the history of colonialism. </p>
<p>In the British colonies, property law, rather than privileging an ancestral chain of ownership, was developed to dispossess First Nations people as efficiently as possible. Laws and customs were then exported elsewhere, including to imperial centres. As the Australian poets <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/03063968221098623#bibr1-03063968221098623">Astrid Lorange and Andrew Brooks</a> have put it, </p>
<blockquote>
<p>[t]he “vacant” land of the settler colony provided the conditions for modern property laws to be written and enacted.</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572352/original/file-20240131-15-txtfeg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="The cover of Barron Field" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572352/original/file-20240131-15-txtfeg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572352/original/file-20240131-15-txtfeg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=887&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572352/original/file-20240131-15-txtfeg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=887&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572352/original/file-20240131-15-txtfeg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=887&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572352/original/file-20240131-15-txtfeg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1115&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572352/original/file-20240131-15-txtfeg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1115&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572352/original/file-20240131-15-txtfeg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1115&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Goodreads</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/pastoral-ponderings-and-settler-politics-how-a-colonial-judge-and-poet-wrote-terra-nullius-into-law-199962">Thomas H. Ford and Justin Clemens have shown</a> how the Australian judge, Romantic poet, and Wordsworth acolyte, Barron Field, in both his legal rulings and his poetry, established the foundations for <em>terra nullius</em>: the notion that Australia was an empty, unowned land. </p>
<p>Field’s sweeping nullification of First Nation sovereignty in his poetry and his judgements rendered the country as one without history. Australia could be an Enlightenment blank space for colonial experiments structured around a land market. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/pastoral-ponderings-and-settler-politics-how-a-colonial-judge-and-poet-wrote-terra-nullius-into-law-199962">Pastoral ponderings and settler politics: how a colonial judge and poet wrote terra nullius into law</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>For example, the establishment of South Australia was heavily influenced by the theories of author <a href="https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/wakefield-edward-gibbon-2763">Edward Gibbon Wakefield</a>, who argued for establishing a colony funded through land sales to settlers. <a href="https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/torrens-sir-robert-richard-4739">Richard Robert Torrens</a>, parliamentarian and briefly Premier of South Australia, further refined the settler property regime through <a href="https://dti.sa.gov.au/history-of-the-torrens-system">the Torrens system</a>, which offered a simple and effective way to establish title to land and erased First Nations’ ownership. Torrens Title quickly became standard throughout the British empire.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572351/original/file-20240131-21-cz6313.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Cover of The White Possessive" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572351/original/file-20240131-21-cz6313.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572351/original/file-20240131-21-cz6313.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=940&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572351/original/file-20240131-21-cz6313.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=940&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572351/original/file-20240131-21-cz6313.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=940&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572351/original/file-20240131-21-cz6313.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1181&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572351/original/file-20240131-21-cz6313.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1181&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572351/original/file-20240131-21-cz6313.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1181&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Goodreads</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Writer and theorist Aileen Moreton-Robinson, in her book, <a href="https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/The_White_Possessive/VTB0DwAAQBAJ?hl=en">The White Possessive: Property, Power, and Indigenous Sovereignty</a>, places real estate at the heart of contemporary white Australian settler consciousness. For Moreton-Robinson, Australian national identity “is built on the disavowal of Indigenous sovereignty because the nation is socially and culturally constructed as a white possession”. </p>
<p>Moreton-Robinson notes that the settler reaction to <a href="https://aiatsis.gov.au/explore/mabo-case">the 1992 Mabo decision</a> granting native title was a “discourse of loss” and fear of “dispossession” ultimately “orchestrated to recenter white possession of the nation.” </p>
<p>More recently, in the Voice referendum, part of the “No” campaign presented the Voice as a conspiracy to seize privately owned property. The successful “No” campaign thrived from the inherent contradiction between Indigenous sovereignty and settler ownership of stolen land.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/no-the-voice-to-parliament-would-not-force-people-to-give-up-their-private-land-212784">No, the Voice to Parliament would not force people to give up their private land</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Critiquing our real estate obsession</h2>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573628/original/file-20240205-15-tq2hyl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Cover of The Winter Road" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573628/original/file-20240205-15-tq2hyl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573628/original/file-20240205-15-tq2hyl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=911&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573628/original/file-20240205-15-tq2hyl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=911&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573628/original/file-20240205-15-tq2hyl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=911&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573628/original/file-20240205-15-tq2hyl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1145&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573628/original/file-20240205-15-tq2hyl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1145&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573628/original/file-20240205-15-tq2hyl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1145&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Goodreads</span></span>
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<p>Kate Holden’s recent nonfiction book, <a href="https://www.blackincbooks.com.au/books/winter-road">The Winter Road: A Story of Legacy, Land and a Killing at Croppa Creek</a>, centres on the well-publicised murder by elderly farmer Ian Turnbull of an environmental protection officer, Glen Turner. For Holden, Turner’s murder, and the sympathy Turnbull subsequently won from the public, cannot be isolated from the living legacy of invasion and colonisation. </p>
<p>Holden connects Turnbull’s persistence in illegally clearing vast tracts of koala habitat, and his murder of Turner, to British Enlightenment theories of property. The English philosopher <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/locke/">John Locke</a>, she observes, “placed emphasis on labour to morally justify the owning of property. The more work put into the land, the more settled a man was upon it.” </p>
<p>Holden traces associations between Locke’s ideas, the history of <em>terra nullius</em> and the “strange, morbid fixation in Australian myth of just how hard a person has to work on this land.” She writes, </p>
<blockquote>
<p>[b]y the time of Australia’s settling, the ineluctable mark of a British citizen was land ownership. It enfranchised him, gave him rights […] Land – elemental, foundational – was the desperately prized asset in a new colony. Without it, man was only an object.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Successive governments and polls acknowledge that home ownership continues to be an “aspiration” of an overwhelming majority of Australians, even if it is out of reach to an increasing proportion of the population.</p>
<p>Yet the contradictions and inequities surrounding the trade in stolen land are rehearsed largely without reflection or analysis across contemporary Australian culture. </p>
<p>TV series like <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14344354/">Luxe Listings Sydney</a> (where million-dollar ocean view mansions are sold to a tiny, cashed-up clientele), The Block, and Escape from the City, participate in a nation-wide settler obsession with real estate. </p>
<p>“We love house hunting. We hate house hunting,” <a href="https://www.liminalmag.com/liminal-review-of-books/lucy-van">writes Van</a>.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/i-dont-want-realism-i-want-magic-behind-the-fantasy-fuelling-our-real-estate-voyeurism-164708">'I don’t want realism. I want magic': behind the fantasy fuelling our real estate voyeurism</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Michelle de Kretser’s recent novel <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59432505-scary-monsters?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=Szwj6CgXVc&rank=1">Scary Monsters</a>, like Van’s essays, takes a more critical approach to real estate culture.</p>
<p>An interest in property suffuses both halves of de Kretser’s bifurcated novel, particularly obvious in the “Lyle” section, set in a dystopic future not that different from the present. It begins with a “For Sale” sign, soon followed by interpolated real estate copy, that, in keeping with de Kretser’s novel is drily foreboding: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Here is a house that can accommodate the joys and sorrows of your family.</p>
</blockquote>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572354/original/file-20240131-27-unlxt9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Cover of Scary Monsters" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572354/original/file-20240131-27-unlxt9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572354/original/file-20240131-27-unlxt9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=906&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572354/original/file-20240131-27-unlxt9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=906&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572354/original/file-20240131-27-unlxt9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=906&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572354/original/file-20240131-27-unlxt9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1138&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572354/original/file-20240131-27-unlxt9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1138&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572354/original/file-20240131-27-unlxt9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1138&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Goodreads</span></span>
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<p>De Krester is nothing if not precise about how settler-colonial violence installs ownership of land at the heart of the Australian national imaginary. Lyle euthanizes his elderly mother so that he and his wife can downsize and relocate to “a luxury development”. Appropriately enough, it is in a repurposed abattoir, advertised as “an urban village in an emerging precinct where imagination, history and visionary architecture come together to create a whole new story”.</p>
<p>The emphasis on “new story” is deliberate. Settler real estate culture in de Kretser’s satire involves erasing history and speculating upon the future. Lyle’s migrant family abandons their heritage. Lyle dismisses Aboriginal people as </p>
<blockquote>
<p>a living reminder of the past. Who feels comfortable facing up to old mistakes? […] The whole point of Australia is a bet on the future.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In Scary Monsters, real estate speculation is violently forward-looking, operating in direct contradiction with grappling with a history of dispossession. For Lyle, </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Real estate is another way to say Australia. Acquiring it, changing it, making a profit on it, in short, managing the property cycle with confidence – it’s the story of our nation.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Amanda Lohrey, in her <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-are-we-obsessed-with-renovation-amanda-lohrey-explores-the-promise-and-limits-of-transforming-our-environment-211668">new novel The Conversion</a>, also explores the Australian obsession with buying and renovating homes, linking renovation to the practice of silencing a past. </p>
<p>Australian writing can dissect the way land is owned and the how the nation is imagined as a white possession. Yet literature can also help establish and perpetuate systems of private property. Meanwhile, the real estate industry continues to learn from literature new ways to rhetorically “add value” to properties.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214835/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amelia Dale does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Writers have long rhapsodised about real estate – or the difficulty acquiring it – but contemporary authors are asking awkward questions about the inequities of our property obsession.Amelia Dale, Lecturer in English, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2253302024-03-18T20:34:22Z2024-03-18T20:34:22ZOperation Legacy: How Britain covered up its colonial crimes<p>In 2011, the world learned of the secret British policy called <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/apr/18/britain-destroyed-records-colonial-crimes">Operation Legacy</a> that was implemented in the 1950s. The goal of this policy was to remove incriminating documents from former colonies in the months before each one became politically independent. </p>
<p>Documents that might embarrass or damage the British government, police and military <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/nov/29/revealed-bonfire-papers-empire">were either secretly removed or destroyed</a>. This policy had an impact far and wide, and was implemented in British colonies throughout the Caribbean, Asia and Africa. </p>
<p>In an age where <a href="https://www.pbs.org/video/the-misinformation-age-0xqnez/">misinformation</a> is everywhere, Operation Legacy provides us with an instructive example of the repercussions faced when people with power determine what information is available to interpret events of the past. </p>
<figure>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">A TED-Ed explainer on Operation Legacy and how British officials destroyed embarrassing documents or sent them to the U.K.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Kenya: the unravelling of a British lie</h2>
<p>We know about Operation Legacy because of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/jul/21/mau-mau-torture-kenyans-compensation">a case brought before the British High Court</a>. Five elderly Kenyans accused the British colonial government of imposing a policy of torture and human rights abuses during a state of emergency from 1952-1960 instituted in response to a rebellion against colonial rule.</p>
<p>The case revealed the price many Kenyans paid as they fought against colonialism. At the core of the conflict was access to land. From the beginning of colonial rule in 1895, the British were aggressive in their efforts to displace Africans from their lands. The goal was to reserve the most fertile land for white settlement and farms. </p>
<p>By the 1950s, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-12997138">African resistance became more organized and intense</a>. When the colonial government declared a state of emergency, Kenyans suspected of challenging British colonial rule faced even greater risks. The state of emergency gave colonial authorities a wide ranging set of powers — which included torture and other human rights abuses — to deal with the anti-colonialists. </p>
<p>The propaganda from the period is telling. </p>
<figure>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">A 1955 British news report casting Kenyan anti-colonial rebels as fanatics and bandits.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Privileging the colonizer’s narrative</h2>
<p>Many historians of 20th century Kenya — but not all — overlooked or downplayed this colonial policy of violence. Some might argue they should be forgiven as there were no official colonial documents that revealed a British policy of human rights violations in Kenya. </p>
<p>But what happens when the absence of proof is really due to the deliberate removal of evidence?</p>
<p>Others might be inclined to think those historians did not look hard enough. They were only willing to believe the official colonial records even though there were Kenyans alive who could give oral testimony. </p>
<p>For the five elderly Kenyans, the irrefutable evidence was the scars they bore on their bodies. Make no mistake, the human rights violations were extreme. <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2016/5/5/we-are-the-mau-mau-kenyans-share-stories-of-torture">They even included castration</a>. The Kenyans also had their memories. Yet, this mattered little for those historians who privileged official colonial documents above all else. </p>
<p>However, it was the work of historians David Anderson, Huw Bennett and Caroline Elkins that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/03086534.2011.629082">helped turn the court case around</a>. Their research challenged the historical silence on colonial violence during this period. </p>
<p>In court, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/hwj/dbv027">evidence was presented</a> that colonial documents were deliberately removed and that the testimony of the elderly Kenyans was, in fact, credible. In December 2010, the presiding judge ruled that the British Foreign and Commonwealth office had to <a href="https://academic.oup.com/ahr/article/120/3/852/19858">release all documents related to the case</a>. </p>
<p>Once these documents were released and analyzed, the evidence was clear. The British colonial government sanctioned extreme abuses. We now know that over 80,000 people were imprisoned without trial and more than 1,000 people were convicted as “terrorists” and put to <a href="https://wwnorton.com/books/Histories-of-the-Hanged">death by hanging</a>. </p>
<p>Only eight white officers were accused of extreme abuse, and they were all granted amnesty. This includes the officer accused of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/apr/11/mau-mau-high-court-foreign-office-documents">“roasting alive” one Kenyan</a>. </p>
<p>Shortly after the Foreign and Commonwealth Office was required to release documents concerning the case, <a href="https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201011/ldhansrd/text/110405-wms0001.htm?_gl=1*1wvpzwq*_ga*ODkyMzY3MTQxLjE3MTAyODQ4NDI.*_ga_QQVTWCSLDS*MTcxMDI4NDg0Mi4xLjEuMTcxMDI4NTMwOS42MC4wLjA.#1104069000380">an announcement</a> was made in the House of Lords that files were also being held concerning 37 former British colonies. An <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/43917577">independent audit</a> revealed there were more than 20,000 files taken from former colonies. </p>
<p>Some files were also slated for destruction, and there is no way to know how many were destroyed. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581372/original/file-20240312-18-k34uug.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Part of a document detailing" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581372/original/file-20240312-18-k34uug.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581372/original/file-20240312-18-k34uug.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=136&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581372/original/file-20240312-18-k34uug.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=136&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581372/original/file-20240312-18-k34uug.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=136&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581372/original/file-20240312-18-k34uug.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=171&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581372/original/file-20240312-18-k34uug.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=171&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581372/original/file-20240312-18-k34uug.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=171&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Instructions given to colonial officials for the destruction of documents found in the U.K.’s national archives.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(The National Archives)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Guyana: destroyed documents and a coup</h2>
<p>The files that did survive were eventually transferred to The National Archives in London. They are now officially referred to as the “Migrated Archive,” a carefully chosen misnomer. Now that they are in the public domain, we have a better idea about the documents available for other former British colonies. </p>
<p>I am currently working on a project, <a href="https://www.chainedinparadise.com">Chained in Paradise</a>, that explores the impact of Operation Legacy on the Caribbean. When the public was informed about the specific documents in the Migrated Archive, historian Richard Drayton was <a href="https://www.historyworkshop.org.uk/empire-decolonisation/britains-secret-archive-of-decolonisation/">the first to point out</a> there were no documents for British Guiana, present-day Guyana.</p>
<p>In other words, unlike in Kenya where some documents were hidden, in British Guiana they were all destroyed. Did Britain have things to hide concerning its colonial policies in British Guiana? The short answer is yes. </p>
<h2>The Personal net</h2>
<p>Approximately one year after Britain declared a State of Emergency in Kenya, it declared another in British Guiana in October 1953; six months after the colony’s first democratic election.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/aug/26/mi5-files-coup-british-guiana">British troops were deployed to remove the elected Prime Minister Cheddi Jagan</a>. The constitution of British Guiana was suspended and the British governor ruled for three more years. The area formerly known as British Guiana became the independent nation of Guyana in 1966.</p>
<p>Jagan was accused of being a communist and went to England to protest his removal. However, he and his allies were eventually placed under house arrest.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PHRtChiUH7Y?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">A British news report on the deposition of Guyana’s Prime Minister Cheddi Jagan.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>According to one document I have reviewed from the Migrated Archives, less than one month after Prime Minister Jagan was elected, records in British Guiana were incorporated into a secret system for hiding official correspondence. It was called the “Personal” net.</p>
<p>There are three things we can learn from these records:</p>
<p>1) As soon as British Guiana had its democratically held elections, plans were put in place for high levels of British secrecy. Not only was there to be no transparency, there was also to be high levels of duplicity.</p>
<p>2) Before political independence — in other words, when Britain was on the cusp of losing its political control — documents were to be destroyed so the incoming government would be left in the dark about the tactics of its former British colonizers. </p>
<p>3) The document below suggests that certain colonial records could be destroyed because there were copies in England. To date, no such documents have been released as part of the Migrated Archives. This raises questions about where those documents currently are and if they still exist.</p>
<h2>History is about the future</h2>
<p>In his book, <a href="https://www.theportobellobookshop.com/9781846275852"><em>The History Thieves</em></a>, journalist Ian Cobain argues that Operation Legacy was implemented so that British colonialism would be remembered with “fondness and respect.” He is right, but there is more to history than what we remember. </p>
<p>The long-term objective of Operation Legacy was to undermine future criticism of colonialism by sanitizing the past. That would make the transition from colonialism to neocolonialism easier as future economic relations with their former colonies would be negotiated without a proper historical understanding of Britain’s motives.</p>
<p>History was a powerful tool of the British empire, and it has been used to maintain unequal relations with its former colonies long after they attained political independence.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225330/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Audra Diptée receives funding from Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. </span></em></p>Operation Legacy highlights the repercussions faced when people with power determine what information is available to interpret events of the past.Audra Diptée, Associate Professor, History, Carleton UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2230352024-03-18T10:59:45Z2024-03-18T10:59:45Z2024 Senegal election crisis points to deeper issues with Macky Sall and his preferred successor<p>The botched attempt by Senegalese president <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Macky-Sall">Macky Sall</a> to <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/2/3/senegals-macky-sall-postpones-presidential-election">postpone</a> the presidential election has stirred unnecessary tension in an already strained electoral process. The move reflected deeper governance problems in the country.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/2/3/senegals-macky-sall-postpones-presidential-election">Sall’s decree</a>, subsequently <a href="https://www.lemonde.fr/en/le-monde-africa/article/2024/02/16/constitutional-council-plunges-senegal-into-the-unknown-by-overturning-election-postponement_6531088_124.html">annulled by the Constitutional Council</a>, was the latest in a range of government interventions that exceeded the scope of the executive authority. These have included the <a href="https://www.africanews.com/2024/01/22/sonko-wade-not-listed-among-official-candidates-of-feb25-presidential-election/">disqualification</a> of key opposition candidates, the manipulation of judicial procedures, and the arbitrary detention of dissenting figures.</p>
<p>Sall’s 12-year tenure has been marked by contradictions. His administration boosted investment in transport and urban infrastructure. Notably, he worked on the <a href="https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/319731593403262722/text/Senegal-Transport-and-Urban-Mobility-Project.txt">motorway network</a>, the new Diass international airport, the development of major roads and the completion of public transport projects.</p>
<p>But these investments have not translated into improvements in the lives of Senegalese. Thousands of young people still go on <a href="https://www.jeuneafrique.com/1072143/politique/tribune-whatshappeninginsenegal-quand-le-drame-des-migrants-passe-au-second-plan/">perilous journeys</a> to Europe having lost hope of fulfilling their potential in their own country.</p>
<p>This is the backdrop to his move to postpone the elections in a last bid to secure a winning strategy for his camp. His anointed successor, <a href="https://www.ecofinagency.com/public-management/1109-44836-senegals-macky-sall-endorses-pm-amadou-ba-as-2024-successor">Amadou Ba</a>, remains a contested figure within the ruling <a href="https://www.senegel.org/en/movements/political-parties/poldetails/2">Alliance for the Republic Party</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Amy-Niang">I have a research interest</a> in state formation in west Africa. As I <a href="https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781786606525/The-Postcolonial-African-State-in-Transition-Stateness-and-Modes-of-Sovereignty">have argued</a> in my work, states sustain themselves by producing and alienating internal “others”. This refers to a scenario where governments assert sovereignty not against outside forces but against internal cultural groups and existing logics of governance. Sall’s style of government follows this pattern closely. </p>
<h2>Crisis within his party</h2>
<p>Sall <a href="https://fr.africanews.com/2024/02/10/senegal-macky-sall-se-justifie-sur-le-report-de-la-presidentielle//">said</a> he was postponing elections because of an alleged conflict between parliament and the Constitutional Council. The parliament had approved the creation of a commission of inquiry into the process of validation of presidential candidacies by the Constitutional Council.</p>
<p>Sall in fact latched onto <a href="https://www.bbc.com/afrique/articles/c1vywrx3xx9o">an accusation</a> of corruption levelled by Karim Wade against two Constitutional Council judges following Karim’s disqualification from running in the election due to his dual citizenship.</p>
<p>But the most plausible reason was a crisis within the ruling camp. The Alliance for the Republic is a divided party that is going to the elections in disarray. Sall’s chosen successor, <a href="https://guardian.ng/news/world/senegal-pm-amadou-ba-named-ruling-party-candidate-for-president/">Ba</a>, has generated little enthusiasm among voters. He symbolises the status quo. An affluent candidate, Ba has the difficult task of convincing an impoverished electorate that he is up to the task. </p>
<p>Sall overstepped his constitutional powers. The Senegalese <a href="https://adsdatabase.ohchr.org/IssueLibrary/SENEGAL_Constitution.pdf">constitution’s limitation</a> of the president’s term duration can’t be amended. Further, according to the <a href="https://dge.sn/sites/default/files/2019-01/CODE%20ELECTORAL%202018_0.pdf">electoral code</a>, the decree setting a date for presidential elections must be published no later than 80 days before the scheduled ballot. Sall postponed the poll just 12 hours before the campaigning was due to start, and <a href="https://www.africanews.com/2024/02/14/senegal-authorities-restrict-internet-access-and-ban-march//">22 days before the ballot</a>.</p>
<p>Sall’s attempt at postponing the elections, which has fostered a climate of distrust in the integrity of the electoral process, has left Senegal embroiled in a serious constitutional crisis. His decree brought forth two important issues:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>the government’s commitment to an orderly handover of power</p></li>
<li><p>the integrity of the democratic process.</p></li>
</ul>
<h2>Erosion of a democratic tradition</h2>
<p>Since 2021, a series of protests and riots have pitted Ousmane Sonko, a key opposition figure facing rape allegations, and his supporters against a government accused of manipulating the judiciary to thwart a serious candidate. As a result, the economy has been severely disrupted. Each day of protests causes an estimated <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/restaurants-water-towers-unrest-dents-senegals-economy-2023-06-09/">$33 million loss</a> in economic output. </p>
<p>Further, Sall has used security and defence forces to establish an order of fear. He has resorted to heavy-handed measures against opposition figures and dissenting voices within civil society through arbitrary detention and prosecution. His government has systematically <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/06/05/senegal-violent-crackdown-opposition-dissent">restricted</a> the freedom of assembly, banned protests, suppressed independent media and mobilised public resources to bolster the ruling party.</p>
<p>For all these reasons, Senegal has seen an erosion of institutions meant to uphold the rule of law, foster political participation and ensure public accountability.</p>
<p>Sall was elected in <a href="https://fr.allafrica.com/view/group/main/main/id/00016260.html">2012</a> after a tumultuous period under the flamboyant government of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Abdoulaye-Wade">President Abdoulaye Wade</a>. Sall owes his entire political career to Wade’s patronage. Yet their relationship soured when it became evident that Sall harboured ambitions to challenge Wade’s son, <a href="https://www.africa-confidential.com/profile/id/254/page/4">Karim</a>, who was being groomed to succeed his father. </p>
<p>Sall pledged to deliver virtuous and frugal governance. But public euphoria soon petered out as scandals involving cabinet ministers and <a href="https://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2019/06/25/senegal-soupconne-de-corruption-le-frere-du-president-macky-sall-demissionne_5481292_3212.html">close family members</a> laid bare the corruption within the administration.</p>
<p>In 2023, amid much brouhaha over the validity of a third term, Sall <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-66093983">yielded</a> to public pressure after <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/senegalese-opposition-rally-against-president-sall-s-possible-third-term-ambition-/7091705.html">violent protests</a>. These resulted in the most serious political crisis since the 1960s, claiming over 60 lives and leading to the <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/01/22/senegal-pre-election-crackdown">arrest</a> of over 1,000 people.</p>
<h2>Where to for Senegal?</h2>
<p>In compliance with the <a href="https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/rest-of-africa/senegal-presidentsets-presidential-election-for-march-24-4547872">Constitutional Council ruling</a>, Sall has finally agreed to organise elections before his exit.</p>
<p>As the election day of 24 March draws near, the absence of key contenders, and uncertainties regarding the electoral procedures, inject an element of unpredictability. </p>
<p>Furthermore, the erosion of trust is such that the Senegalese public still doubts Sall’s commitment to fulfil his obligations and facilitate an orderly handover.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223035/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amy Niang does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Attempts to postpone Senegal’s election indefinitely reflect deeper governance problems within Macky Sall’s administration, and the shortcomings of his chosen heir, Amadou Ba.Amy Niang, Head of Research Programme, Council for the Development of Social Science Research in AfricaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2234582024-03-12T13:52:34Z2024-03-12T13:52:34ZColonial statues in Africa have been removed, returned and torn down again – why it’s such a complex history<p>In 2020, the <a href="https://www.mprnews.org/crime-law-and-justice/killing-of-george-floyd">murder of George Floyd</a> in the US served as a catalyst for the global <a href="https://library.law.howard.edu/civilrightshistory/BLM">Black Lives Matter movement</a>. It sparked widespread protests against police brutality and systemic racism. It also ignited <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/mar/16/the-real-meaning-of-rhodes-must-fall">debates</a> about historical symbols of oppression, such as statues of figures associated with racial injustices. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-06-12/pulling-down-statues-of-racists-africas-done-it-for-years">These debates presented colonial statues</a> in Africa as having been contested and toppled for many years, ever since African states gained independence. Indeed, colonial statues were at the heart of the colonial world, symbolising its violence, white supremacy and the erasure of precolonial history. But colonial monuments in African public spaces have much more complex and often overlooked histories.</p>
<p>As a scholar of African heritage, I recently published a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13527258.2023.2294738">study</a> examining colonial statues and how they have been regarded in postcolonial Africa. My historical investigation highlights three major phases. </p>
<p>First, in the era of independence of African states, from the 1950s to 1980, some statues were removed from public spaces, but many remained. </p>
<p>Second, the 1990s and 2000s were marked by the “return of empires”: statues that had been removed were put back in public spaces and new neo-colonial monuments were constructed. </p>
<p>Third, the renewed challenges to colonial statues from the 2010s faced some strong resistance. Understanding this history is crucial, as it exposes the challenges of truly moving beyond the colonial world and order.</p>
<h2>Colonial statues at independence (1950s-1980)</h2>
<p>As African countries gained independence from the 1950s to the 1980s, colonial statues faced three main fates: recycling; defacement or toppling; and on-site preservation. </p>
<p>Recycling involved relocating statues from former colonies to former colonial metropolises. Most went from Algeria to France and from Kenya to England. The statues of <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/f3760af0-6545-11e4-91b1-00144feabdc0">Lord Kitchener</a> and <a href="https://equestrianstatue.org/gordon-charles-george/">General Gordon</a>, for example, were sent from Khartoum in Sudan to England in 1958. The reasons for these repatriations were multiple and included the desire to keep alive memory of colonial times and to feed colonial nostalgia. </p>
<p>Defacing or toppling was the second phenomenon, which occurred across the continent, from Algeria to Mozambique. One instance was the defacement and toppling of the <a href="https://www.academia.edu/51780170/The_Maid_of_Algiers_Deploying_and_dismantling_Joan_of_Arc_as_a_globe_trotting_icon">statue of Joan of Arc</a> in Algiers in 1962. These acts of violence were necessary responses to the violence of the colonial order and represented a break from the past. They also symbolised the cleansing of public spaces, to destroy symbolically the power imbalances, racism, inequalities and urban exclusions that defined the colonial world. Some of these toppled statues were then sent back and recycled in the former metropolis. </p>
<p>However, across Africa, many colonial monuments remained untouched, for various reasons. Some African leaders at independence were pro-Europe, having been educated there or having worked there during colonial times. And at independence, privileged links were forged between the former colonies and the metropolises. This was the case with some former French colonies. As a result, the leaders of former French colonies did not want to change the key symbols of the colonial world. </p>
<h2>The empires strike back (1990s-2000s)</h2>
<p>From the 1990s, many colonial statues dismantled and hidden during the independence era were reinstalled. Aid from former imperial powers to former colonial countries is one explanation. An example is the controversial <a href="https://contestedhistories.org/wp-content/uploads/Democratic-Republic-of-Congo_-Leopold-II-Statue-in-Kinshasa.pdf">re-erection of the statue of former Belgian king and Congo “owner” Leopold II</a> in front of the main train station in Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, in 2005. It’s easy to see why: the millions of US dollars in aid that Belgium gives the DRC every year.</p>
<p>The turn of the millennium also saw (neo)colonial statues deliberately erected to celebrate 19th century explorers and missionaries. In countries that were once part of the British Empire, such statues were built to attract tourists. For example, a new <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/13527258.2023.2294738">statue of David Livingstone was erected in 2005</a> for the 150th anniversary of his arrival at Mosi-oa-Tunya (Victoria Falls) in Zambia. It was paid for by airlines, travel agencies, luxury lodges, TotalEnergies and local authorities. </p>
<p>However, this statue of Livingstone can also be seen as an international event, linked to colonial monuments built with France’s cooperation. This is notably the case of the <a href="https://academic.oup.com/afraf/article-abstract/109/436/367/146718?redirectedFrom=fulltext">2006 Savorgnan de Brazza</a> memorial erected in Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of Congo. This project of Algeria, Congo, France and Gabon <a href="https://academic.oup.com/afraf/article-abstract/109/436/367/146718?redirectedFrom=fulltext">reburied</a> the remains of the Italian-French explorer De Brazza, his wife and their children in the memorial. </p>
<p>The project mixed geopolitics and bilateral aid, cultural diplomacy and colonial violence. Echoing imperial rivalries, the memorial and its statue also served as distinct markers of France’s spheres of influence, and its attempt to counteract its decline in the region.</p>
<h2>Renewed contestations (from the 2010s)</h2>
<p>(Neo)colonial monuments were increasingly contested in the 2010s. Such protests have accelerated in recent years and have become more visible, thanks to social networks.</p>
<p>The most famous case is the <a href="https://twitter.com/RhodesMustFall">Rhodes Must Fall movement</a>. This led to the removal of the statue of the British colonialist <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Cecil-Rhodes">Cecil John Rhodes</a> on the campus of the University of Cape Town in South Africa in April 2015. This movement opposed neoliberal economic systems which had failed to respond to fundamental change, especially in areas such as education.</p>
<p>The movement quickly spread to other countries, inspiring other protests such as “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/dec/14/racist-gandhi-statue-removed-from-university-of-ghana">#GandhiMustFall</a>” in Ghana, Malawi and England. Statues of the Indian leader <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mahatma-Gandhi">Gandhi</a>, considered a racist, were contested. Another movement is “<a href="https://faidherbedoittomber.org/a-propos/">Faidherbe must fall</a>”, aiming to remove the statue of the French colonial administrator Faidherbe in Saint-Louis/Ndar in Senegal and in Lille in France.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-background-story-to-a-statue-of-gandhi-and-the-university-of-ghana-117103">The background story to a statue of Gandhi and the University of Ghana</a>
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<p>Some of these movements have drawn attention to the link between colonial or racist statues and aid. For example, the #GandhiMustFall movement prevented the construction of a <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-46051184">Gandhi statue in Malawi in 2018</a>. This project was linked to a <a href="https://sikhsiyasat.net/india-offers-to-double-aid-for-malavi-as-malavian-government-agrees-to-install-gandhi-statue-despite-local-opposition/">US$10 million aid deal from India</a>.</p>
<h2>A complex issue</h2>
<p>While acknowledging successes in removing colonial statues, it is important not to overlook the substantial support for (neo)colonial monuments all over Africa. </p>
<p>Such support can be explained by pressure from former colonial powers and the links of elites with these countries. Financial constraints, international aid and the potential of tourism are also factors. Then there’s the conviction that all vestiges of the past, even the most painful, must be preserved.</p>
<p>The statue of the French military commander <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-53148608">Philippe Leclerc</a> in Douala in Cameroon, for example, still stands, despite being attacked several times by Cameroonian <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/7/7/the-activist-purging-cameroon-of-french-colonial-monuments">activist</a> André Blaise Essama.</p>
<p>As a result, (neo)colonial statues still have a bright future ahead of them.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223458/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sophia Labadi has received funding from the Humboldt Foundation and the Fritz Thyssen Foundation.</span></em></p>The fate of several colonial statues in Africa continues to be a subject of controversy.Sophia Labadi, Professor of Heritage, University of KentLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2227032024-02-29T18:44:21Z2024-02-29T18:44:21ZTransportation equity: First Nation communities urgently need solutions now<p>In the vast expanse of Canada’s diverse landscapes, a critical issue persists, impacting the lives of Indigenous Peoples: the lack of safe and accessible transportation. </p>
<p>This challenge is not merely about mobility. Intertwined with this narrative is <a href="https://highwayoftears.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Highway-of-Tears-Symposium-Recommendations-Report-January-2013.pdf">alarming rates of missing and murdered Indigenous women</a>, girls and two-spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, asexual and all other sexual orientations and genders (MMIWG2SLGBTQQIA+ or MMMIWG2S+).</p>
<p><em><a href="https://www.mmiwg-ffada.ca/final-report/">The Reclaiming Power and Place</a></em> (RPP) report released in 2019 by the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls shone a spotlight onto the pervasive violence and vulnerabilities disproportionately affecting Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit individuals. Among its 231 Calls for Justice was the call to immediately tackle limited mobility in rural and remote areas.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://actioncanada.ca/publications/improving-the-intercommunity-mobility-of-first-nation-peoples-in-canada-a-response-to-call-for-justice-4-8/">new report</a>, <em>Improving the Intercommunity Mobility of First Nation Peoples in Canada</em>, responds to this call.</p>
<p>I authored this report with my collaborators, Alexandra Nychuk, André Moreau, Dale Arcand-Morin and Deanna Starr. We are <a href="https://actioncanada.ca/community/#this-years-fellows">research fellows</a> and part of an all-Indigenous task force <a href="https://actioncanada.ca/about/">with Action Canada</a>, an independent, non-partisan and non-profit organization and charity. </p>
<p>Alongside the <a href="https://ppforum.ca/academy/action-canada-fellowship/">Public Policy Forum</a>, Action Canada delivers a 10-month leadership program that aims to enhance emerging leaders’ understanding of the country and public policy choices for the future. Our group is tackling the problem of MMMIWG2S+ and mobility because we see this as a pervasive issue — and we think the potential exists to influence real change.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/canada-needs-a-national-public-transportation-system-heres-why-161786">Canada needs a national public transportation system — here's why</a>
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<h2>Profound impacts</h2>
<p>A lack of mobility and transportation has a profound impact on the safety of Indigenous women and girls.</p>
<p>Transportation, or a lack of it, is a symbol of historical injustices. It is a continuation of the colonial legacy that sought to <a href="https://uofrpress.ca/Books/C/Clearing-the-Plains">expropriate Indigenous Peoples from land partly by</a> constraining their abilities to move freely.</p>
<p>In the case of First Nations communities, this is a structural issue. It’s deeply rooted in policies that threaten <a href="https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/11/UNDRIP_E_web.pdf">First Nations’ inherent rights</a>. The lack of transportation has far-reaching consequences, affecting access to essential services, economic opportunities, social-cultural ties and educational pursuits.</p>
<h2>Termination of Greyhound service</h2>
<p>The termination <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/greyhound-canada-1.6025276">of Greyhound Canada</a> that served communities for nearly a century was a turning point. </p>
<p>When the company closed, it cited financial losses and declining ridership. The closure left many rural and remote areas without a convenient and affordable transportation option.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/canada-needs-a-national-public-transportation-system-heres-why-161786">Canada needs a national public transportation system — here's why</a>
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<p>It also affected <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/indigenous-rural-residents-left-more-isolated-after-greyhound-leaves-canada-1.5442354?cache=%2F7.634935">vulnerable and marginalized communities</a>, <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/7860104/greyhound-closure-disaster-communities/#">notably Indigenous populations</a>, exacerbating social and economic disparities.</p>
<p>One might wonder: Why is the absence of transportation a social justice issue? The answer lies in recognizing transportation as a fundamental right. When people are denied transportation and mobility, they are denied access to health care, education, employment opportunities and the basic ability to move safely from point A to point B. </p>
<p>The impact is particularly severe for Indigenous communities. Historical policies <a href="https://www.ictinc.ca/blog/indian-act-and-the-pass-system">like the Pass System restricted mobility</a> and hindered Indigenous Peoples’ economic participation, leaving lasting scars on the social fabric.</p>
<h2>Heightened vulnerability</h2>
<p>The absence of reliable and accessible transportation options exacerbates challenges related to MMMIWG2S+. </p>
<p>The vulnerability of Indigenous women and girls is heightened, <a href="https://doi.org/10.29173/cjs28261">rendering them more susceptible to exploitation and violence</a>. Limited mobility options impedes their ability to access support services, escape dangerous situations or seek refuge in times of crisis. </p>
<p>The lack of transportation further complicates the timely response of authorities and the conduct of thorough investigations, perpetuating a climate of impunity.</p>
<h2>Mobility justice, Indigenous agency</h2>
<p>The RPP report emphasizes the importance of “mobility justice,” a concept rooted in the belief that governments have a responsibility to provide adequate transportation so that all communities can access a safe, reliable and equitable transportation system. Governments have a responsibility to provide adequate transportation. </p>
<p>An <a href="https://www.cpha.ca/increasing-mobility-and-sustainability-demand-transit-service-powell-river-bc">innovative example comes</a> from Powell River, B.C., <a href="https://zungabus.ca/">where the Zunga Bus</a>, an app-based, on-demand transportation service, offers door-to-door service based on rider requests. </p>
<p>While this service was recently <a href="https://www.prpeak.com/in-the-community/zunga-bus-receives-reprieve-from-city-of-powell-river-council-8052966">threatened with being discontinued</a>, it has sought to address safety concerns associated with inadequate transportation. </p>
<h2>Indigenous-run services</h2>
<p>Importantly, the paradigm shift towards mobility justice calls for recognizing Indigenous agency and sovereignty. It also calls for countering paternalistic approaches imposed on Indigenous communities.</p>
<p>In Manitoba, <a href="https://www.krcrail.ca/">the Keewatin Railway Company</a> (KRC), owned by three partner Nations (<a href="https://www.mathiascolomb.ca/">Mathias Colomb</a> Cree Nation, Tataskweyak Cree Nation and the War Lake First Nation), stands as a beacon of hope. Following <a href="https://www.krcrail.ca/about-us">the closure of a mine</a>, the Nations collaborated to improve mobility in their communities. With support from the Government of Canada, KRC established a sustainable transportation line, creating jobs and boosting the local economy. </p>
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<p>As <a href="https://www.transportaction.ca/national-news/meeting-with-parliamentary-all-party-rail-caucus/">different levels of government discuss rail and other modes of transport</a>, the success story of the Keewatin Railway Company underscores the importance of community-led and self-determined solutions. Such solutions align with the principles of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s report and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.</p>
<h2>Recommendations</h2>
<p>To truly address this multifaceted issue, we propose recommendations that emphasize holistic action and recognize the lack of transportation as rooted in colonization.</p>
<p>These include: </p>
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<li><p>aligning with the <a href="https://sdgs.un.org/topics/sustainable-transport">UN’s definition of sustainable transport</a>, significantly investing in safe and affordable inter-community mobility, establishing measurable outcomes and conducting annual reviews to ensure progress.</p></li>
<li><p>addressing <a href="https://yellowheadinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/covid-19-and-fn-infrastructure.pdf">inadequate infrastructure</a>. We propose targeted federal funding initiatives tailored for First Nation communities. This includes establishing a grant funding call to create, sustain and monitor public transit. Calls should be considered using a gender-based analysis <a href="https://women-gender-equality.canada.ca/en/gender-based-analysis-plus/what-gender-based-analysis-plus.html">“plus” approach (meaning considering intersectional factors such as</a> disability, education, ethnicity, economic status, geography, language, race, religion and sexual orientation).</p></li>
<li><p>enhancing transportation data through a gender-based analysis plus approach, and conducting research led by community advocates. These are vital steps toward informed decision-making and appropriate funding allocations. <a href="https://ikwesaferide.wordpress.com/">Ikwe Safe Rides</a> in Winnipeg is a <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/winnipeg-safe-ride-service-ikwe-1.4621212">community initiative</a>, led by women volunteers, which provides Indigenous women and children with transportation by donation. But we must also question as a society whether safe mobility should be the responsibility of volunteers — or a public service with governmental responsibility.</p></li>
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<h2>Road to justice</h2>
<p>The road to justice for First Nation communities in Canada requires a paradigm shift in how we perceive transportation. It is not just about moving people from one place to another; it is about restoring agency, dignity and safety. </p>
<p>By embracing community-led solutions rooted in principles of reconciliation <a href="https://afn.bynder.com/m/7f110fc9e906357e/original/National-Asset-Management-Virtual-Conference-Pathways-to-Sustainability-Draft-Report-March-8-10-2022.pdf">and self-determination</a>, we can build a road that leads to a more equitable and inclusive future for all Canadians. </p>
<p>It is time to break down barriers, build bridges and ensure that no one is left behind on the journey to justice.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222703/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tiffany Dionne Prete and her colleagues receive funding from Action Canada who are funded by Indspire, Secrétariat Aux Relations Canadiennes Quebec Government, Power Corporation of Canada, Public Policy Forum, and The Government of Canada. </span></em></p>Improving the intercommunity mobility of First Nation Peoples is a road to more inclusive and safer futures. This calls for recognizing Indigenous agency and sovereignty when developing solutions.Tiffany Dionne Prete, Assistant Professor, Sociology Department, University of LethbridgeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2242092024-02-28T16:56:15Z2024-02-28T16:56:15ZEcowas: west African trade bloc shaken as three member states withdraw and form their own alliance<p>Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-68122947">announced</a> their immediate withdrawal from the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) on January 27. Ecowas, which was formed in 1975, is a regional political and economic union of 15 mainly former British and French colonies located in west Africa. </p>
<p>The withdrawals come as no surprise. Throughout west Africa, there is growing frustration with Ecowas over its struggle to <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/7/26/over-1800-terrorist-attacks-in-west-africa-in-2023-ecowas">ensure security</a> in the region. Coups have become commonplace and west Africa has seen a dramatic increase in terrorist activity over recent years. Two west African states, Mali and Burkina Faso, are now among the the world’s five countries <a href="https://www.wilsoncenter.org/blog-post/sahel-now-accounts-43-global-terrorism-deaths">most affected</a> by terrorism. </p>
<p>The bloc’s <a href="https://www.liberationnews.org/what-is-the-new-alliance-of-sahel-states-challenging-neo-colonialism-in-west-africa/">perceived support</a> for leaders aligned with former colonial powers is also seen as contributing to the persistent poverty experienced by their populations. The leaders of several Ecowas member states have been accused of being <a href="https://www.newarab.com/analysis/domino-effect-frances-disintegrating-influence-africa">“puppets”</a> under the influence of France, which critics <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/05/world/africa/niger-coup-france-west-africa.html">say</a> never really let go of its former colonies.</p>
<p>In Niger, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-66406137">allegations</a> that the country’s president, Mohamed Bazoum, was a puppet for French interests were used to legitimise his removal from power in a military coup in July 2023. French colonial rule (1895–1958) established political systems designed to extract natural resources from African states.</p>
<p>The response to the coup marked a significant political shift in the region. Ecowas imposed economic sanctions on Niger and issued a seven-day <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/08/08/niger-ecowas-bazoum-nigeria-tinubu-military-intervention/">ultimatum</a>, vowing to use force to dislodge the military junta (a government led by a council of military officers) should it not restore Bazoum to power. But the junta refused to back down and Burkina Faso, Mali and Guinea <a href="https://theconversation.com/niger-coup-west-african-union-has-pledged-to-intervene-but-some-members-support-the-plotters-210990">pledged</a> to counter any action by Ecowas troops in Niger.</p>
<p>The agreement of these leaders and their readiness to take military action against Ecowas revealed the extent of their animosity towards the organisation and its leaders. These three countries, which are also governed by military rulers who have ousted democratically elected leaders in recent years, have all been hit with punitive sanctions since 2021.</p>
<p>On September 16 2023, Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger signed a new <a href="https://theconversation.com/burkina-faso-mali-and-niger-have-a-new-defence-alliance-an-expert-view-of-its-chances-of-success-215863">mutual defence pact</a> named the Alliance of Sahel States. Ecowas is encouraging these countries to return to the bloc by <a href="https://punchng.com/why-sanction-was-lifted-on-niger-mali-burkina-faso-ecowas/">lifting its sanctions</a>. But new partners like Russia, which is looking to <a href="https://carnegieendowment.org/2023/02/28/russia-s-growing-footprint-in-africa-s-sahel-region-pub-89135">increase its influence</a> across the continent, are at the same time supporting their efforts to form a united front. </p>
<p>African governments have increasingly welcomed economic, diplomatic and security <a href="https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/russias-growing-footprint-africa">ties</a> with Russia, facilitated in part by the state-backed <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2024/02/07/africa-corps-wagner-group-russia-africa-burkina-faso/">Wagner Group</a> (now called the “Expeditionary Corps”). The group is known for deploying paramilitary forces, running disinformation campaigns and propping up influential political leaders.</p>
<h2>The company of the old guards</h2>
<p>Ecowas has a patchy track record when it comes to ensuring cooperation and security across west Africa. In 1990, the military arm of Ecowas was deployed in a <a href="https://theconversation.com/niger-coup-west-african-union-has-pledged-to-intervene-but-some-members-support-the-plotters-210990">peacekeeping role</a> in Liberia. Despite some initial success, Ecowas was unable to prevent an escalation of hostilities that lasted for the best part of a decade. </p>
<p>Similarly, despite efforts by Ecowas to restore peace in Sierra Leone after a coup in 1997, a brutal civil war broke out, requiring the intervention of UN peacekeepers. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/niger-coup-west-african-union-has-pledged-to-intervene-but-some-members-support-the-plotters-210990">Niger coup: west African union has pledged to intervene – but some members support the plotters</a>
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<p>Ecowas has been instrumental in safeguarding democracy within the region as well. In 2016, Gambia’s incumbent leader, Yahya Jammeh, refused to leave office after losing a presidential vote to Adama Barrow. But, with Ecowas troops poised to march on the capital, Banjul, Jammeh <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/ousted-gambia-president-jammeh-to-stand-down-adama-barrow-takes-power/a-37217907">relinquished power</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578259/original/file-20240227-22-ng0qz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A map showing the 15 member states of Ecowas." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578259/original/file-20240227-22-ng0qz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578259/original/file-20240227-22-ng0qz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578259/original/file-20240227-22-ng0qz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578259/original/file-20240227-22-ng0qz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578259/original/file-20240227-22-ng0qz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578259/original/file-20240227-22-ng0qz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578259/original/file-20240227-22-ng0qz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ecowas is a regional political and economic union of 15 countries in west Africa.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/ecowas-economic-community-west-african-states-2341602777">Peter Hermes Furian/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>However, Ecowas has been inconsistent in its condemnation of military and civilian coups. And it has also been criticised for overlooking unlawful term extensions, a common practice among many entrenched leaders in the region. </p>
<p>In 2015, Ecowas leaders <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-32808685">dropped a proposal</a> to limit west African presidents to a maximum of two terms in office. As a result, there is no established protocol for penalising leaders from member states who seek to remain in power indefinitely.</p>
<p>This paved the way for the presidents of both Ivory Coast and Guinea (<a href="https://www.france24.com/en/africa/20201103-ivory-coast-president-ouattara-wins-re-election-to-third-term">Alassane Ouattara</a> and <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-54657359">Alpha Condé</a> respectively) to secure controversial third terms in 2020. The failure of Ecowas to intervene resulted in Condé being <a href="https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2021/09/09/alpha-conde-the-president-of-guinea-is-ousted-in-a-coup">ousted from power</a> by a military coup one year later.</p>
<p>According to <a href="https://apnews.com/article/mali-niger-burkina-faso-ecowas-west-africa-5a5dc2180e39223c91b1820067db4011">Oge Onubogu</a>, the director of the Africa Program, a Washington-based think tank: “Ecowas is fast losing its effectiveness and support among citizens, who see it as representing only the interests of the leaders and not that of the masses.” </p>
<h2>The challenger group</h2>
<p>The loss of any member from Ecowas will affect <a href="https://theconversation.com/mali-burkina-faso-and-niger-want-to-leave-ecowas-a-political-scientist-explains-the-fallout-222388">trade</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/west-africa-trade-will-take-a-hit-as-mali-niger-and-burkina-faso-leave-ecowas-223098">economic development</a> and the movement of citizens within the bloc. But the decision by Ecowas to lift post-coup sanctions signals its readiness to negotiate and cultivate relationships with these countries, regardless of whether they rejoin the organisation. </p>
<p>Ecowas <a href="https://punchng.com/why-sanction-was-lifted-on-niger-mali-burkina-faso-ecowas/">says</a> that the decision to lift sanctions was based on considering their impact on citizens and the need to maintain regional unity and security. Ecowas also <a href="https://punchng.com/why-sanction-was-lifted-on-niger-mali-burkina-faso-ecowas/">noted</a> the period of Lent and the approaching month of Ramadan as factors influencing their decisions. </p>
<p>Millions of young Africans are being <a href="https://www.trtafrika.com/insight/ibrahim-traore-why-burkina-fasos-leader-attracts-attention-14479334">drawn</a> to the Alliance of Sahel States, signalling discontent with the ineffectiveness of Ecowas and disillusionment with the west. Russia has capitalised on this trend. The Wagner Group is reportedly <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/02/20/putin-wagner-mercenaries-regime-survival-package-africa/">offering</a> military support to willing African leaders in the form of “regime survival packages”.</p>
<p>A competitor to Ecowas appears to have emerged in west Africa, and this alliance is not backing down. Only time will tell whether the new alliance will favour the citizens of west Africa.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/224209/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Ecowas has a patchy track record when it comes to ensuring cooperation and security across west Africa – member states are now starting to leave.Olumba E. Ezenwa, Doctoral Research Fellow, Conflict, Violence, & Terrorism Research Centre, Royal Holloway University of LondonOlayinka Ajala, Senior lecturer in Politics and International Relations, Leeds Beckett UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2230782024-02-28T13:31:51Z2024-02-28T13:31:51ZNigeria’s security problems deepen as Anglophone insurgency in Cameroon spills across border<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576415/original/file-20240219-30-q5d1lg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=25%2C0%2C8575%2C5729&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Grieving for the 140 victims of a January 2024 attack in north-central Nigeria.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/NigeriaArmedViolence/744fff9339094b5c858f3235bb986cf4/photo?Query=nigeria%20violence&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=1261&currentItemNo=0">AP Photo/Sunday Alamba</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Over the past two decades, Nigeria has grappled with multiple and complex national <a href="https://www.straitstimes.com/world/nigeria-mulls-state-policing-to-combat-growing-insecurity">security threats</a>, each posing a significant challenge to its stability.</p>
<p>The nation finds itself fighting a <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/uhenergy/2017/02/13/oil-and-violence-in-the-niger-delta-isnt-talked-about-much-but-it-has-a-global-impact/?sh=532d63f54dc6">violent militancy in the Niger Delta</a>, <a href="https://www.wilsoncenter.org/blog-post/farmers-herders-conflicts-in-nigeria-a-role-for-fbos">conflicts between farmers and herders</a> across multiple regions, terrorism and insurgency in the northeast, banditry in the northwest and secessionist campaigns by groups such as the <a href="https://www.cfr.org/blog/us-should-not-designate-nigerias-ipob-terrorist-group">Indigenous People of Biafra</a> in the southeast.</p>
<p>Now a new layer of complexity has emerged in the form of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/cameroons-anglophone-conflict-has-lasted-for-six-years-what-citizens-say-about-how-to-end-it-208381">Ambazonian secessionist group</a> from Cameroon. This group’s growing threat, most recently seen in the December 2023 violent invasion of the Nigerian <a href="https://dailypost.ng/2023/12/11/ambazonia-rebels-control-belegete-community-block-nigerian-troops/">borderline village of Belegete</a>, adds to the strain on Nigeria’s national security capabilities.</p>
<p>As a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=KhygkzYAAAAJ&hl=en">scholar specializing in</a> radicalization, violent extremism and counterterrorism in West and Central Africa, I believe the latest threat raises concerns about Nigeria’s strategic preparedness and ability to confront growing challenges.</p>
<p><iframe id="Cwek2" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/Cwek2/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>How the country responds could have far-reaching consequences. Nigeria is Africa’s <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/1120999/gdp-of-african-countries-by-country/">largest economy</a> and <a href="https://www.worldometers.info/population/countries-in-africa-by-population/">most populous country</a>. Since its independence in 1960, Nigeria has played a crucial role in regional stability and security. It remains an <a href="https://www.state.gov/the-united-states-and-nigeria-partnering-for-prosperity">important diplomatic partner for the United States</a>, which provides support to the Nigerian government in its efforts to combat extremism in the region.</p>
<h2>Rise of a violent campaign</h2>
<p>Ambazonian separatists, seeking independence from the Republic of Cameroon, are mounting a bloody civil war that stems from the <a href="https://www.crisisgroup.org/africa/central-africa/cameroon/b188-second-look-cameroons-anglophone-special-status">Anglophone crisis</a>, a protracted conflict rooted in the colonization of Cameroon by both the French and British governments.</p>
<p>Separatists from Camaroon’s two English-speaking regions declared independence from the French-speaking majority in 2017, and war has been raging between the separatists and Cameroon government forces ever since.</p>
<p>The Ambazonian secessionist movement, fueled by grievances that include <a href="https://theconversation.com/cameroon-how-language-plunged-a-country-into-deadly-conflict-with-no-end-in-sight-179027">the perceived dominance of Francophone Cameroonians</a>, seeks to secede and establish an <a href="https://www.gisreportsonline.com/r/cameroon-anglophone-crisis/">independent Federal Republic of Ambazonia</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Grievance over perceived Francophone bias is fueling Camaroon insurgency." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576417/original/file-20240219-16-blke3m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576417/original/file-20240219-16-blke3m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576417/original/file-20240219-16-blke3m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576417/original/file-20240219-16-blke3m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576417/original/file-20240219-16-blke3m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576417/original/file-20240219-16-blke3m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576417/original/file-20240219-16-blke3m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A sign saying ‘Speak English and French for a bilingual Cameroon’ outside an abandoned school in a rural part of southwest Cameroon.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/sign-saying-speak-english-or-french-for-a-bilingual-news-photo/1154062017?adppopup=true%5C">Photo by Giles Clarke/UNOCHA via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Agitation over the past seven years has resulted in <a href="https://www.globalr2p.org/countries/cameroon/">violence and widespread human rights violations</a>. </p>
<p>Estimates by the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reveal that over <a href="https://reports.unocha.org/en/country/cameroon/">1.7 million</a> people are in dire need of humanitarian assistance. Furthermore, the Anglophone crisis has <a href="https://www.crisisgroup.org/africa/central-africa/cameroon">resulted in</a> over 6,000 deaths and displaced 765,000 people. About 70,000 of these refugees are in Nigeria, including a few in the village of Belegete. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://humanglemedia.com/survivors-of-ambazonia-militant-attack-in-nigeria-are-experiencing-the-festive-season-differently/">attack in Belegete</a> in December left two dead, including the traditional leader, Chief Francis Ogweshi, and 20 others kidnapped. </p>
<h2>Nigeria’s national security</h2>
<p>As Cameroon’s clash with separatists worsens in southwestern Cameroon, the Ambazonian insurgents have moved into Nigeria. </p>
<p>The violent attack on the Belegete community, which followed earlier incursions in Nigeria such as the <a href="https://www.vanguardngr.com/2021/11/ambazonia-attack-death-toll-rises-to-12/">Manga village attack</a> of November 2021, suggests a growing cross-border element to Cameroon’s Anglophone crisis.</p>
<p>As well as presenting a violation of territorial integrity, the incident also suggests collaboration with Nigeria’s own secessionist groups, with evidence of <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/05/20/separatists-nigeria-cameroon-biafra-ipob-ambazonia-anglophone-joining-forces/">links between Ambazonian secessionists</a> and the Indigenous People of Biafra.</p>
<p>Ambazonian insurgents are also <a href="https://doi.org//10.4236/aasoci.2021.111001">engaged in drugs, arms and human trafficking</a> and have brought that illegal trade across the border into Nigeria.</p>
<p>The incursion of Ambazonian activities has not only added to Nigeria’s security challenges. It has also intensified an ongoing humanitarian crisis in Nigeria’s border region, displacing thousands of people and straining the capacity of authorities to care for its internally displaced persons and refugees from neighboring countries, including Cameroon.</p>
<p>As of June 2023, Nigeria has an estimated <a href="https://reporting.unhcr.org/operational/operations/nigeria">2.3 million internally displaced persons</a> and <a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/nigeria/urban-refugees-nigeria-operational-update-may-2023-issue-2">93,130 refugees and asylum seekers</a>. The Belegete attack added to this by displacing the entire village of over 2,000 people, who took refuge in the neighboring village of Becheve.</p>
<h2>Confronting the emerging threat</h2>
<p>Nigeria’s capacity to confront the emerging Ambazonian threat is questionable, given multiple strategic, operational and tactical limitations. </p>
<p>The 2022 Afrobarometer <a href="https://www.afrobarometer.org/wp-content/uploads/migrated/files/publications/Working%20papers/wp190-mapping_state_capacity_in_africa-professionalism_and_reach-afrobarometer_working_paper-22jan22.pdf">working paper</a>, which mapped states’ capacity to prepare for or respond to security threats, concludes that Nigeria – like several African states – “is widely seen to lack the necessary capacity for the physical and material security of its citizens or to command legitimacy.”</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man in fatigues holding a gun Nigerian police officer stands guard." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576422/original/file-20240219-23-kh7yv5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576422/original/file-20240219-23-kh7yv5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576422/original/file-20240219-23-kh7yv5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576422/original/file-20240219-23-kh7yv5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576422/original/file-20240219-23-kh7yv5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576422/original/file-20240219-23-kh7yv5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576422/original/file-20240219-23-kh7yv5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A police officer in Yola, Nigeria.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/police-officer-sits-inside-the-armoured-personnel-carrier-news-photo/1247496889?adppopup=true">Photo by PIUS UTOMI EKPEI/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Ambazonian separatist insurgency poses a threat not only to Cameroon and Nigeria but risks further degrading the security situation in West Africa.</p>
<p>The Nigerian government, undoubtedly, understands the magnitude of the security threats it faces, and its apparent limitations, and has called for assistance. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in a January 2024 letter to the outgoing French ambassador to Nigeria, Emmanuelle Blatmann, <a href="https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/more-news/658605-tinubu-wants-greater-cooperation-between-nigeria-france.html">stressed the need for strengthened cooperation</a>. “On regional security, we want you to remind Paris at every opportunity that it is necessary to upgrade our technical cooperation,” he wrote.</p>
<p>The United States has said it remains committed to assisting Nigeria. In January 2024, U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan met with his Nigerian counterpart, Nuhu Ribadu, and <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/01/18/readout-of-national-security-advisor-jake-sullivans-meeting-with-nigerian-national-security-adviser-nuhu-ribadu/">underscored the need</a> for continuous bilateral security cooperation.</p>
<p>And while Nigeria has in recent years partnered with Cameroon to ensure regional stability, the latest attack suggests a need to increase strategic cooperation between the neighboring countries to stem the growing threat. </p>
<p>However, countering the Ambazonian separatists and other internal security threats will remain a challenge for the Nigerian government. With a vast population and territory, security personnel are already stretched thin. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, the existing security apparatus in the country is compromised. The military is beset by problems, including <a href="https://www.genocidewatch.com/single-post/documentary-reveals-low-morale-in-nigerian-army">low morale</a> <a href="https://mg.co.za/africa/2023-02-16-nigerias-military-is-broken/">and corruption</a>, and the national police force is perceived as largely <a href="https://www.afrobarometer.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/AD715-Nigerians-fault-police-for-corruption-and-lack-of-professionalism-Afrobarometer-10oct23.pdf">unprofessional and corrupt</a>. </p>
<p>These issues hamper Nigeria’s capacity to respond, and they undermine any attempt to counter the spiraling security threats faced by Nigeria, including the Ambazonian separatists.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223078/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Augustine Aboh works for the University of Calabar, Nigeria. He is affiliated with the Office for Strategic Preparedness and Resilience - National Early Warning Centre, Nigeria. </span></em></p>Nigeria is beset with security threats. Confronting them will take regional and international cooperation.Augustine Aboh, Ph.D. candidate in Global Governance and Human Security, University of MassachusettsLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2239142024-02-21T13:04:40Z2024-02-21T13:04:40ZThe Settlers flips the western genre to explore cinema’s role in colonial crimes<p>How can filmmakers depict genocidal violence in ways that audiences can both comprehend and bear to watch? Bar the extensive and still-growing number of films about the Holocaust (with recent releases including <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-one-life-gets-wrong-about-nicholas-winton-and-the-kindertransport-story-220965">One Life</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-zone-of-interest-new-holocaust-film-powerfully-lays-bare-the-mechanisms-of-genocide-222017">The Zone of Interest</a> and Occupied City), mainstream cinema has found this challenge daunting. </p>
<p>The challenge only becomes more urgent as contemporary awareness of the enormity of the murderous ethnic cleansing that underpinned European colonialism grows. Such <a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674929777">“unmasterable pasts”</a> remain charged and contested political terrain within national mythologies of origin and nation building. </p>
<p>As director Felipe Gálvez Haberle’s ambitious and disturbing debut film, The Settlers, reminds us, movies have themselves often played a crucial role in helping establish and disseminate such mythologies. </p>
<p>The early 1970s cycle of “Vietnam westerns” such as Little Big Man (1970) and Soldier Blue (1970), challenged these mythologies and inverted the frontier narratives of the classic Hollywood western. These movies placed Native Americans, the principal victims of <a href="https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/us-history/the-early-republic/age-of-jackson/a/manifest-destiny#:%7E:text=Manifest%20Destiny%20was%20the%20idea,or%20destroy%20the%20native%20population.">“manifest destiny”</a> (the idea that white Americans had a divine right to settle the continent), at their centre and presented US cavalrymen as mass murderers. For counterculture youth audiences, the analogy between historical settler violence and contemporary US aggression overseas was unmistakable. </p>
<h2>The Settlers</h2>
<p>There are echoes of the western in The Settlers. The film depicts, with unremitting grimness, the genocide of the indigenous <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/may/03/chile-indigenous-selknam-not-extinct-constitution">Selk’nam people</a> of Tierra del Fuego, Patagonia, at the turn of the 20th century. The Spanish landowning elite commissioned the violence, with the collusion of the nascent Chilean state. They saw the native population merely as a hindrance to their sheep-rearing empires. </p>
<p>Spectacular shots of the three horsemen dispatched on this bloody mission, led by Scottish ex-army man and self-styled “Lieutenant” McClellan (Mark Stanley), call to mind countless cinematic odysseys as they travel across the prairies and peaks of the American west. Simone d’Arcangelo’s impressive cinematography avoids pictorialism, rendering the archipelago’s awesome, savagely beautiful grasslands and mountains in muted, sombre hues.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">The trailer for The Settlers.</span></figcaption>
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<p>The characters traversing Monument Valley in Wagonmaster (1950) or The Searchers (1955) were themselves raised to epic stature by their sublime surroundings. Whereas the protagonists of The Settlers seem to contaminate their pristine environment with their moral squalor. This is underlined by including the veteran “Indian fighter” Bill (Benjamin Westfall) in the party. His unrelenting, vicious white supremacy borders on caricature. </p>
<p>McClennan’s <a href="http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/%7Ethinred/collection/lg2.htm">“thin red line”</a> trooper’s tunic signposts another revision of the western genre. It recalls the upstanding imperialist chaps of old-school cinematic colonial fantasies, like Stanley Baker in Zulu (1964) or Michael Caine in The Man Who Would Be King (1975). Unlike them, however, the corrupt, ruthless McClennan is as debased and degraded as his uniform is tattered and stained. He is as murderous and brutal as his local, anything but fond, nickname “The Red Pig” suggests. </p>
<p>A surreal, violent encounter with another ragged British cast-off, the deranged Colonel Martin (Sam Spruell), only confirms the film’s depiction of the entire imperialist “mission” as irredeemably depraved.</p>
<h2>Horror and complicity</h2>
<p>Felipe Gálvez Haberle already has a challenge on his hands, persuading audiences to endure his film’s unbroken succession of killings accompanied by, in one almost unwatchable sequence, sexual violence. But it’s exacerbated further by the perhaps questionable decision to place the dramatic focus almost entirely on the perpetrators, rather than the victims.</p>
<p>Bar a single cutaway shot revealing a group immediately before their slaughter and a small, though significant, female speaking part, the indigenous Salk’nam are barely seen other than as bloodied corpses. The closest to an empathic character is the increasingly appalled, yet inescapably complicit, mestizo sharp-shooter Segundo (Camilo Arancibia), who completes the roving trio.</p>
<p>It becomes clear how crucial Segundo’s spectatorship is to the film in the daring and unexpected final act. Here the film leaps forward seven years. It moves straight from the primal, violent scenes on the pampas to the hushed refinement of a palatial townhouse. A tense meeting ensues between a semi-retired and eminent rancher named Menéndez (Alfredo Castro) and an urbane Chilean government official (Marcelo Alonso). The official is ostensibly investigating the now embarrassing bloody excesses of the recent past.</p>
<p>The trail leads him back to Segundo, the expedition’s sole survivor, nursing his traumatic memories and guilt in an isolated hut at the ocean’s edge.</p>
<p>Unsurprisingly, the government’s real agenda is to whitewash, rather than redress, Menendez’s scandalous but hugely profitable crimes and to reincorporate indigenous trauma into the national narrative. This is symbolically accomplished in the film’s unsettling final moments. Segundo and his Selk’nam wife Kiepja (Mishell Guaňa) are made to dress in European costumes and drink tea, for the benefit of the official’s movie crew. </p>
<p>Kiepja’s gazes resistantly back at the camera. Her expression shows her refusal to consent to the charade of a happy Europeanised nation, challenging the crew’s attempt to create propaganda. But it also invites our own reflection on the role movies, images and ideology have played, and continue to play, in framing and repressing traumatic memory.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Barry Langford does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>As The Settlers reminds us, films have often played a crucial role in helping establish and disseminate colonial mythologies.Barry Langford, Professor of Film Studies, Royal Holloway University of LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2202702024-02-13T13:21:01Z2024-02-13T13:21:01ZGlobal health research suffers from a power imbalance − decolonizing mentorship can help level the playing field<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572897/original/file-20240201-21-gnk9sv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2119%2C1414&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Effective collaboration requires addressing hierarchical mindsets.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/hand-in-a-medical-glove-holds-a-glass-globe-royalty-free-image/1223254880">Maryna Terletska/Moment via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Mentorship is a cornerstone of the infrastructure supporting global health. Transferring knowledge, developing skills and cultivating a supportive professional environment among researchers and clinicians around the world are key to achieving health equity on a global scale. </p>
<p>For example, most people in Africa would have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by now if the <a href="https://theconversation.com/pharmas-expensive-gaming-of-the-drug-patent-system-is-successfully-countered-by-the-medicines-patent-pool-which-increases-global-access-and-rewards-innovation-189868">patented knowledge</a> about the vaccine technology were shared with African scholars and local pharmaceutical companies to produce a generic version. As of October 2023, although over 95% of available doses have been used, <a href="https://africacdc.org/covid-19-vaccination/">less than 52% of the population</a> is fully vaccinated.</p>
<p>However, researchers from the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-global-south-is-on-the-rise-but-what-exactly-is-the-global-south-207959">Global South</a> – countries in the regions of Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and Oceania with limited resources and a lower standard of living – face challenges that impede effective mentorship.</p>
<p>One reason is that mentorship is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2023-013751">often hierarchical</a>. Mentors, typically from the Global North, or high-income countries, are often seen as more credible than mentees who are mostly from the Global South. Mentees are often described as inexperienced, requiring training and guidance. While mentorships are by definition hierarchical, researchers from the Global South are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2023-013751">assumed to lack the skills</a> to adequately implement health programs or conduct research and would benefit from greater experience of scholars from the Global North.</p>
<p>Hierarchical relationships, especially those between people from the Global North and Global South, are not mutually beneficial or fair. Based on our personal experiences and research as <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=7RB_bZUAAAAJ&hl=en">public health researchers</a>, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Yankam-Brenda">statisticians</a> and <a href="https://scholar.google.nl/citations?user=weevnFsAAAAJ&hl=en">social scientists</a>, we believe that cultural humility and equitable partnerships are key to effective global health projects. </p>
<p>Scholars from the Global North and Global South can learn from each other. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2023-013751">Decolonizing mentorship</a> in global health, or addressing the historical power imbalances between researchers from the Global North and Global South, can help advance global health for all. </p>
<h2>Challenges in global health research</h2>
<p>Some scholars have defined <a href="https://doi.org/10.3402/gha.v3i0.5142">global health</a> as “collaborate transnational research and action for promoting health for all.” Historically, however, the concept of global health is rooted in Western ideas of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2020-002947">who is considered human</a>. Europeans are depicted as the <a href="https://theconversation.com/racist-and-sexist-depictions-of-human-evolution-still-permeate-science-education-and-popular-culture-today-202011">norm or standard</a>, while non-Europeans are depicted as strange or inferior.</p>
<p>This hierarchy is omnipresent in knowledge exchange and health resource allocation between the Global North and Global South. For example, the European Union rejected proposals that would have allowed African countries, mostly former European colonies, to manufacture generic COVID-19 vaccines when the <a href="https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/eu-set-bin-25-million-more-vaccine-doses-it-has-donated-africa-year">55 million doses</a> the West donated expired in February 2022. </p>
<p>Scholarly collaborations between the Global North and Global South are also unequal in power. Notably, most of the major <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2024.1168505">global health institutes</a> are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1097/acm.0000000000003473">located in the Global North</a>, although the greatest burden of diseases such as HIV and malaria is centered in the Global South. Conferences where researchers gather to learn about new innovations in their field and to network are typically located in high-income countries. Few Global South scholars are able to attend because of travel restrictions and financial constraints, leaving them without guidance on how to navigate and significantly contribute to the field. </p>
<p>For example, several scholars from the Global South have noted how <a href="https://www.devex.com/news/opinion-visa-hurdles-hurt-global-health-discourse-but-can-be-overcome-105491">visa restrictions and fees</a> affected their ability to attend global health conferences in high-income countries. But even having a visa does not guarantee easy entry. Winifred Byanyima, executive director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, who is originally from Uganda, was traveling to Montreal, Canada, to attend the world’s largest AIDS conference in 2022. She was almost denied boarding a plane, however, despite her high-level position. </p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XA5ip6raULg?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated ongoing inequities in global health.</span></figcaption>
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<p>Moreover, a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2023-013751">lack of healthy mentorship cultures</a> and supportive networks among institutions in low- and middle-income countries impedes the professional development of Global South scholars. Furthermore, some current mentorship frameworks and best practices are mostly <a href="https://doi.org/10.1503/cjs.012214">designed for high-income countries</a>, where there is more <a href="https://doi.org/10.4269/ajtmh.18-0556">institutional support</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.4269/ajtmh.18-0556">Language and cultural barriers</a> are often significant obstacles for scholars in the Global South, hindering effective communication and collaboration. <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.3968/j.ccc.1923670020120803.1189">Colonialism</a>, or the domination and exploitation of certain groups and individuals, has also influenced how education and research is conducted in the Global South, such that researchers are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-017-0962-8">discouraged from questioning</a> their seniors. This may limit a scholar’s critical thinking and create <a href="https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.297.19.2134">communication barriers</a> between mentees and mentors. </p>
<p>These hierarchical power dynamics also limit the full potential of cross-cultural learning and knowledge exchange between the Global North and Global South.</p>
<h2>Decolonizing global health</h2>
<p>A crucial strategy to empower Global South scholars is to <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-decolonisation-131455">decolonize</a> mentorship. This means recognizing that people have <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/17441692.2015.1057091">different levels</a> of skills and expertise in different contexts.</p>
<p>Mentorship environments characterized by <a href="https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2023-013751">humility and co-learning</a> can help researchers break free from historical power imbalances. This includes acknowledging and valuing the unique perspectives and experiences of scholars from local regions. For example, a researcher from the Global North may be more knowledgeable about a new technology, but a researcher from the Global South may know how best to adapt the technology locally. Tailoring mentorship programs to address the specific needs of scholars in the Global South will also help cultivate a sense of inclusivity and belonging.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572581/original/file-20240131-17-wui1t7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Medical provider wearing a hijab smiling at other medical providers sitting at a table wearing scrubs and white coats." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572581/original/file-20240131-17-wui1t7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572581/original/file-20240131-17-wui1t7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572581/original/file-20240131-17-wui1t7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572581/original/file-20240131-17-wui1t7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572581/original/file-20240131-17-wui1t7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572581/original/file-20240131-17-wui1t7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572581/original/file-20240131-17-wui1t7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">More even power dynamics between researchers can improve the field.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/mediacl-team-training-royalty-free-image/1441989301">FatCamera/E+ via Getty Imges</a></span>
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<p>Recognizing and valuing linguistic diversity can help address language barriers. Establishing communication channels that accommodate various languages would allow scholars to be able to fully participate in the global health dialogue.</p>
<p>Finally, breaking the chains of the colonial mindset can help foster more egalitarian relationships in research. Mentors become facilitators of learning instead of dispensers of knowledge. Mentees become active contributors instead of consumers of knowledge. Challenging hierarchical relationships and power imbalances can enable a more collaborative and reciprocal dynamic where both parties benefit.</p>
<p>Decolonizing mentorship in global health is not a theoretical concept but an actionable strategy. Addressing the unique challenges that researchers in the Global South face can help bridge the global health divide, allowing local scholars to actively shape the future of the field and their communities.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220270/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Oluwafemi Atanda Adeagbo receives funding from National Institutes of Health and University of Iowa</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brenda Yankam and Engelbert Bain Luchuo do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Though the Global South tends to experience higher disease burdens, most public health decisions and knowledge generation are centered in the Global North.Oluwafemi Atanda Adeagbo, Assistant Professor of Public Health, University of IowaBrenda Yankam, Research Associate in Statistics, University of NigeriaEngelbert Bain Luchuo, Senior Research Associate, University of JohannesburgLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2220552024-02-08T21:17:53Z2024-02-08T21:17:53ZThe war in Gaza is wiping out Palestine’s education and knowledge systems<p>Gaza’s education system has suffered significantly since Israel’s bombardment and assault on the strip began. Last month, Israel <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-68023080">blew up</a> Gaza’s last standing university, Al-Israa University.</p>
<p>In the past four months, all or parts of Gaza’s <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/1/24/how-israel-has-destroyed-gazas-schools-and-universities#:%7E:text=Palestinian%20news%20agency%20Wafa%20reported,university%20in%20Gaza%20in%20stages.">12 universities</a> have been bombed and mostly destroyed. </p>
<p>Approximately <a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/hostilities-gaza-strip-and-israel-flash-update-102-enarhe">378 schools</a> have been destroyed or damaged. The Palestinian Ministry of Education has reported the deaths of over <a href="https://www.unicef.org/media/151126/file/State-of-Palestine-Humanitarian-Situation-Report-No.15-(Escalation)-17-January-2024.pdf">4,327 students, 231 teachers</a> and <a href="https://euromedmonitor.org/en/article/6108/Israel-kills-dozens-of-academics,-destroys-every-university-in-the-Gaza-Strip">94 professors.</a></p>
<p>Numerous <a href="https://librarianswithpalestine.org/gaza-report-2024/?fbclid=IwAR1VqwE8t9HEb46IFQDPJhl8ZFReHyyzgCAXjPfMPIGoThfbSXBEsy-Trog">cultural heritage sites</a>, including libraries, archives and museums, have also been destroyed, damaged and plundered.</p>
<p>But the assault on Palestinian educational and cultural institutions did not begin in response to the Oct. 7 attack. Israel has a long record of <a href="https://www.palestine-studies.org/en/node/430540">targeted attacks</a> on Palestinian institutions that produce knowledge and culture. That history includes targeting and <a href="https://yam.ps/page-11801-en.html">assassinating</a> Palestinian intellectuals, <a href="https://www.aaiusa.org/library/i-knew-ghassan-kanafani">cultural producers</a> and political figures. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">A video clip shared by ‘The New Arab,’ showing the destruction at Al-Israa University in the Gaza Strip.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What is scholasticide?</h2>
<p>The destruction of education systems and buildings is known as “scholasticide,” a term first coined by Oxford professor Karma Nabulsi during the 2008-2009 Israeli assault on Gaza. Scholasticide describes <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/jan/10/gaza-schools">the systemic destruction of Palestinian education</a> within the context of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/0377919X.2021.1909376">Israel’s decades-long settler colonization and occupation of Palestine</a>.</p>
<p>Recently, a group of scholars working under the name <a href="https://scholarsagainstwar.org/toolkit/">Scholars Against the War on Palestine</a> broadened the definition to include a more comprehensive picture of what is happening during the current war. They outline the intimate relationship between <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/world/how-israels-scholasticide-denies-palestinians-their-past-present-and-future/article_8f52d77a-b648-11ee-863d-f3411121907b.html">scholasticide and genocide</a>.</p>
<p>They say scholasticide includes the intentional <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/1/14/a-cultural-genocide-which-of-gazas-heritage-sites-have-been-destroyed">destruction of cultural heritage</a>: archives, libraries and museums. Scholasticide includes killing, causing bodily or mental harm, incarcerating, or systematically harassing educators, students and administrators. It includes besieging, closing or obstructing access to educational institutions. It can also include using universities or schools as a military base (as was done with <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-68023080">Al-Israa University</a>).</p>
<p>The magnitude of destruction has led them <a href="https://scholarsagainstwar.org/toolkit/">to conclude:</a> “Israeli colonial policy in Gaza has now shifted from a focus on systematic destruction to total annihilation of education.”</p>
<p>As genocide scholar Douglas Irvin-Erickson says: the original definition of genocide as first drafted by <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/oa-edit/10.4324/9781351214100-2/rapha%C3%ABl-lemkin-douglas-irvin-erickson">Raphael Lemkin in 1943</a> included the idea that “attacking a culture was a way of committing genocide, and not a different type of genocide.” </p>
<h2>The International Court of Justice</h2>
<p>During the recent genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), South Africa argued that <a href="https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/192/192-20231228-app-01-00-en.pdf">Palestinian academics were being intentionally assassinated</a>.</p>
<p>Legal representative for South Africa, Blinne Ní Ghrálaigh, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4f_yoal4gx8">told the court</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Almost 90,000 Palestinian university students cannot attend university in Gaza. Over 60 per cent of schools, almost all universities and countless bookshops and libraries have been damaged and destroyed. Hundreds of teachers and academics have been killed, including deans of universities and leading Palestinian scholars. Obliterating the very future prospects of the future education of Gaza’s children and young people.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/192/192-20240126-sum-01-00-en.pdf">On Jan. 26, in a landmark ruling, the ICJ</a> ordered Israel to prevent genocide in Gaza.</p>
<h2>Attempting to eliminate Palestinian futures</h2>
<p>Scholasticide is not an event. It’s part of a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/0377919X.2021.1975478">colonial continuum</a> of attacking and destroying a people’s educational life, knowledge systems and plundering material culture and cultural heritage.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://doi.org/10.1525/jps.2017.46.4.75">targeted killing of the educated class</a> is intended to make it difficult for Palestinians to restore the political and socio-economic conditions needed to survive and rebuild Gaza.</p>
<p>This systematic destruction is at the core of the settler colonial “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14623520601056240">logic of elimination</a>.” It has also been applied to Indigenous Peoples in Canada, the United States and elsewhere. This <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/2201473X.2012.10648833">logic</a> drives a settler population to replace Indigenous peoples in their aim to establish a new society. </p>
<p>For example, this logic was exercised <a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/palestine-nakba-9781848139718/">during the 1948 Nakba</a>. Thousands of <a href="https://www.palestine-studies.org/en/node/78440">Palestinian books</a>, manuscripts, libraries, archives, photographs, cultural artifacts and cultural property <a href="https://journal.radicallibrarianship.org/index.php/journal/article/view/54">were looted, destroyed or damaged</a> by Zionist militias. In 1948, <a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Ethnic-Cleansing-of-Palestine/Ilan-Pappe/9781851685554">Palestinian schools were destroyed or damaged</a> or later appropriated for use by the new Israeli state. </p>
<h2>Resistance: Palestinian history and culture</h2>
<p>Despite the ongoing attempts to erase Palestinian history, culture and memory, Palestinians have found ways to resist their erasure. In the 1960s and ‘70s, <a href="https://palestinianstudies.org/workshops/2023/palestinian-revolutionary-tradition-and-global-anti-colonialism">an anti-colonial revolutionary tradition</a>, produced and influenced by intellectual and political thought, was strengthened. </p>
<p>It helped to create <a href="https://www.palestine-studies.org/en/node/1650753">infrastructures</a> for the survival, mobilization and development of the Palestinian people and their national movement. It cultivated transnational relationships of solidarity. It helped displaced Palestinians, separated across geographies, to preserve their identity and reorganize themselves politically.</p>
<p>The intellectual and political thought of this period was <a href="https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/des/article/view/28899">passed onto</a> the generations that followed. It influenced educational and political programs, cultural development and practices of resistance. Especially during the First Intifada from 1987-1993. This enabled Palestinians to stay steadfast in their struggle against colonial violence across time and space. Palestinian education and culture form <a href="https://www.newarab.com/analysis/israels-archaeological-war-palestinian-cultural-heritage">the backbone</a> of the right to self-determination. This is why Israel frequently targets Palestinian education and culture. </p>
<p>Palestinians have endured <a href="https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v32/n20/karma-nabulsi/diary">several periods of intense attacks</a> on their cultural and educational life. This includes the June 1967 war, Israel’s 1982 <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/jan/06/israel7">invasion of Lebanon during which a number of the Palestinian Liberation Organization’s institutions were destroyed</a> and the First and Second Intifadas.</p>
<p>Following Israel’s destruction of <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/44746845">the Palestine Research Center in Lebanon in 1982</a>, Palestinian poet <a href="https://letterboxd.com/film/palestinian-identity/">Mahmoud Darwish said</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“He who steals land does not surprise us by stealing a library. He who kills thousands of innocent civilians does not surprise us by killing paintings.” </p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="A man in glasses wears a suit and tie" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574465/original/file-20240208-16-vtx98z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574465/original/file-20240208-16-vtx98z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=737&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574465/original/file-20240208-16-vtx98z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=737&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574465/original/file-20240208-16-vtx98z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=737&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574465/original/file-20240208-16-vtx98z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=926&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574465/original/file-20240208-16-vtx98z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=926&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574465/original/file-20240208-16-vtx98z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=926&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The poet Mahmoud Darwish wrote about everyday grief. (Photo is from 1980)</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Syrian News Agency/Al Sabah)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/03626784.2022.2114778">colonial theft</a> continues unabashed. Cultural heritage has been <a href="https://librarianswithpalestine.org/gaza-report-2024/?fbclid=IwAR2QpiHfxSB6939yfyipOLY6zVYTED_rQN7JVxTq33UCinF_-3U1xNuQFzE">annihilated, damaged or plundered</a> in this war. During the bombing of Al-Israa University in January, Israel also targeted the National Museum. Licensed by the Ministry of Antiquities, the museum housed over <a href="https://www.newarab.com/news/israel-obliterates-gazas-last-university-amid-boycott-calls">3,000 rare artifacts, which were looted</a>. </p>
<p>Most academic institutions around the world remain silent about Israel’s scholasticide. But others are speaking out. Globally, this includes <a href="https://lithub.com/israel-has-damaged-or-destroyed-at-least-13-libraries-in-gaza/">Librarians and Archivists with Palestine</a> and some <a href="https://www.brismes.ac.uk/news/destruction-of-palestinian-education-system">academic associations</a> and faculty groups. The ICJ’s recent order to Israel to prevent genocide in Gaza may motivate other scholars and institutions to consider breaking their silence on scholasticide.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222055/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chandni Desai does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Scholars say Israel’s destruction of Gaza’s schools, universities and museums are part of an ongoing project to destroy Palestinian people, identity and ideas.Chandni Desai, Assistant professor, Education, University of TorontoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2219732024-02-01T19:05:21Z2024-02-01T19:05:21ZWaitangi Day 2024: 5 myths and misconceptions that confuse the Treaty debate<p>When it comes to grappling with the <a href="https://nzhistory.govt.nz/politics/treaty-of-waitangi">Treaty of Waitangi</a>/Te Tiriti o Waitangi, one of the commonest responses is that it’s a matter of interpretation. It seems to be a perfectly fair reaction, except that historical interpretation generally requires adherence to rules of evidence.</p>
<p>It is not a licence to make any claims whatsoever about the Treaty, and then to assert their truth by appealing to the authority of personal interpretation.</p>
<p>Yet since the 1970s we’ve been faced with the paradoxical situation of a growing body of Treaty scholarship that has led to less consensus about its meaning and purpose.</p>
<p>It is therefore worthwhile to investigate some of the more common misconceptions about the Treaty that have accrued over recent decades. This will not lead to a definitive interpretation of the Treaty. But it might remove a few obstacles currently in the way of understanding it better.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/history-and-myth-why-the-treaty-of-waitangi-remains-such-a-bloody-difficult-subject-202038">History and myth: why the Treaty of Waitangi remains such a ‘bloody difficult subject’</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>1. The Treaty or Te Tiriti?</h2>
<p>A common view persists that the English and Māori versions of the Treaty are fundamentally at odds with each other, especially over the central issue of sovereignty.</p>
<p>But research over the past two decades on <a href="https://waitangitribunal.govt.nz/assets/WT-Part-2-Report-on-stage-1-of-the-Te-Paparahi-o-Te-Raki-inquiry.pdf">British colonial policy prior to 1840</a> has revealed that Britain wanted a treaty to enable it to extend its jurisdiction to its subjects living in New Zealand. </p>
<p>It had no intention to govern Māori or usurp Māori sovereignty. On this critical point, the two versions are essentially in agreement.</p>
<h2>2. The Treaty is not a contract</h2>
<p>The principle of <em>contra proferentem</em> – appropriated from contract law – refers to ambiguous provisions that can be interpreted in a way that works against the drafter of the contract.</p>
<p>However, there are several problems in applying this principle to the Treaty. Firstly, treaties are <a href="https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/byrint11&div=8&id=&page=">different legal instruments from contracts</a>. This explains why there are correspondingly few examples of this principle being used in international law for interpreting treaties.</p>
<p>Secondly, as there are no major material differences between the English and Māori versions of the Treaty when it comes to Māori retaining sovereignty, there is no need to apply such a principle.</p>
<p>And thirdly, under international law, treaties are not to be interpreted in an adversarial manner, but in good faith (the principle of <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/2203309"><em>pacta sunt servanda</em></a>). Thus, rather than the parties fighting over the Treaty’s meaning, the requirement is for them to work <em>with</em> rather than against each other.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/learning-to-live-with-the-messy-complicated-history-of-how-aotearoa-new-zealand-was-colonised-172219">Learning to live with the 'messy, complicated history' of how Aotearoa New Zealand was colonised</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>3. Relationships evolve over time</h2>
<p>No rangatira (chief) ceded sovereignty over their own people through the Treaty. Nor was that Britain’s intention – hence Britain’s recognition in August 1839 of hapū (kinship group) sovereignty and the guarantee in the Treaty that rangatiratanga (the powers of the chiefs) would be protected.</p>
<p>Britain simply wanted jurisdiction over its own subjects in the colony. This is what is known as an “originalist” interpretation – one that follows the Treaty’s meaning as it was understood in 1840.</p>
<p>This has several limitations: it precludes the emergence of Treaty principles; it wrongly presumes that all involved at the time of the Treaty’s signing had an identical view on its meaning; and, crucially, it ignores all subsequent historical developments.</p>
<p>Treaty relationships evolve over time in numerous ways. Originalist interpretations fail to take that into account.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-the-significance-of-the-treaty-of-waitangi-110982">Explainer: the significance of the Treaty of Waitangi</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>4. Questions of motive</h2>
<p>British motives for the Treaty were made explicit in 1839, yet in the following 185 years false motives have entered into the historical bloodstream, where they have continued circulating.</p>
<p>What Britain wanted was the right to apply its laws to its people living in New Zealand. It also intended to “civilise” Māori (through creating the short-lived Office of Protector of Aborigines) and protect Māori land from unethical purchases (the pre-emption provision in Article Two of the Treaty).</p>
<p>And Britain wanted to afford Māori the same rights as British subjects in cases where one group’s actions impinged on the other’s (as in the 1842 <a href="https://ojs.aut.ac.nz/te-kaharoa/index.php/tekaharoa/article/view/61/58">Maketū case</a>, involving the conviction for murder and execution of a young Māori man).</p>
<p>The Treaty was not a response to a <a href="https://h-france.net/rude/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/vol5_11_Jennings_Marists_Colonial_Policy_final.pdf">French threat to New Zealand</a>. And it was not an attempt to conquer Māori, nor to deceive them through subterfuge.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/from-pebble-in-the-shoe-to-future-power-broker-the-rise-and-rise-of-te-pati-maori-212089">From 'pebble in the shoe' to future power broker – the rise and rise of te Pāti Māori</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>5. Myths of a ‘real’ Treaty and 4th article</h2>
<p>Over the past two decades, some have alleged there is a “real” Treaty – the so-called “<a href="https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/stout-centre/research-and-publications2/research-units/towru/publications/The-Littlewood-Treaty.pdf">Littlewood Treaty</a>” – that has been concealed because it contains a different set of provisions. Such conspiratorial claims are easily dispelled.</p>
<p>The text of the Littlewood Treaty is known and it is merely a handwritten copy of the actual Treaty. And, most obviously, it cannot be regarded as a treaty on the basis that no one signed it.</p>
<p>Another popular myth is that there is a fourth article of the Treaty, which purportedly guarantees religious freedom. This article <a href="https://www.waitangitribunal.govt.nz/treaty-of-waitangi/meaning-of-the-treaty/">does not appear</a> in either the Māori or English texts of the Treaty, and there is no evidence the signatories regarded it as a provision of the agreement. It is a suggestion that emerged in the 1990s, but lacks any evidential or legal basis.</p>
<p>Finally, there is the argument that the Treaty <a href="https://theconversation.com/waitangi-2024-how-the-treaty-strengthens-democracy-and-provides-a-check-on-unbridled-power-221723">supports the democratic process</a>. In fact, the Treaty ushered in a non-representative regime in the colony. It was the <a href="https://nzhistory.govt.nz/proclamation-of-1852-constitution-act">1852 New Zealand Constitution Act</a> that gave the country a democratic government – a statute that incidentally made no reference to the Treaty’s provisions.</p>
<p>This list is not exhaustive. But in dispensing with areas of poor interpretation, we can improve the chances of a more informed and productive discussion about the Treaty.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-idea-of-sovereignty-is-central-to-the-treaty-debate-why-is-it-so-hard-to-define-220201">The idea of ‘sovereignty’ is central to the Treaty debate – why is it so hard to define?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221973/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paul Moon does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Decades of Treaty scholarship have failed to arrive at a consensus about its meaning and purpose. Dispensing with various mistaken interpretations would improve the chances of productive discussion.Paul Moon, Professor of History, Auckland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2204592024-01-29T23:20:17Z2024-01-29T23:20:17ZWhat’s unsettling about Catan: How board games uphold colonial narratives<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/567624/original/file-20240102-19-2tzi0o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=15%2C254%2C5121%2C3165&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Catan experienced a revival over the pandemic. However, the most potent and painful relationship between Catan and our world today remains largely unexamined.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/whats-unsettling-about-catan-how-board-games-uphold-colonial-narratives" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>The death of <a href="https://www.catan.com/catan-fans/news/we-mourn-passing-klaus-teuber">Klaus Teuber, creator of popular board game Catan</a>, marked the passing of a board game giant. </p>
<p>Teuber died on April 1, 2023, after a brief illness. The German-born <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-65194096">dental technician-turned-game designer</a> invented the game, originally called Settlers of Catan, in 1995 while <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/05/business/klaus-teuber-dead.html">managing a dental lab</a>. That same year <a href="https://www.polygon.com/23669496/settlers-of-catan-creator-klaus-teuber-dead-70-obituary">Catan won</a> one of board gaming’s most prestigious awards, the German <a href="https://www.polygon.com/22583960/spiel-des-jahres-2020-winner-micromacro-crime-city-in-stock">Spiel des Jahres</a>.</p>
<p>He once recalled in an interview <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/08/07/897271885/families-stuck-at-home-turn-to-board-game-catan-sending-sales-skyrocketing">how the idea began to percolate in 1963 as an 11-year-old in post-war Germany</a>. According to Teuber, Catan was <a href="https://www.polygon.com/23669496/settlers-of-catan-creator-klaus-teuber-dead-70-obituary">inspired by tales of Viking exploration</a>, and it places players together on a remote island, where they must competitively collect and cultivate territory through resource extraction, trade and expansion by building roads and settlement.</p>
<p>Since 1995, the game has sold <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-65194096">more than 40 million copies and has been translated into more than 40 languages</a>. It fundamentally changed the board game industry, with dozens of spinoffs and new editions, including electronic versions.</p>
<p>In 2010, <em>The Washington Post</em> named Settlers of Catan the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/24/AR2010112404140.html?itid=lk_inline_manual_13">“board game of our time,”</a> and this is true in many regards. For example, during the early months of the pandemic, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/08/04/898853332/sales-of-settlers-of-catan-skyrocket-during-coronavirus-crisis">Catan experienced a revival as sales skyrocketed</a>.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, however, the most potent and painful relationship between Catan and our world today remains largely unexamined.</p>
<h2>Settler colonialism</h2>
<p>In interviews, Teuber said he started creating games in the 1980s to help deal with the stress of his dental career. <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/the-man-who-built-catan">“I developed games to escape,” he said. “This was my own world I created.”</a> The Settlers of Catan — <a href="https://www.polygon.com/2015/6/23/8661435/the-settlers-of-catan-has-a-new-name-new-look-for-5th-edition">renamed Catan</a> in 2015 — wasn’t really Teuber’s own world, it was a <a href="https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/bgs-2020-0004">playable version of the American dream</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/567612/original/file-20240102-25-uqfy7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man wearing a suit holds the Settlers of Catan board game. The game map is on a table in front of him." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/567612/original/file-20240102-25-uqfy7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/567612/original/file-20240102-25-uqfy7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567612/original/file-20240102-25-uqfy7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567612/original/file-20240102-25-uqfy7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567612/original/file-20240102-25-uqfy7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567612/original/file-20240102-25-uqfy7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567612/original/file-20240102-25-uqfy7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Klaus Teuber presents his game The Settlers of Catan in September 1995, in Frankfurt, Germany. Teuber created of the hugely popular board game in which players compete to build settlements on a fictional island.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Bernd Kammerer, File)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Ultimately, through a set of game mechanics that motivates resource extraction in the name of settling a supposed empty land, the connection between the in-game narrative and the political histories of North America and other parts of the world is clear. As historian Lorenzo Veracini says, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/18380743.2013.761941">“the Settlers of Catan is really about settler colonialism.”</a></p>
<p>The success of Catan also codified a certain kind of game play that has similarly proliferated worldwide, one that’s invested in the specific historical, economic and political factors of settler colonialism.</p>
<p>This gaming rhetoric quickly began to shape the game mechanics and narrative strategies of not only European games but also <a href="https://edspace.american.edu/davidsonwilbourne/colonial-discourse-and-cultural-memory-in-eurogames/">global tabletop gaming culture</a>.</p>
<p>The Settlers of Catan was not the first time a board game touched on colonial or imperialist discourses. Risk, invented by French film director Albert Lamorisse and originally released in 1957, is an early example of how <a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/ca/material-game-studies-9781350202719/">discourses of conquest emerged in tabletop games</a>.</p>
<p>Here, players conquer their enemies’ territories by building an army, moving their troops in and engaging in battle. </p>
<p>However, because players in Catan explicitly take on the roles of settlers, this particular board game’s engagement in the rhetoric of settler colonialism set new precedents. And unfortunately, games that incorporate colonial histories and strategies into their narratives or game mechanic normalize these discourses through their status as a popular pastime.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569422/original/file-20240115-25-qshucb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="The board game risk with game pieces on a map of the world." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569422/original/file-20240115-25-qshucb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569422/original/file-20240115-25-qshucb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569422/original/file-20240115-25-qshucb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569422/original/file-20240115-25-qshucb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569422/original/file-20240115-25-qshucb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569422/original/file-20240115-25-qshucb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569422/original/file-20240115-25-qshucb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Risk, originally released in 1957, is an early example of how discourses of conquest emerged in tabletop games.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Decolonizing gameplay</h2>
<p>Since 1995, board games have continued to include themes of settler colonialism, with several games published globally that even concretely engage Indigenous presence during and after their first contact with colonial powers. </p>
<p>In these games, Indigenous identity, history, culture and sovereignty emerge as essential elements of world-building and game mechanics. In the game <a href="https://www.laboitedejeu.fr/en/neta-tanka/">Neta-Tanka</a>, for example, the Frostrivers tribe dwells along the Great Frozen River in harmony with nature, obeying the laws of the Four Elders and in turn, guided by the most venerable of the Elders, the Neta-Tanka.</p>
<p>However, these features often merge or misrepresent Indigenous cultures and traditions in problematic ways. <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/260201/manitoba">In the board game Manitoba</a>, players become clan leaders of the Cree tribe and try to become the chieftain of them all. But the iconography associated with this already problematic playable version of Indigenous resource management and spiritual guidance are totem poles, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/manitoba-board-game-controversy-1.4816975">which are not part of the cultures of Indigenous Peoples in Manitoba</a>.</p>
<p>These games seek to create a compelling story at the expense of Indigenous traditional knowledge and contemporary lived experience, ignoring the contribution of Indigenous voices through consultation while missing opportunities to engage concretely with issues that impact global Indigenous Peoples.</p>
<p>At the same time, a small group of Indigenous designers and board game enthusiasts have begun to develop counter-discourses through board game development. Board game designer and <a href="https://www.harrisburgu.edu/about/our-people/faculty-staff/gregory-loring-albright/">Assistant Professor of Interactive Media Greg Loring-Albright</a> has shown with <a href="https://analoggamestudies.org/2015/11/the-first-nations-of-catan-practices-in-critical-modification/">First Nations of Catan</a> that it is possible to modify and decolonize gameplay by drawing attention to issues of Indigenous sovereignty.</p>
<p>Another excellent example of this is <a href="https://radiussfu.com/sinulkhay-and-ladders/">Sínulkhay and Ladders</a> by <a href="https://nahaneecreative.com/bio">Ta7talíya Michelle Nahanee</a>, a Squamish decolonizing facilitator, creative director and Indigenous changemaker.</p>
<p>The design is based on Snakes and Ladders, but its goal is to teach players how to decolonize their actions and decision-making processes. </p>
<p>Similarly, the recent successes of the role-playing game <a href="https://coyoteandcrow.net/">Coyote and Crow</a>, by game designer Connor Alexander, and the board game <a href="http://nunamigame.com/index.php/en/">Nunami</a>, by Inuk graphic designer Thomassie Mangiok, demonstrate that board games can make valuable contributions to Indigenous self-representation in popular culture.</p>
<p>Players can also help to support Indigenous voices in the global game industry. For example, <a href="https://shop.pemetawe.com/">Pe Metawe Games</a> is an Indigenous-owned tabletop board game and roleplaying game store located on Treaty 6 territory in Edmonton. They are dedicated to creating an inclusive space for anyone to enjoy the hobby.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220459/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Biz Nijdam does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Settlers of Catan codified a certain kind of game play based on the history of settler colonialism.Biz Nijdam, Assistant Professor, Department of Central, Eastern, and Northern European Studies, University of British ColumbiaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2177922024-01-24T19:06:56Z2024-01-24T19:06:56ZPrince Albert had nothing to do with the lyrebird bearing his name. Should our birds be named after people?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568984/original/file-20240112-19-3u52z2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=46%2C0%2C5185%2C3446&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/prince-alberts-lyrebird-menura-alberti-timid-2258264815">Martin Pelanek/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Influential ornithologist John James Audubon’s historical ownership of slaves has spurred a debate about bird names in the United States. As a result, the American Ornithological Society will change not only birds’ common names referring to him, but all <a href="https://americanornithology.org/american-ornithological-society-will-change-the-english-names-of-bird-species-named-after-people/">152 eponymous bird names</a> in North America, regardless of good or bad perceptions of their namesakes. </p>
<p>The cultural conversation has arrived in Australia where <a href="https://ebird.org/printableList?regionCode=AU">dozens of species</a> are named after people. Some Australian scientists and birdwatchers (including one from the peak ornithological body Birdlife Australia) have <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01584197.2022.2096074">proposed a review</a>, particularly of names with colonial associations.</p>
<p>One Australian species has already been renamed. Birdlife Australia now <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/commentisfree/2023/sep/16/pink-cockatoo-australian-bird-of-the-year-guardian-birdlife">prefers</a> <a href="https://birdlife.org.au/bird-profiles/pink-cockatoo/">Pink Cockatoo</a> to Major Mitchell’s Cockatoo as the common name. </p>
<p>Thomas Mitchell led a massacre of Aboriginal people in western New South Wales in 1836, condemned for its senselessness even <a href="https://c21ch.newcastle.edu.au/colonialmassacres/detail.php?r=575">at the time</a>. Birdlife Australia provides a clear argument why the bird should not bear his name. The change has sparked a conversation in online birding communities.</p>
<p>The Albert’s Lyrebird, the topic of my PhD research, also bears a name with colonial overtones, though without the direct violent connotations of Mitchell. Should it, and other Australian species named after people, be renamed? I’m not sure, but I do know this reclusive rainforest bird has a fascinating and surprisingly complex etymology. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A flying Pink Cockatoo about to land on a tree stump" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568970/original/file-20240111-21-hglx30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568970/original/file-20240111-21-hglx30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568970/original/file-20240111-21-hglx30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568970/original/file-20240111-21-hglx30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568970/original/file-20240111-21-hglx30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568970/original/file-20240111-21-hglx30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568970/original/file-20240111-21-hglx30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The case for renaming Major Mitchell’s Cockatoo the Pink Cockatoo was clear, but what about other Australian birds named after people?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/major-mitchells-cockatoo-lophochroa-leadbeateri-flight-780187936">sompreaw/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-dozens-of-north-american-bird-species-are-getting-new-names-every-name-tells-a-story-217886">Why dozens of North American bird species are getting new names: Every name tells a story</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Why is a lyrebird named after Prince Albert?</h2>
<p>When English ornithologist John Gould <a href="http://www.aviculturalsocietynsw.org/_inMemoriam/GouldJohn1804-1881.htm">suggested the lyrebird</a> as Australia’s bird emblem, he was recommending the Superb Lyrebird (<em>Menura novaehollandiae</em>) found throughout south-east Australia. Fewer people know of the Albert’s Lyrebird (<em>Menura alberti</em>), restricted to a tiny area on the Queensland-New South Wales border. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Portrait of Prince Albert" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568979/original/file-20240111-23-sn4hrx.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568979/original/file-20240111-23-sn4hrx.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=757&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568979/original/file-20240111-23-sn4hrx.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=757&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568979/original/file-20240111-23-sn4hrx.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=757&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568979/original/file-20240111-23-sn4hrx.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=951&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568979/original/file-20240111-23-sn4hrx.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=951&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568979/original/file-20240111-23-sn4hrx.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=951&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Albert’s Lyrebird was named to honour the German-born prince.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:George_Baxter_-_Prince_Albert_-_B1977.14.10675_-_Yale_Center_for_British_Art.jpg">Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Fewer still know the story behind its naming. The Albert’s Lyrebird bears the moniker of Prince Albert, both in its scientific (Latin) name and current common (English) name, bestowed by Gould himself. </p>
<p>This species was still unknown to colonial scientists when Gould’s landmark <a href="https://australian.museum/learn/collections/museum-archives-library/john-gould/the-birds-of-australia/#:%7E:text=Year%20Published%3A%201848&text=John%20Gould's%20The%20Birds%20of,on%20Australian%20ornithology%20ever%20written.">Birds of Australia</a> was first published in 1848. This was in part due to its remote, humid forest habitat.</p>
<p>Under taxonomic convention – the rules for classifying species – the credit for describing the species and assigning its scientific name would normally have gone to Gould when his 1850 supplement introduced the new species. Every listing of a species provides a scientific name, the name of the person who first described it and the date they did so. So we might have expected to see the Albert’s Lyrebird listed as <em>Menura alberti</em>, Gould, 1850.</p>
<p>Instead, next to <em>Menura alberti</em> we see a different surname – Bonaparte. Not Napoleon, but his nephew Charles, a naturalist who referred to Gould’s description of the new species. However, Bonaparte’s reference predated Gould’s actual publication, a technicality that means Bonaparte is listed as the scientific describer. </p>
<p>This quirk of taxonomy has tied this bird to two names deeply associated with empires.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An Albert's Lyrebird walking through moss-covered rocks in a forest" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568982/original/file-20240112-15-4n0ryx.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C202%2C2549%2C1711&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568982/original/file-20240112-15-4n0ryx.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568982/original/file-20240112-15-4n0ryx.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568982/original/file-20240112-15-4n0ryx.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568982/original/file-20240112-15-4n0ryx.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568982/original/file-20240112-15-4n0ryx.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568982/original/file-20240112-15-4n0ryx.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The scientific naming of Albert’s Lyrebird in 1850 links it with the British and French empires.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Albert%27s_Lyrebird_(32218869072).jpg">Mike's Birds/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/listen-to-the-alberts-lyrebird-the-best-performer-youve-never-heard-of-177627">Listen to the Albert’s lyrebird: the best performer you’ve never heard of</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>How do birds get their names?</h2>
<p>Scientific names change only when species are reclassified. The naming is more akin to record keeping – though honouring people can be a secondary purpose. In the lyrebird’s case, Gould cited the prince’s <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/40347175">“liberal support” and “personal virtues”</a>. </p>
<p>Birdlife Australia has an English Names Committee, which deals with such changes. Prince Albert is not directly linked to historical violence in Australia, but he was Queen Victoria’s spouse during its colonisation. </p>
<p>If <em>Menura alberti</em> requires the Pink Cockatoo treatment, some other common names have been used in the past. </p>
<p>“Northern Lyrebird” is used in G. Matthews’ <a href="https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/53451682">Birds of Australia</a>. The volume is of the same name as Gould’s, by a self-funded author, who was <a href="https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/mathews-gregory-macalister-7517">controversial for his own taxonomic renaming</a>. </p>
<p>More informally, “<a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/193057179">Small Lyrebird</a>” has been used in relation to A.A. Leycester, the naturalist who shot the first specimen in 1844. </p>
<p>These are both obscure, albeit more descriptive, alternatives. “Albert’s” is much more common. Leycester himself <a href="https://aquarian.lismore.nsw.gov.au/archive/BOX%20FNC%20NATIONAL%20PARK%2070-80s/CORRESPONDENCE%201979%20-1980.pdf">added an even more royal connotation</a> with “Prince Albert’s Lyrebird”, but sometimes also “Richmond River Lyrebird”.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An Albert's Lyrebird digging through forest leaf litter" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568981/original/file-20240112-21-t161sf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568981/original/file-20240112-21-t161sf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568981/original/file-20240112-21-t161sf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568981/original/file-20240112-21-t161sf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568981/original/file-20240112-21-t161sf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568981/original/file-20240112-21-t161sf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568981/original/file-20240112-21-t161sf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Albert’s Lyrebird has been known by several other names.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/alberts-lyre-bird-foraging-on-forest-1870811767">Ken Griffiths/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/there-are-over-7-000-english-names-for-birds-heres-what-they-teach-us-about-our-changing-relationship-with-nature-162471">There are over 7,000 English names for birds – here's what they teach us about our changing relationship with nature</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>The bird had earlier names</h2>
<p>As for the bird being “discovered”, naturally earlier Indigenous names survive. </p>
<p>The bird has recently been described as a bird of the Bunjalung language area. This is true but it is also a Yugambeh and Githabul bird. Its habitat on the Great Dividing Range might include Jagera Country too. </p>
<p>Archibald Meston inexplicably recorded a Kabi Kabi language name from the “<a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1071/MU957025">head of the Mary River</a>” – no lyrebird is known to occur this far north.</p>
<p>The Yugambeh Museum has provided “kalbun” for national park signage in my home town, Tamborine Mountain. One <a href="https://bundjalung.dalang.com.au/language/view_word/1319">Bundjalung dictionary</a> provides “galbuny” or “galwuny” with an outlying possibility of “wonglepong”, “kalwun” or “kulwin” in the Tweed as meanings for “lyrebird” (with no clarification between the two species). Indigenous health service Kalwun uses the name in reference to the “<a href="https://www.kalwun.com.au/about">rainforest lyrebird</a>” but uses an image of a Superb Lyrebird as its logo. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An Albert's Lyrebird displaying with a raised tail in the rainforest" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571013/original/file-20240123-29-olrpe6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571013/original/file-20240123-29-olrpe6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571013/original/file-20240123-29-olrpe6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571013/original/file-20240123-29-olrpe6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571013/original/file-20240123-29-olrpe6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571013/original/file-20240123-29-olrpe6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571013/original/file-20240123-29-olrpe6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The male Albert’s Lyrebird (above) lacks the distinctive barring on the lyre-shaped feathers of the male Superb Lyrebird (below).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Felix Cehak</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A male Superb Lyrebird spreads its tail as it displays in a forest clearing" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568977/original/file-20240111-19-e9qlg8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568977/original/file-20240111-19-e9qlg8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568977/original/file-20240111-19-e9qlg8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568977/original/file-20240111-19-e9qlg8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568977/original/file-20240111-19-e9qlg8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568977/original/file-20240111-19-e9qlg8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568977/original/file-20240111-19-e9qlg8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/kimedoll/3762012430">KimEdoll/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Superb Lyrebird is also found within Bundjalung Country, such as in <a href="https://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/visit-a-park/parks/washpool-national-park/learn-more#F84A24F0AC0E401E8DABACEA4DD2254D">Washpool National Park</a>. This variance and confusion between lyrebird species and language groups is before we even consider the Githabul area to the west, a sometimes <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/figure/The-Far-North-Coast-of-NSW-Source-CartoGIS-College-of-Asia-and-the-Pacific-ANU_fig1_316272086">contested distinction</a>. </p>
<p>The Yugambeh Museum allows for the variance by providing a different language resource for each location. You will find, for example, a different Indigenous name on the national park sign at Tamborine to the one at Lamington. </p>
<p>As many language groups give the bird many names (only some of which are listed here), there isn’t one obvious Indigenous option if the bird were to be renamed. Beyond these names, the cultural significance of the bird, which lives in rarely visited wet and leech-infested places, seems to have been lost. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An Albert's Lyrebird singing in the forest" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571016/original/file-20240123-25-t6k3t1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571016/original/file-20240123-25-t6k3t1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571016/original/file-20240123-25-t6k3t1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571016/original/file-20240123-25-t6k3t1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571016/original/file-20240123-25-t6k3t1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571016/original/file-20240123-25-t6k3t1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571016/original/file-20240123-25-t6k3t1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Albert’s Lyrebird can be hard to find in its dark and dense forest habitat.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Felix Cehak</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-makes-a-good-bird-name-217211">What makes a good bird name?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>If a new name is needed, who decides it?</h2>
<p>Over many hours of conversation about this species, I have found the link to Prince Albert is always known. I have rarely heard anything more about why the lyrebird bears his name. Besides his irrelevance to Australian ornithology, I cannot gauge a specific reason the Prince Albert moniker is inappropriate, unlike Thomas Mitchell. </p>
<p>If a change is required to a bird’s name, the decision must be made with the relevant communities. If they wish to counter a history of imperial naming by renaming, the new name should not spring from a similar desire for ownership. </p>
<p>It would also be wise to maintain broadness in this conversation. In the Albert’s Lyrebird case, that includes the birdwatchers, ecologists and conservationists who have contributed to our understanding of this little-known species. </p>
<p>We are about to see what happens in the United States. It would be wise to watch carefully what happens next.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/217792/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Felix Cehak receives funding from UNSW in the form of a current PhD student stipend. </span></em></p>Birds have one unchanging scientific name, but often many common names that are subject to change. Choosing a new name for a bird isn’t necessarily a simple decision.Felix Cehak, PhD Candidate, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2208002024-01-24T13:14:21Z2024-01-24T13:14:21ZDunki: what this new Bollywood film tells us about the imperial history of the UK’s immigration system<p>The UK government’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/jan/16/tory-deputy-chairs-resign-lee-anderson-brendan-clarke-smith-rishi-sunak">efforts to send asylum seekers to Rwanda</a>, which undermine the independence of Britain’s judiciary, highlight ongoing tensions within the British Conservative party. </p>
<p>They also mark a return to colonial-era forced mobility, particularly of <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/12/8/451">non-white migrants</a>. The British used a similar practice to establish and maintain colonies and control imperial and colonial borders – for example, through the <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Slavery_and_Forced_Migration_in_the_Ante.html?id=HsSTBQAAQBAJ&redir_esc=y">forced relocation of people in the transatlantic slave trade</a> and the <a href="https://www.ubcpress.ca/aboriginal-title-and-indigenous-peoples">dispossession and eviction of Indigenous peoples</a> in white settler colonies. </p>
<p>They also <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/law-and-history-review/article/abs/perish-or-prosper-the-law-and-convict-transportation-in-the-british-empire-17001850/B54E81668AC147F2B9433290A6FF49C5">transported British convicts to overseas colonies</a> and, during the second world war, dispersed <a href="https://refugeehistory.org/blog/2021/6/10/the-dispersal-of-displaced-persons-in-the-british-empire-and-beyond-from-world-war-two-to-the-partition-of-india">refugees to colonised territories</a>. </p>
<p>There are echoes of empire in today’s <a href="https://ukandeu.ac.uk/explainers/illegal-migration-act-2023/">anti-immigration legislation in the UK</a>, but what is less discussed is how these practices shaped former British colonies such as India.</p>
<p>Dunki, a Bollywood film currently playing in cinemas, explores these issues. The film, directed by Rajkumar Hirani and featuring <a href="https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2023-09-21/shah-rukh-khan-key-facts-srk-jawan-pathaan-bollywood">global superstar Shah Rukh Khan</a>, details the travails, from the mid-1990s, of a group of Sikh friends from Punjab who migrate to the UK. </p>
<p>Unable to do so legally thanks to the <a href="https://freemovement.org.uk/on-this-day-sixty-years-ago-the-first-commonwealth-immigrants-act-came-into-effect/">barriers on legal migration for Commonwealth citizens</a>, they decide to take the “donkey”, or illegal, route. This means travelling to a foreign land through a range of other countries. </p>
<p>While donkey routes are traditionally via train, boat or other means, the <a href="https://thewire.in/world/four-us-donkey-flights-had-left-for-nicaragua-when-french-immigration-intercepted-legend-airlines">recent, real-life grounding</a> of a chartered “US donkey flight” in France reveals that this method is changing with the times. The Romania-based Legend Airlines plane was on its way from Dubai to Nicaragua, from where the migrants would have travelled to the US border.</p>
<p>These journeys are not only difficult and dangerous, but expensive. To get to the US, the largely Punjabi migrants detained in France had reportedly promised to pay between <a href="https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/dunki-flight-dubai-to-nicaragua-passengers-from-gujarat-offered-rs-60-80-lakh-illegal-us-entry-2483354-2024-01-02?onetap=true">£55,000 and £75,000</a> to corrupt immigration agents. </p>
<p>In Dunki, the donkey route takes the friends overland via Afghanistan and Iran, before they are smuggled by container ship to the UK. Along the way, three members of the group are murdered, one is threatened with rape, and they endure innumerable other hardships. And for those who make it, their situation improves little upon arrival in the UK. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ACKQDAlAfFE?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>Underpinning such adversities is colonialism and its legacies. In one moving scene, Khan’s character speaks at the funeral of a man who committed suicide after failing the English language test that would have enabled him to go to the UK.</p>
<p>When the British came to India, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACKQDAlAfFE&ab_channel=RedChilliesEntertainment">he says</a>, “We never asked: ‘Do you know Hindi?‘ How dare they stop us, he asks, from going to their country because we don’t know their language?</p>
<p>Later in the film, a character suggests that Indians like her were only forced to go to the UK because of what the British had done to India. </p>
<h2>Preserving the spoils of empire</h2>
<p>Dunki also demonstrates the ironies of modern border restrictions in the UK. Although these, by design, largely bar the entry of the global poor, the labour such people provide is <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S095937802200005X">essential for maintaining</a> the standards of living that Britons enjoy.</p>
<p>UK trade policies continue to generate a steady supply of both low-cost goods and labour from lower-income countries. Since Brexit, for example, the British government has pressured countries such as Ghana and Cameroon to sign trade deals that perpetuate <a href="https://waronwant.org/news-analysis/empire-20-uk-trade-deals-squeeze-wealth-global-south">impoverishment and industrialisation</a>, and feed an exodus of migrant labour to the UK.</p>
<p>It is India, however, that remains the <a href="https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/india-migration-country-profile">largest migrant-origin country in the world</a>. India became the go-to destination for a new form of bonded labour known as <a href="https://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/a-new-system-of-slavery-the-british-west-indies-and-the-origins-of-indian-indenture/">indentured servitude</a> following the formal abolition of slavery in Britain in 1833. But the <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/9781444351071.wbeghm285">displacement of up to 20 million people</a>, particularly in Punjab, in the 1947 partition of India into two separate nation-states, fuelled a new exodus – including to the UK. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=cTPpDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=ethnoreligious+nationalism+a+product+of+empire+india&ots=g4LV4KS9v3&sig=6M4MYgL3883HgNF8cyfPkhaKPuU&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false">ethnoreligious nationalism</a> that fuelled partition continued to spawn further migration. This includes the genocidal violence, in 1984, that led to the death and dislocation of <a href="https://time.com/3545867/india-1984-sikh-genocide-anniversary/">thousands of Sikhs</a>. The cast of Dunki appears to leave India in the aftermath of such horrors. Yet instead of openly acknowledging this, the film displaces the genesis of its story to a decade later.</p>
<p>This is likely due to political concerns within India today. The governing Hindu ethnonationalist party, the BJP, has proposed <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-57676214">sweeping new powers to censor films</a>. The government already uses the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/11/20/india-netflix-amazon-movies-self-censorship/">threat of legal action</a> to shape the content produced by streaming platforms, and employed emergency powers to ban a <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/1/25/india-banning-bbc-documentary-on-modi-attack-on-press-freedom">BBC documentary on the prime minister, Narendra Modi</a>. </p>
<p>Since right-wing Hindu groups can also <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/panache/nayantharas-annapoorani-removed-from-netflix-actress-producers-land-in-legal-trouble/articleshow/106730203.cms">force a film to be withdrawn</a>, it has become risky for filmmakers to explicitly address issues to do with ethnoreligious violence. Both India and Britain have a long way to go in acknowledging the ongoing relationship between colonialism, migration, and their legacies.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220800/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Deana Heath does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Shah Rukh Khan’s new film sheds light on the history of UK migration policy.Deana Heath, Professor of Indian and Colonial History, University of LiverpoolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2210152024-01-23T18:59:42Z2024-01-23T18:59:42ZWhy we should celebrate Australia Day on March 3 – the day we became a fully independent country<p>Every year, there are debates over the appropriateness of January 26 for a national holiday. </p>
<p>Australia Day has been celebrated on <a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-day-wasnt-always-january-26-but-it-was-always-an-issue-198389">different dates</a> since its inception as a fundraiser for the war effort in 1915. The choice of January 26, the day in 1788 when the British flag was raised in New South Wales, attracted significant protest from First Nations, especially at the sesquicentenary in 1938 and bicentenary in 1988.</p>
<p>In recent years, January 26 has become a date that divides Australians. More than <a href="https://www.news.com.au/national/politics/80-local-council-areas-cancel-australia-day-citizenship-ceremonies/news-story/6cd87d8ca47fb6914f489902d66a7fd3">80 local councils</a> have chosen not to have it as a day of celebration, and Triple J <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-27/hottest-100-wont-be-held-on-australia-day-triple-j-says/9197014">stopped</a> using the date to hold its Hottest 100 competition in 2018. This year, Woolworths’ commercial decision not to stock Australia Day merchandise was met with <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/jan/11/woolworths-big-w-australia-day-merchandise-dropped-sale-peter-dutton-boycott-calls">calls to protest</a> the supermarket giant. </p>
<p>If the purpose of Australia Day is to unite Australians and celebrate our achievements as a nation, then would our Independence Day – March 3 1986 – be a better choice?</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-day-wasnt-always-january-26-but-it-was-always-an-issue-198389">Australia Day wasn't always January 26, but it was always an issue</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Wasn’t Australia independent before the 1980s?</h2>
<p>You might be thinking, hang on, surely Australia was already independent in the 1980s? </p>
<p>To give a typical historian’s answer, yes, but it’s more complex than that. </p>
<p>In 1901, Australia federated and became a nation, but not an independent one. Its initial status was a Dominion of the British empire, self-governing but with its foreign affairs dictated from Westminster. </p>
<p>The Imperial Conference of 1923 gave majority-white Dominions such as Australia control over foreign affairs, while the 1926 <a href="https://www.foundingdocs.gov.au/item-sdid-95.html">Balfour Declaration</a> asserted that Dominions were “autonomous Communities within the British Empire, equal in status”. </p>
<p>The passage of the 1931 <a href="https://www.foundingdocs.gov.au/item-sdid-96.html">Statute of Westminster</a> confirmed that the Dominions were not subordinate to Britain. While this might seem like the independence moment, Australia saw no need for the change and did not <a href="https://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/sowaa1942379/schthe.html">ratify it until 1942</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570274/original/file-20240119-25-bz3blx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C105%2C979%2C752&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Queen Elizabeth II signing paper at a desk while a man in a suit stands over and watches" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570274/original/file-20240119-25-bz3blx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C105%2C979%2C752&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570274/original/file-20240119-25-bz3blx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570274/original/file-20240119-25-bz3blx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570274/original/file-20240119-25-bz3blx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570274/original/file-20240119-25-bz3blx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=756&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570274/original/file-20240119-25-bz3blx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=756&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570274/original/file-20240119-25-bz3blx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=756&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Then-Prime Minister Bob Hawke and Queen Elizabeth II signed the Australia Acts in 1986.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.naa.gov.au/students-and-teachers/learning-resources/learning-resource-themes/government-and-democracy/prime-ministers-and-politicians/queen-elizabeth-ii-signs-proclamation-australia-act-cth-1986">National Archives of Australia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The second world war convinced the Australian government it needed its own diplomats and embassies in foreign nations. Then, in the 1960s, Britain’s attempts to join the European common market and its decision to remove its military from South-East Asia (known as <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/10357719708445209">East of Suez</a>) prompted Australia to show greater independence in its trade and security policies. </p>
<p>Even if the Commonwealth government was independent from 1931 (or 1942, technically), colonial anomalies remained and would not be addressed until 1986.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/welcome-to-may-9-the-true-australia-day-204555">Welcome to May 9 – the true Australia Day</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Wait, so Australia wasn’t <em>fully</em> independent?</h2>
<p>When the Hawke government took office in 1983, the state governments retained their colonial constitutions and were still answerable to the British government.</p>
<p>Further, those unhappy with a ruling in their state supreme court could challenge it in Britain’s Privy Council. These colonial hangovers were not harmless relics, but had real consequences. </p>
<p>While protocol dictates that the monarch must accept the prime minister’s advice when appointing the governor general, at state level, British ministers felt free to reject the advice of premiers. </p>
<p>This was seen in 1975 when Queensland premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen had his attempts to extend the term of governor Sir Colin Hannah <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Senate/Powers_practice_n_procedures/pops/pop48/battlesovereignty#_ftn23">blocked</a>. </p>
<p>Similarly, the Privy Council continued to hear cases from Australia. In 1984, <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/760463">14 appeals</a> from Australia were received, with a further ten in 1985. One of these was instigated by West Indies cricket captain Clive Lloyd, who was awarded damages after an <a href="https://justinian.com.au/featurettes/inside-tom-hughes-defamation-machine.html">article in The Age</a> implied his team deliberately lost a match. The NSW Court of Appeal overturned the verdict but Lloyd successfully challenged the decision in the Privy Council, undermining the power of the state legal system.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.foundingdocs.gov.au/item-did-32.html">Australia Acts</a> are twin legislation passed in the UK and Australian parliaments (hence Acts not Act), matched by consenting legislation from each state parliament. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569756/original/file-20240117-21-glc0we.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A black and white gazette article from 1986 from Bob Hawke" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569756/original/file-20240117-21-glc0we.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569756/original/file-20240117-21-glc0we.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569756/original/file-20240117-21-glc0we.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569756/original/file-20240117-21-glc0we.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569756/original/file-20240117-21-glc0we.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569756/original/file-20240117-21-glc0we.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569756/original/file-20240117-21-glc0we.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A special edition of the Commonwealth Gazette was published when the Australia Acts had been finalised.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/240546297?browse=ndp%3Abrowse%2Fdate%2F1986%2F03%2F02%2Ftitle%2F1292%2Fissue%2F2436980%2Fpage%2F26059975%2Farticle%2F240546297">Office of Parliamentary Counsel (OPC)/National Library of Australia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>They were the result of years of complex negotiations but were aided by political goodwill from both major parties and the UK government. The Australia Acts ended all remaining powers of the UK parliament over Australian states and confirmed that the High Court of Australia is the final court of appeal.</p>
<p>Australian independence did not come as a result of a dramatic struggle or revolutionary war. Instead, it was a gradual evolution. Queen Elizabeth II commented that “surely no two independent countries could bring to an end their constitutional relationship in a more civilised way” (though, we would continue to share the same head of state).</p>
<p>Despite the significance of the occasion, the passage of the Australia Acts had only limited public interest. The various developments were noted in newspapers in Australia and Britain but usually in the back pages.</p>
<p>For example, when the British legislation passed the House of Lords in December 1985, The Age informed its readers that “the sun sets today on the shreds of colonial bondage” on page 24, next to the daily crossword and a cartoon. </p>
<p>When the Acts came into effect on March 3 1986, the Australian media presented it as a mundane piece of constitutional upkeep, which perhaps explains why the date is not well known today.</p>
<h2>A better choice for Australia Day?</h2>
<p>Australia does not have a single independence moment. It has no equivalent to the War of Independence in the United States or the storming of the Bastille in France. </p>
<p>Nevertheless, as legal expert Anne Twomey <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/we-only-became-independent-of-britain-on-this-day-in-1986/news-story/524a277d666ca0614eedcb39a43a9e12">has concluded</a>, it is indisputable that full legal independence was achieved through the Australia Acts. </p>
<p>While historians have been more opaque, Deborah Gare <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/10314619908596101#:%7E:text=be%20discussed%20below%2C%201%20January,a%20new%20and%20united%20country.&text=process%20of%20elimination%20to%20determine,of%20Westminster%20in%20December%201931.">argues convincingly</a> that despite the increased freedoms after 1931, a nation can hardly be called independent without sovereignty over its own judiciary. </p>
<p>January 26 is engulfed in a culture war. It does not satisfy those who want it to be a day of contemplation or those who want it to be a day of united celebration. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/change-the-date-debates-about-january-26-distract-from-the-truth-telling-australia-needs-to-do-197046">'Change the date' debates about January 26 distract from the truth telling Australia needs to do</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>For all the commentary, however, few Australians <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/most-dont-care-when-australia-day-is-held-poll-finds-20180116-h0j0w9.html">really care</a> what day it is held. Most simply want an opportunity to take a day off work and celebrate the achievements of the country, individually and collectively. </p>
<p>January 26 will always be a significant historical date, but its meaning is contested. By contrast, few would dispute that Australia achieving its full legal independence was a positive development, worthy of celebration.</p>
<p>There is no requirement that Australia Day be celebrated on a historically significant date. The last Friday in January is sometimes suggested to ensure a long weekend. </p>
<p>But for those who do want history to guide the national celebrations, the Australia Acts provide an uncontroversial alternative.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221015/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Benjamin T. Jones does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Many believe Australia became it’s own country at federation in 1901, but that’s not strictly true. Instead, it happened more than 80 years later. Why don’t we celebrate it?Benjamin T. Jones, Senior Lecturer in History, CQUniversity AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2202052024-01-23T13:25:57Z2024-01-23T13:25:57ZHow the word ‘voodoo’ became a racial slur<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570735/original/file-20240122-20-mdblis.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=10%2C10%2C3607%2C2392&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An engraving from 1992 representing a voodoo rite in Haiti.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/the-voodoo-in-haiti-in-1992-engraving-representing-a-voodoo-news-photo/113929671?adppopup=true"> Nicolas Jallot/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>For decades, it has been common for people to throw around terms like “voodoo politics,” “<a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/v/voodooeconomics.asp">voodoo economics</a>,” “<a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/rejecting-voodoo-science-in-the-courtroom-1474328199">voodoo science</a>” and “<a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/voodoo-medicine-time-to-s_b_11474550?ec_carp=6516617630977493781">voodoo medicine</a>” to reference something that they think is ridiculous, idiotic or fraudulent.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096071/">Horror movies</a> and <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0793707/">crime shows</a> often tell stories about evil “voodoo doctors” who terrorize their victims with black magic. Even Disney’s first movie with a Black princess, released in 2009, had a “voodoo doctor” as the villain. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, these shows and movies promote myths about voodoo that reinforce more than a century of stereotypes and discrimination. In my 2023 book, “<a href="https://academic.oup.com/book/46772">Voodoo: The History of a Racial Slur</a>,” I argue that voodoo is an extremely problematic term with a deeply racist history. </p>
<p>Most African diaspora religions, which are religions that have roots in Africa, have been mislabeled as voodoo at some point in time. This is especially true of Haitian Vodou – the religion that is most frequently stereotyped by outsiders as “voodoo” in the 21st century.</p>
<h2>Early uses of the term</h2>
<p>The term voodoo traces its roots back to a word in the Fon language in West Africa that means “<a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Vodou">spirit” or “deity</a>.” The French adopted a version of this term, “vaudou” or “vaudoux,” to refer to African spiritual practices in their colonies in Louisiana and Saint-Domingue – modern-day Haiti. </p>
<p>Later, “vaudou” evolved into “voodoo” in the English-speaking world. It first became a household term in the U.S. in the 1860s and 1870s. When the U.S. public was <a href="https://academic.oup.com/book/46772">first introduced</a> to voodoo, it was typically in newspaper articles and other publications that described African American spiritual practices in an exaggerated way, often retelling bizarre or even fabricated stories as if they were common practice. </p>
<p>Most of the time, the authors used these narratives about voodoo to argue that African Americans were unfit for citizenship, voting rights and holding public office because of their so-called superstitions. </p>
<p>In fact, the first time the term was widely used was after the Union forces seized New Orleans during the U.S. Civil War. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780197689400.001.0001">Confederate supporters argued</a> that the popularity of voodoo in Union-controlled New Orleans showed the barbarity that Africans would return to if not under the control of white people. </p>
<p>Later, in the 20th century, claims about voodoo were used as one way to justify the U.S. colonization of Caribbean countries with large Black populations. In particular, fabricated <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/McClure_s_Magazine/RZZEAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=voodoo+cuba&pg=PA502&printsec=frontcover">claims that Black Cubans were</a> practicing the ritual murder of children as part of their voodoo practices circulated in the media to support sending forces to the island in the 1900s and 1910s.</p>
<p>Similarly, in the early 20th century, <a href="https://archive.org/details/whereblackrulesw00pric">journalists, travelers and others falsely claimed</a> that U.S. intervention was necessary because Haitians were engaging in cannibalism, human sacrifice and snake worship as part of their voodoo rituals. Historian <a href="https://people.miami.edu/profile/2d45ee761ea7c9776e6f13729f2ebea3">Kate Ramsey</a> writes in her 2011 book, “<a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/S/bo10454972.html">The Spirits and the Law: Vodou and Power in Haiti</a>,” that while U.S. Marines were occupying Haiti from 1915 to 1934, they persecuted and prosecuted devotees – arresting the people they found participating in ceremonies and burning their sacred objects. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, in the first half of the 20th century, references to voodoo continued to be a way to speak disparagingly about Black populations in the U.S. Even the founders of the <a href="https://ia904601.us.archive.org/19/items/the-voodoo-cult-of-detroit/The%20Voodoo%20Cult%20of%20Detroit.pdf">Nation of Islam</a> were stereotyped as a “voodoo cult” after an alleged member committed a highly publicized murder in 1932.</p>
<p>Allegations that Black Muslims practiced human sacrifice followed the group for decades, long after the person who committed the crime was determined to be legally insane and sent to an asylum. </p>
<h2>Prejudices linger</h2>
<p>This history has left a stain on public perceptions of voodoo that is difficult to wash away. The best example is the treatment of devotees of <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-haitian-voodoo-119621">Vodou, a religion in Haiti</a> that can trace many of its beliefs and practices back to West and Central Africa. Vodou centers on honoring the ancestors and venerating spirits known as the Lwa. </p>
<p>Vodou was frequently labeled as “voodoo” in Anglophone newspapers and other literature in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and devotees were falsely accused of committing atrocities like cannibalism and human sacrifice during their ceremonies. Although Vodou has no ultimate source of evil in its cosmology, it is <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-haitian-voodoo-119621">often denounced</a> as devil worship. These myths have led to discrimination and violence against devotees.</p>
<p>In 2010, some Haitians and some foreigners blamed Vodou, which they often misspelled as “voodoo,” for the tragic earthquake and subsequent cholera outbreak that devastated Haiti. The most famous remarks came from the late <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2010/01/pat_robertson_blames_haitian_d.html">Pat Robertson</a>, an Evangelical minister and political commentator, who claimed that the earthquake was God’s retribution against Haitians for holding a Vodou ceremony. He described the Vodou ceremony as a pact with the devil to assist in their revolution against the French. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570737/original/file-20240122-19-uv5o5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A woman in a wide-brimmed hat holds her hands up as she prays, with some other people in the background." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570737/original/file-20240122-19-uv5o5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570737/original/file-20240122-19-uv5o5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570737/original/file-20240122-19-uv5o5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570737/original/file-20240122-19-uv5o5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570737/original/file-20240122-19-uv5o5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570737/original/file-20240122-19-uv5o5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570737/original/file-20240122-19-uv5o5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">An old woman prays in an earthquake-damaged church in the Ti Ayiti neighborhood Feb. 23, 2010, in Cité Soleil, Haiti, after a Christian mob attacked a Haitian Vodou ceremony for earthquake victims.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/just-paces-away-from-where-a-christian-mob-attacked-a-news-photo/96989923?adppopup=true%2A%2A%2A%2A">Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>Within Haiti, some people <a href="https://haitiantimes.com/2020/01/12/vodou-was-once-blamed-for-the-haiti-earthquake-10-years-later-its-seeing-a-slow-revival/">committed acts of violence</a> against devotees and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0021934710394443">denied them the emergency aid</a> that was sent to quake victims. Later that year, violence escalated as some Haitians blamed Vodou for the cholera outbreak. In November and December of 2010, lynch mobs <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-12073029">violently killed</a> dozens of Haitian Vodou priests. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, discrimination and the violence perpetrated against Haitian Vodou and <a href="https://www.religiousracism.org/brazil">other African diaspora religious groups</a> often goes <a href="https://www.psupress.org/books/titles/978-1-64602-103-1.html">unpunished and unnoticed</a>. In fact, a recent survey suggests that a large portion of the U.S. public subscribes to the stereotypes about voodoo that led to these attacks.</p>
<p>With support from the Public Religion Research Institute, my fellow researchers and I <a href="https://www.prri.org/spotlight/discrimination-against-voodoo-and-santeria/">asked 1,000 adults</a> living in the U.S. whether they used the term “voodoo.” Two in 10 respondents, or about 20%, said they had used or heard others use the term at least once a month. The survey found fewer than 1 in 4 considered voodoo to be a religion. </p>
<p>Further, approximately 3 in 10 respondents believed that followers of voodoo were more likely to be involved in criminal activity than the average person, and an astonishing 64% said they believed that followers of voodoo were more likely to practice black magic or witchcraft than the average person. </p>
<p>This survey shows the pervasiveness of these biases that developed to support slavery and imperialism. Therefore, I argue that when someone makes a statement like, “That just sounds like some ‘voodoo’ to me!” they are co-signing the long racist history of the term and promoting the idea that religions from Africa are primitive, evil and barbaric.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220205/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr. Boaz is a public fellow with the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI). In this capacity, Dr. Boaz and three other fellows received a microgrant from the PRRI to conduct the survey mentioned in this piece. </span></em></p>Shows, movies and day-to-day language promote myths about voodoo that reinforce more than a century of stereotypes and discrimination, writes a scholar of Africana studies.Danielle N. Boaz, Associate Professor of Africana Studies, University of North Carolina – CharlotteLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2211252024-01-16T14:13:41Z2024-01-16T14:13:41ZSouth Africa’s ANC marks its 112th year with an eye on national elections, but its record is patchy and future uncertain<p>The speech President Cyril Ramaphosa delivered at the <a href="https://www.anc1912.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/ANC-January-8th-Statement-2024.pdf">112th birthday celebration</a> of South Africa’s governing party, the African National Congress (ANC), on 13 January can be seen as the party’s opening election gambit: a stadium packed to capacity, the display of a united leadership, and an invocation of three decades of success, delivered by a leader firmly in control of his party.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.anc1912.org.za/anc-january-8th-statement/">annual January 8</a> statement, unsurprisingly, was a 30 year self-assessment and is self-congratulatory. It was silent on the many failings under ANC rule: <a href="https://www.resbank.co.za/content/dam/sarb/publications/statements/monetary-policy-statements/2023/november-/Statement%20of%20the%20Monetary%20Policy%20Committee%20November%202023.pdf">sluggish economic growth</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africas-police-are-losing-the-war-on-crime-heres-how-they-need-to-rethink-their-approach-218048">crime and lack of security</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/local-government-in-south-africa-is-broken-but-giving-the-job-to-residents-carries-risks-155970">failure to deliver essential services</a> and <a href="https://mg.co.za/thought-leader/opinion/2023-01-31-south-africa-must-maintain-and-build-new-infrastructure/">maintain public infrastructure</a>. </p>
<p>Ramaphosa said the anniversary <a href="https://www.anc1912.org.za/anc-january-8th-statement/">occasion</a> was an opportunity to focus members of the party on the tasks ahead of the <a href="https://www.eisa.org/election-calendar/">2024 general elections</a> – expected between May and August. He pointed out that the ANC had, over its 30 years in power, put in place the building blocks of a social democratic state. These include:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>a <a href="https://www.justice.gov.za/legislation/constitution/saconstitution-web-eng.pdf">constitution</a> that guarantees human rights to all South Africans and is much admired around the world</p></li>
<li><p>protecting workers’ rights, promoting investment and economic development and providing a legal framework for black economic empowerment </p></li>
<li><p>an active role for South Africa on the international stage, and solidarity with people struggling for their rights and striving for a just world order.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Assuming the moral high ground by <a href="https://www.politicsweb.co.za/politics/anc-in-full-support-of-sas-case-against-israel-in-">supporting the cause of Palestine</a> was a reminder of the ANC that once won the hearts of many South Africans and international supporters: principled and standing up for justice, as it had done in the struggle against apartheid.</p>
<p>Ramaphosa highlighted the oft-repeated statistics reflecting “delivery” by the ANC-led government since 1994: </p>
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<li><p><a href="https://www.dhs.gov.za/content/media-statements/human-settlements-delivers-47-million-houses-1994">4.7 million houses</a> have been built and provided “mahala” (for free) to South Africans, including houses allocated to nearly 2 million women </p></li>
<li><p>89% of households now have access to water and 85% have <a href="https://www.statssa.gov.za/?p=12211">access to electricity</a></p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://www.timeslive.co.za/politics/2024-01-15-listen-28-million-people-rely-on-social-grants-ramaphosa-boasts-about-ancs-efforts-to-prevent-poverty/">more than 28 million people</a> are beneficiaries of social grants aimed at alleviating poverty.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Along the way, mistakes had been made, Ramaphosa said. But the ANC stood resolute in addressing the stubborn legacy of colonialism, apartheid and patriarchy.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/factionalism-and-corruption-could-kill-the-anc-unless-it-kills-both-first-116924">Factionalism and corruption could kill the ANC -- unless it kills both first</a>
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<p>Not much was said about these mistakes. The ANC is nursing its fragile unity ahead of a general election later this year. Tactically, it might have been wiser for the party to own up to some of its shortcomings, as this could have denied its opponents and critics the chance to <a href="https://dailyinvestor.com/south-africa/41313/cyril-ramaphosa-celebrates-28-million-grant-recipients-four-times-the-number-of-taxpayers/">ridicule some of its claims</a>. </p>
<p>As a political scientist, I am interested in the ingredients of <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sandy-Africa">durable democracies in post-conflict societies</a>, including South Africa, Mauritania and Libya. Thirty years after its first democratic elections, the stakes are high for the ANC as the party that took the lead in ushering in a new era.</p>
<h2>Despair and frustration</h2>
<p>It is an open secret that the party has been <a href="https://theconversation.com/factionalism-and-corruption-could-kill-the-anc-unless-it-kills-both-first-116924">riven by factions</a>. And the state it runs has been <a href="https://www.statecapture.org.za/">racked by corruption</a> for which few have been held accountable.</p>
<p>The perception that South Africa has been unsuccessful in the fight against corruption has dented the country’s image, and lessened its international leverage and stature. </p>
<p>This, in spite of the ANC government having <a href="https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/202105/national-anti-corruption-strategy-2020-2030.pdf">an anti-corruption strategy</a>. And, to the chagrin of some members, the party has insisted that those facing allegations of corruption must <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-01-06-anc-resolves-to-keep-step-aside-rule-with-case-reviews-every-six-months/">relinquish state and party positions</a>.</p>
<p>There is disappointment that the reversal of the perception of a party mired in corruption has been <a href="https://www.news24.com/news24/opinions/columnists/sipho-masondo/sipho-masondo-instead-of-our-greatest-moment-ramaphosa-has-been-our-greatest-disappointment-20230502">slow in the making</a>. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/book-predicts-ancs-last-decade-of-political-dominance-in-south-africa-166592">Book predicts ANC’s last decade of political dominance in South Africa</a>
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<p>There is a mood of despair over <a href="https://www.gov.za/news/speeches/minister-bheki-cele-second-quarter-crime-statistics-20232024-17-nov-2023">high levels of crime and violence</a>. There is also widespread frustration over <a href="https://wandilesihlobo.com/2023/01/14/crumbling-basic-infrastructure-limits-south-africas-agriculture-and-tourism-growth-potential/">crumbling infrastructure</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africans-are-revolting-against-inept-local-government-why-it-matters-155483">poor service delivery</a>.</p>
<p>Lashing out at detractors, a confident Ramaphosa said that South Africa was markedly different to that of 30 years ago – and that this was an achievement of the ANC.</p>
<p>He urged members and supporters to campaign for a decisive victory and avoid a coalition with other political parties. Coalitions, he argued, did not benefit the people but the deal-makers who came from the smaller parties. This argument is not without merit – the coalitions have <a href="https://www.nelsonmandela.org/news/entry/coalitions-the-new-normal-in-south-africa">rendered some municipalities dysfunctional</a>.</p>
<p>Yet, in spite of the public pronouncements, the ANC may be bracing itself for a coalition government. Several surveys say the party will garner <a href="https://www.politicsweb.co.za/documents/anc-polling-under-50-for-2024--brenthurst-foundati">less than 50% of the vote</a> needed to form a government. </p>
<p>The largest opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, has struck a deal with like-minded parties in the hope of <a href="https://mg.co.za/politics/2023-08-17-opposition-parties-agree-on-moonshot-coalition-vision-principles-and-priorities/">unseating the ANC</a>.</p>
<h2>Wooing young voters</h2>
<p>Ramaphosa’s speech reflected the party’s comfort zone, one in which it does not have to appease multiple factions. But this may be a short-lived luxury.</p>
<p>In addition to having to contend with a record number of <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-67741527">splinter formations</a> in the <a href="https://www.eisa.org/election-calendar/">upcoming general elections</a>, the ANC is also facing a generational change. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.eisa.org/election-calendar/">2024 general election</a> may become the battle for the soul of the young voter. If that is the case, then the ANC needs a fresh image, one less reliant on its history as a liberation movement. It must reflect the interests and aspirations of potential supporters more: <a href="https://www.gov.za/news/media-statements/statistics-south-africa-quarterly-labour-force-survey-quarter-three-2023-14">unemployed youth</a>, women under constant threat of <a href="https://www.afrobarometer.org/publication/ad738-south-africans-see-gender-based-violence-as-most-important-womens-rights-issue-to-address/">gender-based violence</a>; the <a href="https://debtline.co.za/south-africas-middle-class-is-r10k-poorer-than-in-2016/#:%7E:text=The%20financial%20landscape%20for%20South,compared%20to%20their%202016%20earnings.">financially squeezed middle class</a>, and those living in crowded, <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10708-022-10808-z">uninhabitable circumstances</a>. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/africas-oldest-surviving-party-the-anc-has-an-achilles-heel-its-broken-branch-structure-150210">Africa's oldest surviving party – the ANC – has an Achilles heel: its broken branch structure</a>
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<p>Ramaphosa called on supporters to stand up against gender-based violence, and to resist the exclusion of marginalised people, such as the LGBTQI community and disabled persons. He acknowledged the positive role of the youth in society, and commended the ANC Youth League <a href="https://www.enca.com/top-stories/anc-youth-league-wants-more-young-people-parliament">for their inputs</a> in shaping the statement. He promised that the party would attend to their concerns and recommendations: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>beneficiation of raw materials </p></li>
<li><p>reindustrialisation of the economy </p></li>
<li><p>the energy crisis</p></li>
<li><p>the climate crisis</p></li>
<li><p>the quality of public services. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>These items are already on the ANC’s policy programme being implemented in government. So if the party had been more astute, the January 8 statement could have indicated, especially to its younger constituency, what would be done differently this time round. As it is, these items also feature high on the list of priorities of other political parties, including those formed in recent months.</p>
<h2>Bravado amid disillusionment</h2>
<p>The ANC, through its January 8 statement, put on a show of bravado. However, it would be foolhardy of it to ignore the fact that the political terrain has shifted.</p>
<p>Even long-serving members within its ranks have become disillusioned with the party, as evidenced by the recent <a href="https://www.politicsweb.co.za/documents/why-i-am-resigning-from-the-anc--mavuso-msimang">resignation of ANC veteran Mavuso Msimang</a>, who later retracted his decision. Not all of these can be labelled rogue ex-members. In any case it is just posturing for the ANC to claim that it is and has been the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-anc-insists-its-still-a-political-vanguard-this-is-what-ails-democracy-in-south-africa-141938">only vehicle</a> through which citizens can express their political agency. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-anc-insists-its-still-a-political-vanguard-this-is-what-ails-democracy-in-south-africa-141938">The ANC insists it's still a political vanguard: this is what ails democracy in South Africa</a>
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<p>The ANC leans heavily on its liberation movement brand. But this will not necessarily be a determining factor in who will sway voters later this year. Many see the ANC as having brought the country <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2023-03-01-the-anc-has-mastered-the-art-of-demolition-not-building/">to the brink of failure</a>. Others see its policies as centrist and <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-anc-isnt-ready-to-radically-transform-the-south-african-economy-75004">not radical enough</a>.</p>
<p>The governing party has only a few months in which to persuade voters to give it yet another chance to govern South Africa. It won’t be easy.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221125/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sandy Africa does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The ANC leans heavily on its liberation movement brand. But this will not necessarily be a determining factor in who will sway voters later this year.Sandy Africa, Associate Professor, Political Sciences, and Deputy Dean Teaching and Learning (Humanities), University of PretoriaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2146922024-01-08T13:35:06Z2024-01-08T13:35:06ZFrom South Asia to Mexico, from slave to spiritual icon, this woman’s life is a snapshot of Spain’s colonization – and the Pacific slave trade history that books often leave out<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/567986/original/file-20240105-21-aftxx8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=26%2C291%2C2583%2C3402&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Catarina was revered in Puebla, Mexico – but devotion to her attracted Catholic authorities' disapproval after her death.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Image from the collections of the Biblioteca Nacional de España</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Jan. 5, 2024, marked 336 years since the passing of an extraordinary woman you have probably never heard of: Catarina de San Juan.</p>
<p>Her life reads like an epic. Born in South Asia during the early 17th century, she was captured by the Portuguese at age 8 and sold to Spaniards in the Philippines. Spanish merchants then <a href="https://historicas.unam.mx/publicaciones/publicadigital/libros/prodigios_catarina/tomo01.html">traded her across the Pacific to Mexico</a>, where she became a free woman and a spiritual icon, famous in the city of Puebla for her devotion to Catholicism. As <a href="https://as.tufts.edu/history/people/faculty/diego-luis">a scholar of colonial Latin America</a>, I believe she deserves to become a household name for anyone with even a passing interest in Asian American history or the history of slavery.</p>
<p>Catarina was one of the first Asians in the Americas – a focus of <a href="https://facultyprofiles.tufts.edu/diego-luis/publications">my historical research</a>, and <a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674271784">the title of my recent book</a> – and arrived through a little-known slave trade that crossed the Pacific Ocean. In colonial Mexico, she lived in the “<a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/23055341?seq=1">nideaquínideallá</a>,” the “neither-from-here-nor-from-there”: a valley between acceptance and foreignness, an in-between state familiar to many migrants today.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A faded brown and tan map showing the Americas, Pacific Ocean and East and Southeast Asia." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568051/original/file-20240105-17-np0o2t.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568051/original/file-20240105-17-np0o2t.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=287&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568051/original/file-20240105-17-np0o2t.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=287&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568051/original/file-20240105-17-np0o2t.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=287&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568051/original/file-20240105-17-np0o2t.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=361&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568051/original/file-20240105-17-np0o2t.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=361&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568051/original/file-20240105-17-np0o2t.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=361&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A map of ship routes across the Spanish Empire by 16th century cartographer Juan Lopez de Velasco.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://jcb.lunaimaging.com/luna/servlet/detail/JCBMAPS~1~1~1100~102700001:-Demarcacion-y-nauegaciones-de-Yndi?qvq=q:juan%20lopez%20de%20velasco;lc:JCBMAPS~1~1,JCB~3~3,JCBBOOKS~1~1,JCBMAPS~3~3,JCBMAPS~2~2,JCB~1~1&mi=35&trs=56">Courtesy of the John Carter Brown Library</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The Life of Catarina</h2>
<p>The particulars of Catarina’s journey are quite unfamiliar, even for those who study the history of slavery. </p>
<p>Most people have heard of the <a href="https://www.slavevoyages.org/">transatlantic slave trade</a>, which lasted from the early 16th century to the mid- to late 19th century. It was responsible for the violent displacement of some 12.5 million Africans to the Americas.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/asian-slaves-in-colonial-mexico/1136CF8D42E50A4F5BA6DF10C091F6ED">transpacific slave trade</a>, on the other hand, remains largely unknown. From the late 16th to early 18th centuries, Spaniards forced some <a href="https://libros.colmex.mx/tienda/la-migracion-asiatica-en-el-virreinato-de-la-nueva-espana-un-proceso-de-globalizacion-1565-1700/">8,000-10,000 captives</a> onto rickety galleons, where they would endure a six-month odyssey from the Philippines to Mexico. The enslaved captives came from South, Southeast and East Asia, as well as East Africa. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/567787/original/file-20240103-15-qqsxu6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A faded illustration of a green area by the sea, with a larger tree in the right foreground." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/567787/original/file-20240103-15-qqsxu6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/567787/original/file-20240103-15-qqsxu6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567787/original/file-20240103-15-qqsxu6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567787/original/file-20240103-15-qqsxu6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567787/original/file-20240103-15-qqsxu6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=669&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567787/original/file-20240103-15-qqsxu6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=669&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567787/original/file-20240103-15-qqsxu6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=669&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A painting of Acapulco port in present-day Mexico, where many ships carrying slaves landed, in 1628.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Puerto_de_Acapulco_Boot_1628.png">Adrian Boot/Benson Latin American Collection, University of Texas at Austin/Wikimedia</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>After her capture, Catarina – whose name at birth was Mirra – <a href="https://historicas.unam.mx/publicaciones/publicadigital/libros/prodigios_catarina/tomo01.html">was taken to Kochi, India</a>, where she was baptized and received her Christian name. Later, in Manila, a young Spaniard stabbed and beat her within an inch of her life when she refused his advances. In her words, “Only the divine majesty knows what I went through.”</p>
<p>She only ended up on a galleon destined for Mexico because Captain Miguel de Sosa desired the service of a “chinita,” or little Asian girl. Yet he quickly realized that Catarina had uncommon virtues when she showed little regard for money or objects of material value. Sosa freed Catarina in his will.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/567782/original/file-20240103-29-y1kbqs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A white stone church tower against an azure sky." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/567782/original/file-20240103-29-y1kbqs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/567782/original/file-20240103-29-y1kbqs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=957&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567782/original/file-20240103-29-y1kbqs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=957&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567782/original/file-20240103-29-y1kbqs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=957&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567782/original/file-20240103-29-y1kbqs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1203&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567782/original/file-20240103-29-y1kbqs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1203&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567782/original/file-20240103-29-y1kbqs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1203&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Catarina’s burial place in Puebla, Mexico.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/fa%C3%A7ade-tower-church-of-la-compania-puebla-mexico-royalty-free-image/1207400074?phrase=catarina+de+san+juan&searchscope=image%2Cfilm&adppopup=true">bpperry/iStock via Getty Images Plus</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For the next six decades, she led a life of social isolation, abstinence, humility and rejection of material pleasures – what her admirers saw as an exemplary life of holy Catholic suffering. She lived entirely on charitable offerings and, according to <a href="https://repositorio.unam.mx/contenidos/compendio-de-la-vida-y-virtudes-de-la-venerable-catharina-de-san-juan-36?c=4yKEMp&d=false&q=*:*&i=1&v=1&t=search_0&as=0">one Jesuit observer</a>, wore only a “dark, wool dress” with “the crudest, the coarsest” cloak. Her modest lodgings were “filled with filthy critters.” </p>
<p>And she prayed. She prayed for water in drought, for Indigenous people dying of famine and disease, for ships lost at sea, for travelers braving the roads. She prayed for those who needed help the most.</p>
<p>Even as Catarina gained renown, some Spaniards questioned the sincerity of her devotion. Throughout Catarina’s life, detractors described her as a “trickster,” “a witch,” “untamed” and “unknowable,” while Spanish allies viewed her as evidence that all the world could be converted to Catholicism.</p>
<p>The Catholic priest who regularly heard her confessions was a Jesuit named Alonso Ramos. After Catarina died, he authored an enormous <a href="https://historicas.unam.mx/publicaciones/publicadigital/libros/prodigios_catarina/tomo01.html">three-volume biography</a> of her life, the longest text ever published in colonial Mexico. </p>
<p>Ramos turned an unlikely subject – a formerly enslaved South Asian woman – into a superhero of the colonial world. Catarina’s portrait, which appeared in Ramos’ first volume, became <a href="https://academic.oup.com/book/25562">a popular relic</a>, and followers in Puebla converted her humble bedroom into an altar where Catholics could pray for her divine favor.</p>
<h2>Historical amnesia</h2>
<p>Why, then, do few people know about Catarina today?</p>
<p>The answer is twofold. First, <a href="https://historicas.unam.mx/publicaciones/publicadigital/libros/prodigios_catarina/tomo01.html">Ramos’ text</a> was considered controversial outside of Puebla because it depicted Catarina with powers reserved only for God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. He describes her announcing prophecies, performing miracles, traveling in her dreams and regularly conversing with Jesus, whom she considered her celestial husband. </p>
<p>In short, Ramos had committed blasphemy. The <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195157239.003.0003">Inquisitions of Spain and Mexico</a> censored and burned his volumes shortly after publication. Inquisitors ended all devotion to Catarina’s image and took down the makeshift altar in her room.</p>
<p>Over time, the memory of the real Catarina morphed into something entirely different. Spaniards sometimes called her a “china,” the word colonists in Mexico used to refer to <a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674271784">any Asian subject</a>. Today, though, the phrase “china poblana” – the Asian woman from Puebla – refers to <a href="https://theautry.org/exhibitions/story-china-poblana">a popular, coquettish style of Mexican dress</a>, with a patterned skirt, white blouse and shawl. </p>
<p>Virtually nothing about Catarina’s life has been preserved in the modern “china poblana,” which was invented in the 19th century. In fact, it connotes sexual confidence and national pride, two concepts that Catarina would have likely rejected.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/567775/original/file-20240103-25-yu1gq8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A painting of three women in full, brightly colored skirts standing by a doorway, as a man leans over on the side." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/567775/original/file-20240103-25-yu1gq8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/567775/original/file-20240103-25-yu1gq8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=433&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567775/original/file-20240103-25-yu1gq8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=433&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567775/original/file-20240103-25-yu1gq8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=433&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567775/original/file-20240103-25-yu1gq8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=544&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567775/original/file-20240103-25-yu1gq8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=544&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567775/original/file-20240103-25-yu1gq8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=544&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘Poblanas,’ by Carl Nebel.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Poblanas.jpg">María del Carmen Vázquez Mantecón/Wikimedia</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Second, the field of Asian American history has been hesitant to peer south of the U.S. border, despite several <a href="https://uncpress.org/book/9780807854488/at-americas-gates/">noteworthy efforts</a>. Many people in the U.S. remain unaware that many Asian people live in Latin America and the Caribbean – indeed, that they have lived there for centuries longer than in the United States. Asians had been <a href="https://aeon.co/essays/asians-were-visiting-the-west-coast-of-america-in-1587">coming and going from the Americas</a> for over 200 years by the time the U.S. Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776.</p>
<p>Today, significant Asian populations inhabit nearly all Latin American and Caribbean nations, mostly due to later waves of immigration <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/OBO/9780199730414-0294">and indentured servitude</a>. Brazil hosts the largest number of Japanese and Japanese descendants outside of Japan at around <a href="https://www.mofa.go.jp/region/latin/brazil/data.html">2 million</a>, and <a href="https://uncpress.org/book/9781469607139/chinese-cubans/">the Chinatown in Havana, Cuba</a>, was once the largest in the Americas. Indo-Caribbean people are the first- or second-largest group on many Caribbean islands, including Trinidad and Tobago and Grenada.</p>
<p>Catarina de San Juan and the first Asians in the Americas challenge the traditional timeline and geography of Asian American history. Their stories also capture what many people who end up in the Americas have faced: the trauma of displacement.</p>
<p>As Catarina coped with the harsh realities of her new life, she once <a href="https://historicas.unam.mx/publicaciones/publicadigital/libros/prodigios_catarina/tomo01.html">told Ramos</a> that she frequently saw her parents in her spiritual visions. Sometimes, they were in purgatory, where Catholics believe their souls are purified before they can enter heaven. However, she most often envisioned them coming “in the company of the ship from the Philippines to the port of Acapulco, from where, on their knees, they came into my presence.” </p>
<p>Her pain and longing for a stolen family, a lost youth and a hazily remembered homeland were those of generations of Asian captives taken to the Americas. I believe that her extraordinary life merits long-overdue recognition.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214692/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Diego Javier Luis does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Accounts of Asian American history often stop at the US border, but Asians were living in Latin America for centuries before the Declaration of Independence.Diego Javier Luis, Assistant Professor of History, Tufts UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2162812023-12-27T11:11:04Z2023-12-27T11:11:04ZAn African history of cannabis offers fascinating and heartbreaking insights – an expert explains<p>When I tell people that I research cannabis, I sometimes receive a furtive gesture that implies and presumes: “We’re both stoners!”, as if two members of a secret society have met. </p>
<p>Other times, I receive looks of concern. “You don’t want to be known as the guy who studies marijuana,” a professional colleague once counselled. Lastly, some respond with blank stares: “Why do academics spend time on such frivolous topics?” </p>
<p>I’ve learned that all these attitudes reflect ignorance about the plant, which few people have learned about except through popular media or their own experiences with it.</p>
<p>I <a href="https://www.dukeupress.edu/Assets/PubMaterials/978-1-4780-0394-6_601.pdf">study cannabis</a>, but I’m more broadly interested in how people and plants interact. I’ve studied plants from perspectives ranging between ecology and cultural history, including <a href="https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?taxon_id=192935">obscure plants</a> and more widely known ones, such as the <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1365-2699.2007.01751.x">African baobab</a>. </p>
<p>Cannabis is in another category, being one of the world’s most famous and widespread plants. Yet it’s the one for which people most commonly question my research motivations.</p>
<p>Cannabis has a truly global history associated with a wide range of uses and meanings. The plant evolved in central Asia millions of years ago. Across Eurasia, humans began using cannabis seeds and fibre more than 12,000 years ago, and by 5,000 years ago, people in south Asia had learned to use cannabis as an edible drug. It arrived in east Africa over 1,000 years ago. </p>
<p>Cannabis has been under global prohibition for most of the last century, which has stunted understanding of the people-plant relationship. Africa, Africans and people of the African diaspora have had crucial roles in the plant’s history that are mostly forgotten. </p>
<p>I want people to learn about cannabis history for four reasons. First, understanding its historical uses can help identify potential new uses. Second, understanding why people have valued cannabis can improve how current societies manage it. Third, understanding how people have used cannabis illuminates African influences on global culture. Finally, understanding how people are profiting from cannabis exposes inequities within the global economy.</p>
<h2>Medicinal potential</h2>
<p>The African history of cannabis highlights its medicinal potential, a <a href="https://theconversation.com/cannabis-policy-changes-in-africa-are-welcome-but-small-producers-are-the-losers-179681">topic of growing interest</a>. </p>
<p>Advocates of medical cannabis often justify their interest by telling tales of the plant’s past. Yet the tales they tell – notably in medical journals – have been problematic. They are only about social <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/1606635031000135604">elites</a> and are mostly untrue. </p>
<p>The African past is absent from this medical literature, even though historical observers reported how Africans used cannabis in contexts that justify current interest in its medicinal potential. </p>
<p>For instance, in the 1840s, <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=oYUVAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA437&dq=great+promoter+of+exhilaration+of+spirits,+and+a+sovereign+remedy+against+all+complaints&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi65on7l4WCAxX0KFkFHbwjBb4Q6AF6BAgGEAI#v=onepage&q=exhilaration%20of%20spirits&f=false">a British physician reported</a> that central African people liberated from slave ships considered the plant drug </p>
<blockquote>
<p>a great promoter of exhilaration of spirits, and a sovereign remedy against all complaints. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>These were emaciated, traumatised survivors. Their experience justifies <a href="https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/can.2020.0056">exploring cannabis as a potential treatment</a> for post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and other conditions.</p>
<h2>Exploitative labour</h2>
<p>We need to understand why people value cannabis to identify and address <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0955395902000828">social processes that may produce drug use</a>. </p>
<p>Africans have <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-16-8822-5_10">valued cannabis</a> for centuries, though it’s difficult to know all the uses it had, because most weren’t documented. Despite its limits, the historical record clearly shows that people used cannabis as a stimulant and painkiller in association with hard labour. </p>
<p>Many European travellers observed their porters smoking cannabis before setting off each day. A <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=IMwNAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA257&dq=affirm+that+it+wakes+them+up+and+warms+their+bodies,+so+that+they+are+ready+to+start+up+with+alacrity&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjlre3am4WCAxWVEGIAHfJZAmQQ6AF6BAgQEAI#v=onepage&q=alacrity&f=false">Portuguese in Angola stated</a> that the porters: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>affirm that it wakes them up and warms their bodies, so that they are ready to start up with alacrity.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Because labourers valued cannabis, many overseers did too. </p>
<p>Cannabis drug use remains associated with social marginalisation in contexts from <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15332640.2017.1300972">Morocco</a> to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0955395918300124">Nigeria</a>. </p>
<p>The pan-African experience suggests using it is not a moral failing of users but is – at least in part – symptomatic of exploitation and <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1467-9566.13244">inequity</a>. </p>
<h2>Africa’s place in global culture</h2>
<p>I also study cannabis to understand how African knowledge has shaped global culture. Cannabis travelled as an <a href="https://www.proquest.com/docview/2568024731?pq-origsite=gscholar&fromopenview=true">element of exploitative labour relationships</a> that carried people around the world, including chattel slavery, indentured service and wage slavery. There is strong evidence that <a href="https://www.dukeupress.edu/the-african-roots-of-marijuana">psychoactive cannabis crossed the Atlantic with Africans</a>. </p>
<p>Oral histories from Brazil, Jamaica, Liberia and Sierra Leone tell that enslaved central Africans carried cannabis. In 1840s Gabon, a <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=ewUBImRf6IMC&pg=PA420&dq=%22intending+to+plant+them+in+the+country+to+which+he+should+be+sold%22&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjbzsOhn4WCAxW5F1kFHZw1Bv0Q6AF6BAgLEAI#v=onepage&q=%22intending%20to%20plant%20them%20in%20the%20country%20to%20which%20he%20should%20be%20sold%22&f=false">French-American traveller observed</a> a man </p>
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<p>carefully preserving (seeds), intending to plant them in the country to which he should be sold. </p>
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<p>The people who transported seeds shaped our modern language. Around the Atlantic, many terms for cannabis trace to central Africa, including the global word marijuana, derived from Kimbundu <em>mariamba</em>. </p>
<p>Further, the most common modern use of cannabis – as a smoked drug – was an African innovation. Prehistoric people in eastern Africa <a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/719224">invented smoking pipes</a>. After the plant arrived from south Asia, eastern Africans discovered that smoking was a more efficient way to consume cannabis compared with edible forms of the drug. Notably, all water pipes – hookahs, bongs, shishas and so on – trace ultimately to African precedents. </p>
<h2>Drug policy reforms</h2>
<p>Finally, understanding the plant’s African past illuminates inequities within the global economy. </p>
<p>Drug policy reforms worldwide have opened lucrative, legal markets for cannabis. Businesses are feverishly competing for wealth, and governments are eagerly seeking new revenue sources. The rush to profit has enabled businesses from wealthy countries <a href="https://journals.openedition.org/echogeo/17599">to gain power in poorer countries</a>. </p>
<p>Most African countries that have enacted drug-policy reforms – notable exceptions being South Africa and Morocco – did so only after foreign businesses paid for cannabis farming licences. These had always been possible under existing laws, though the governments had never made them available. </p>
<p>These drug-policy reforms don’t meaningfully extend to citizens of African countries. Licensing fees are either unknown or unaffordable for most citizens of the countries that have allowed commercial farming, including Zimbabwe, Uganda, Lesotho, Malawi, Eswatini and the Democratic Republic of Congo. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/cannabis-policy-changes-in-africa-are-welcome-but-small-producers-are-the-losers-179681">Cannabis policy changes in Africa are welcome. But small producers are the losers</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<p>The countries that have allowed licensed production <a href="https://www.newsday.co.zw/southerneye/2014/03/30/binga-villagers-want-freedom-use-mbanje">still prohibit</a> traditional cannabis uses. Even as export markets grow, African citizens <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-46288374">face criminal consequences</a> for domestic production. </p>
<p>Cannabis-policy reforms in Africa have mostly benefited investors and consumers in wealthy countries, not Africans, a <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/48519445">textbook example of neocolonialism</a>. Further, profitable industries in Europe and North America <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13562576.2016.1138674">rely on seed taken from Africa</a>, where cannabis genetic diversity is high thanks to farmers’ plant-breeding skills. </p>
<p>Cannabis is the centre of industries that generate billions of dollars annually. Increasingly, this income is legal. History shows that African countries have competitive advantages for cannabis farming. Reforms should <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-16-8778-5_10">enable Africans to enjoy these advantages</a>.</p>
<h2>Way forward</h2>
<p>Globally, many societies are recognising that criminalising cannabis <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09687637.2021.1972936">has produced problems and has not eliminated drug use</a>. Some African countries are <a href="https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/can.2021.0110">developing cannabis-policy reforms</a> that include decriminalisation and degrees of legalisation. African (and non-African) societies must address <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ediomo-Ubong-Nelson/publication/355507767_Between_Prohibition_and_Regulation_Narrative_Analysis_of_Cannabis_Policy_Debate_in_Africa/links/61767ccb0be8ec17a92a1ab6/Between-Prohibition-and-Regulation-Narrative-Analysis-of-Cannabis-Policy-Debate-in-Africa.pdf">complex questions in evaluating cannabis policies</a>. </p>
<p>In any case, the plant’s African past provides insight into both long-term and emerging issues in humanity’s interactions with cannabis. This is why I study African cannabis.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/216281/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chris S. Duvall does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The plant’s African past provides insight into emerging issues in humanity’s interactions with cannabis.Chris S. Duvall, Professor of Geography, University of New MexicoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2197812023-12-19T19:33:29Z2023-12-19T19:33:29ZJoel Roberts Poinsett: Namesake of the poinsettia, enslaver, secret agent and perpetrator of the ‘Trail of Tears’<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566077/original/file-20231215-25-a398jx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1023%2C80%2C4967%2C3907&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Joel Roberts Poinsett is given credit for bringing the popular red and green plant to the U.S.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/close-up-of-poinsettia-flower-royalty-free-image/1188012230?phrase=poinsettia&adppopup=true">Constantine Johnny/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>If people know the name Joel Roberts Poinsett today, it is likely because of the <a href="https://www.postandcourier.com/features/poinsettias-christmas-classic-south-carolina-history/article_47939016-8dfb-11ee-9a7f-0b56456cf49b.html">red and green poinsettia</a> plant.</p>
<p>In the late 1820s, while serving as the first ambassador from the U.S. to Mexico, Poinsett clipped samples of the plant known in Spanish as the “flor de nochebuena,” or flower of Christmas Eve, from the Mexican state of Guerrero. He then <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/12/23/conspiracy-fueled-origin-christmas-poinsettia/">introduced it</a> to the U.S. on a trip home from Mexico.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2021/12/poinsettia-how-a-u-s-diplomat-made-a-mexican-flower-an-international-favorite/">plant has been named poinsettia</a> ever since. </p>
<p>But much like the history of the U.S., Poinsett had a complex and troubling past. </p>
<p>An ambitious politician, financial investor and enslaver, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Joel-R-Poinsett">Poinsett was a secret agent</a> for the U.S. government in South America who fought for the Chilean army against Spain during Chile’s War for Independence in the early 1800s. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="A white man is wearing a cloak on his shoulders as he poses for a black-and-white portrait." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566089/original/file-20231215-16097-flqh2m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566089/original/file-20231215-16097-flqh2m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=817&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566089/original/file-20231215-16097-flqh2m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=817&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566089/original/file-20231215-16097-flqh2m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=817&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566089/original/file-20231215-16097-flqh2m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1026&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566089/original/file-20231215-16097-flqh2m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1026&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566089/original/file-20231215-16097-flqh2m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1026&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Joel Roberts Poinsett served as U.S. secretary of war from 1837 to 1841.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/poinsett-secretary-of-war-news-photo/1371420766?adppopup=true">HUM Images/Getty Images</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>A confidant of President Andrew Jackson, Poinsett also served as U.S. secretary of war under President Martin Van Buren and oversaw the ignominy of the <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4h1567.html">Trail of Tears</a>, the forced relocation and deadly march of Cherokee people from the South to reservations in the West during the 1830s.</p>
<p>And yet Poinsett, an avid botanist who brought scores of other plants to the U.S., also helped found an organization that led to the creation of the <a href="https://www.si.edu/about">Smithsonian Institution</a>.</p>
<h2>A privileged life</h2>
<p>I came across his history almost by accident. I am a historian of capitalism in early America, and while I was on a research fellowship for my first book, “<a href="https://www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/12030/manufacturing-advantage">Manufacturing Advantage: War, the State, and the Origins of American Industry</a>,” another researcher suggested I go to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania to check out the papers of a few War Department officials. Poinsett was one of those officials. </p>
<p>There, I found a large collection of his letters and other personal papers that spanned five decades of his life. I became so fascinated with his life that I decided to write a book about him. <a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/F/bo206811148.html">I detail</a> his complicated life in another book, “Flowers, Guns, and Money: Joel Roberts Poinsett and the Paradoxes of American Patriotism.”</p>
<p>Born and raised in Charleston, South Carolina, on March 2, 1779, Poinsett was the son of a wealthy doctor and lived a life of privilege. He traveled throughout Europe and Russia in his early 20s before starting a military career.</p>
<p>In the 1810s, Poinsett traveled around South America as a secret agent of the U.S. State Department. His intelligence reports led in part to the drafting of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Monroe-Doctrine">Monroe Doctrine</a>. </p>
<p>That doctrine, written by Secretary of State <a href="https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-resources/spotlight-primary-source/monroe-doctrine-1823">John Adams</a> and buried in <a href="https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/monroe-doctrine#:%7E:text=President%20James%20Monroe's%201823%20annual,nations%20of%20the%20Western%20Hemisphere.">President James Monroe’s address</a> to Congress on Dec. 2, 1823, sought to prevent European colonization in South America and, in essence, claimed the entire Western Hemisphere for the U.S. </p>
<p>The doctrine also set the stage for two centuries of rocky relations between the U.S and Latin America.</p>
<p>In 1825, the Monroe administration appointed Poinsett as the <a href="https://diplomacy.state.gov/events-listing/minister-poinsett/">nation’s first ambassador</a> to Mexico. He arrived there in the spring of that year and almost immediately instigated a general distrust of American interference. He used his connections to secure favorable plots of land for himself and his friends and established <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/3338598">a U.S.-based mining company</a> to exploit Mexican resources for his own benefit.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An America soldier stands behind a fence with his thumb on his nose as two soldiers try to climb over the obstacle." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566401/original/file-20231218-19-k36ngi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566401/original/file-20231218-19-k36ngi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566401/original/file-20231218-19-k36ngi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566401/original/file-20231218-19-k36ngi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566401/original/file-20231218-19-k36ngi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=542&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566401/original/file-20231218-19-k36ngi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=542&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566401/original/file-20231218-19-k36ngi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=542&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">A 1902 caricature of England and Germany trying to overcome the Monroe Doctrine.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/caricature-of-england-and-germany-responding-to-the-news-photo/3305759?adppopup=true">Hulton Archive/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It was on a trip to assess the profitability of some mines, in fact, that Poinsett admired the red and green plant and cut clippings to send to horticulturalists in the U.S. Exactly where and how these clippings were made and sent is not quite clear, but he remarked on the beauty of the plants he saw, which Franciscan friars in Mexico had been displaying at Christmas since the 1600s. </p>
<p>Several prominent horticulturalists in the United States later reported that <a href="https://www.axios.com/2022/12/13/poinsettia-flower-christmas-holiday-sales-history">Poinsett sent them plant samples</a>. By the mid-1830s, agricultural reports described a plant with brilliant scarlet foliage, “lately referred to as the poinsettia,” as having been introduced by Poinsett in 1828. </p>
<h2>Poinsett’s Latin America meddling</h2>
<p>That same year, Poinsett also supported a coup in Mexico City. </p>
<p>During the Mexican presidential campaign in 1829, Poinsett supported <a href="https://www.mexconnect.com/articles/268-vicente-guerrero-a-study-in-triumph-and-tragedy-1782-1831/">Vicente Guerrero</a>, whom he saw as more amenable to his and U.S. financial interests. When Guerrero lost to moderate <a href="https://www.caller.com/story/news/columnists/2017/07/31/presidents-mexican-texas-1824-1836/526986001/">Manuel Gómez Pedraza</a>, Guerrero staged a coup with Poinsett’s approval that forced Gómez Pedraza to flee Mexico.</p>
<p>Because of Poinsett’s poor conduct during the election, the Mexican government requested Poinsett’s removal from his post. President Andrew Jackson instead <a href="https://www.stateoftheunionhistory.com/2018/10/1829-andrew-jackson-recalling-joel.html">allowed Poinsett</a> to resign.</p>
<p>Poinsett left Mexico and went back home to South Carolina.</p>
<p>On Oct. 24, 1833, at 54 years old, Poinsett married a 52-year-old, wealthy widow from South Carolina who owned a rice plantation and almost 100 enslaved people. </p>
<p>Though he wrote that he enjoyed married plantation life, he was not done with politics or the military. </p>
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<img alt="A gray-haired white man sits in a chair with his right hand underneath his dark jacket." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566398/original/file-20231218-23-uqnnpb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566398/original/file-20231218-23-uqnnpb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=833&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566398/original/file-20231218-23-uqnnpb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=833&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566398/original/file-20231218-23-uqnnpb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=833&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566398/original/file-20231218-23-uqnnpb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1047&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566398/original/file-20231218-23-uqnnpb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1047&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566398/original/file-20231218-23-uqnnpb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1047&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">A portrait of Andrew Jackson in 1830.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/andrew-jackson-the-8th-president-of-the-united-states-news-photo/3087913?adppopup=true">MPI/Getty Images</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>In 1837, Poinsett was named U.S. secretary of war and oversaw the execution of Jackson’s <a href="https://history.state.gov/milestones/1830-1860/indian-treaties">1830 Indian Removal Act</a> that the Cherokee people referred to as the <a href="https://www.nps.gov/articles/trailoftears.htm#:%7E:text=Guided%20by%20policies%20favored%20by,Southeast%20in%20the%20early%201800s.">Trail of Tears</a>. That act saw the violent displacement of members of the Cherokee, Muscogee, Seminole, Chickasaw and Choctaw nations from their homelands in the South to reservations in the West.</p>
<h2>The creation of the Smithsonian</h2>
<p>Based on his travels and experiences around the world, Poinsett believed that the U.S. should have a national museum to conduct scientific research and display the expanding government collections, including plant specimens. </p>
<p>In his retirement, Poinsett <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/a-smithsonian-holiday-story-joel-poinsett-and-the-poinsettia-3081111/">helped found</a> in 1840 and became president of the <a href="https://siarchives.si.edu/collections/siris_arc_217217">National Institute for the Promotion of Science and the Useful Arts</a>.</p>
<p>That organization <a href="https://siarchives.si.edu/collections/siris_sic_469">later became part of</a> the Smithsonian Institution, whose gardens now showcase thousands of poinsettias during the Christmas season. </p>
<p>Poinsett died on Dec. 12, 1851.</p>
<p>It remains unclear how long the plant that bears his name will remain known as the poinsettia. After years of controversy, the American Ornithological Society announced that it was going to remove all human names from as many as <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-dozens-of-north-american-bird-species-are-getting-new-names-every-name-tells-a-story-217886">152 bird species</a>, including those linked to people with racist histories or people who have done violence to Indigenous communities. </p>
<p>Though no attempts as yet have emerged to rename plants, it’s my belief that Poinsett’s poinsettia may be the first.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/219781/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lindsay Schakenbach Regele receives funding from Miami University and the Kluge Center.</span></em></p>Much like the history of the US, Joel Roberts Poinsett, after whom the poinsettia is named, had a complicated and troubling history.Lindsay Schakenbach Regele, Assistant Professor of History, Miami UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2192672023-12-18T16:17:09Z2023-12-18T16:17:09ZHow a Victorian trip to Palestine spurred modern ornithology – and left it with imperial baggage<p>Palestine’s natural splendour offered a landscape ripe for scientific “discovery”, description and expropriation by European imperial powers in the 19th century. And in the 1860s an English vicar named <a href="https://www.sacristy.co.uk/books/history/henry-baker-tristram-ornithology#">Henry Baker Tristram</a> claimed its birds. </p>
<p>Tristram was a co-founder of <a href="https://bou.org.uk/about-the-bou/">Ibis</a>, the ornithology journal published since 1859 by the British Ornithologists’ Union. His articles on Palestinian ornithology began with the first issue, when he contributed a list of birds he’d collected during a brief visit there the previous year. The list included a species previously unknown to western science, which was named in his honour as Tristram’s grackle (now more commonly known as Tristram’s <a href="https://ebird.org/species/trista1?siteLanguage=en_GB">starling</a>). </p>
<p>Tristram made a major contribution to the study of birds. At that time ornithology reflected imperial priorities and was concerned with collecting, describing and mapping. His observations of Palestine’s birds, in particular, laid the groundwork for the modern ornithology of the area. </p>
<p>However, his exploits in Palestine, still honoured in the name “Tristram’s starling”, also show why honorific bird names like this have come under increasing <a href="https://americanornithology.org/about/english-bird-names-project/">scrutiny</a>. </p>
<p>Tristram returned to Palestine for a fuller investigation in 1864. He travelled south from Beirut with a group of fellow naturalists and a large baggage train. The account of his ten-month-long journey was published in 1865 as <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The_Land_of_Israel.html?id=Qd8TAAAAIAAJ&redir_esc=y">The Land of Israel</a>. </p>
<p>This book, and the several <a href="https://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/lookupname?key=Tristram%2C%20H.%20B.%20%28Henry%20Baker%29%2C%201822-1906">others</a> he wrote about Palestine, formed part of a growing wave of popular tourist accounts of the Holy Land. They fed the interest and shaped the perceptions of British readers fascinated by the area’s historical and Biblical remnants, its living inhabitants, and the missionary efforts to achieve conversions to Christianity. </p>
<p>Unusually, Tristram and his companions travelled far off the well-beaten tourist and Christian pilgrimage routes throughout Palestine. The Land of Israel includes detailed descriptions of Palestine’s diverse ethnic groups, their domestic, religious, military and economic traditions and practices, and their relationships with one another. </p>
<h2>Imperialism</h2>
<p>Tristram’s descriptions of Palestine’s people in many ways reflected typical British imperial views of “natives”, not least in his use of the terms “childlike” and “savage”, and his comparison of Bedouins to “red Indians”. His racialising and religious views were also shaped by his inclinations as a natural historian – he categorised those he observed according to type, and deviation from type. </p>
<p>At best, his characterisations are paternalistic; at worst, deeply offensive. The terms “debased” and “degraded” repeat often. Of one group near Jericho he writes: “I never saw such vacant, sensual, and debased features in any group of human beings of the type and form of whites”. </p>
<p>Of some Bedouin further south, he observes that “they were all decidedly of the Semitic type, and, excepting the colour and the smell, had nothing of the negro about them. They must, however, be far inferior to the races they have supplanted.”</p>
<p>Occasionally, he acknowledges Ottoman oppression and neglect as the cause of poverty, but in most cases links it to “Moslem fanaticism” and “Oriental indolence”. Although there are exceptions, Muslim settlements and their inhabitants are almost invariably “filthy”, “squalid” and “miserable”. </p>
<p>Of religious sites, he notes many instances of churches which have been “perverted” into mosques. One of his most offensive observations is of a Bedouin sheikh, Abu Dahuk: “like all his followers, he is very dark – not so black as the commonalty, but of a deep olive brown. This may partly arise from the habit of these people, who never wash. They occasionally take off their clothes, search them, slaughter their thousands, and air themselves, but never apply water to their persons”. The odour, he remarks, “is unendurable”.</p>
<p>Conversion to Christianity appeared to redeem this degradation. In the Galilee he notes: “Christianity had here, as elsewhere, stamped the place and its substantial houses with a neatness and cleanliness to which the best of Moslem villages are strangers”. </p>
<p>Conversion also seemed to him to transform racial attributes. Of two Protestant converts he observes that “so much had religion and education elevated them, that they seemed of a different race from those around them”. Among Bethlehem’s Christians, he particularly admires “the handsome faces of the men and women, and the wondrous beauty of the children, so fair and European-like”. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="An old brown book cover with the words The Land of Israel." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566291/original/file-20231218-24-apod48.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566291/original/file-20231218-24-apod48.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=846&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566291/original/file-20231218-24-apod48.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=846&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566291/original/file-20231218-24-apod48.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=846&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566291/original/file-20231218-24-apod48.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1063&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566291/original/file-20231218-24-apod48.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1063&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566291/original/file-20231218-24-apod48.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1063&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The cover of Land of Israel 1872 edition.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jasmine Donahaye</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Tristram describes Jewish ethnicity in typical missionary terms. The Jews were a “decayed and scattered people”, with “musty and crumbling learning”. At a Protestant missionary tent in Tiberias he notes that “the Polish Jews, very numerous here, were willing to listen … but the native Jews, with whom were mingled a few Moslems, were occasionally very violent in their expressions”. The Jews, he concludes, “are a stiff-necked race”. </p>
<p>During his months in Palestine in 1864, Tristram shot hundreds of birds for his collection, and shot many more during subsequent visits. His surviving collection in the Liverpool World Museum includes, among others, the original 1858 <a href="https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/stories/whats-type-guide-type-specimens">type specimens</a> of Tristram’s grackle, and 17 Palestine sunbird skins.</p>
<p>Tristram depended on many people – servants, dragomen, muleteers, cooks, collectors and guards – for their expertise, labour and protection, and sometimes even for <a href="https://newwelshreview.com/book/birdsplaining-a-natural-history-by-jasmine-donahaye">saving his life</a>. He also depended on them for help with obtaining specimens. But for that help with collecting he only names one person: “Gemil, with a little training,” he writes, “would soon have made a first-rate collector.”</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-dozens-of-north-american-bird-species-are-getting-new-names-every-name-tells-a-story-217886">Why dozens of North American bird species are getting new names: Every name tells a story</a>
</strong>
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<p>Those British imperial values that coloured Tristram’s view of Palestine’s people enabled him to name and claim its natural resources for western science, and for personal glory. They also gave him licence to propose that the land itself should be claimed: “Either an European protectorate or union with Egypt seems requisite to save Palestine from gradual dissolution,” he remarked, “unless, which seems hopeless, the Arabs can be induced to cultivate the sod.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/219267/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jasmine Donahaye does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>H.B. Tristram was a Victorian clergyman and ornithologist who categorised a list of birds he’d found in Palestine.Jasmine Donahaye, Professor in English Literature and Creative Writing, Swansea UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2178682023-12-14T19:00:58Z2023-12-14T19:00:58ZMutton, an Indigenous woolly dog, died in 1859 − new analysis confirms precolonial lineage of this extinct breed, once kept for their wool<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562497/original/file-20231129-22-cxtdyy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C444%2C2995%2C2883&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Indigenous Coast Salish women wove woolly dogs' fur into blankets.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Artist's reconstruction by Karen Carr</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Dogs have been in the Americas for more than 10,000 years. They were already domesticated when they <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aao4776">came from Eurasia with the first people</a> to reach North America. In the coastal parts of present-day Washington state and southwestern British Columbia, archaeologists have found dog remains dating back as far as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaa.2020.101209">about 5,000 years ago</a>.</p>
<p>Dogs performed many different roles in North American Indigenous communities, including transportation, that in other parts of the world were done by multiple other domestic animals. </p>
<p>Prior to the arrival of Europeans, the <a href="https://www.burkemuseum.org/collections-and-research/culture/contemporary-culture/coast-salish-art/coast-salish-people">Indigenous Coast Salish peoples</a> of the Pacific Northwest had traditionally maintained a breed of long-haired dog for the purpose of harvesting their hair, or wool, for textile fibers. Along with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/0305-4403(95)90012-8">alpacas and llamas</a>, these woolly dogs are one of only a few known animals intentionally bred for their fleece in all of the Americas.</p>
<p>But the practice of keeping woolly dogs and weaving textiles made from woolly dog yarn declined throughout the 19th century, and the dogs were considered extinct by the beginning of the 20th century. What had happened to them? </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562505/original/file-20231129-19-wyniuw.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="dog paw on furry pelt with handwritten tag" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562505/original/file-20231129-19-wyniuw.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562505/original/file-20231129-19-wyniuw.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562505/original/file-20231129-19-wyniuw.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562505/original/file-20231129-19-wyniuw.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562505/original/file-20231129-19-wyniuw.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562505/original/file-20231129-19-wyniuw.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562505/original/file-20231129-19-wyniuw.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mutton’s pelt has been preserved at the Smithsonian Institution for more than 160 years.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Audrey Lin</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Today, the only confirmed woolly dog specimen is “Mutton,” whose pelt has been housed <a href="http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/3299968b9-99b2-4db0-9aee-b8ee388fcb57">in the Smithsonian’s collection</a> since his death in 1859. In life, this “Indian dog” was the companion of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Gibbs_(ethnologist)">George Gibbs</a>, a naturalist working on the Northwest Boundary Survey expedition to map out British Columbia and the American Pacific Northwest. In death, Mutton offered the opportunity to learn more about woolly dog ancestry, selection and management.</p>
<p>We are <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=th7mXK0AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">an archaeologist</a>, an <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=5sYVrEsAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">evolutionary molecular biologist</a> and a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=G5OGkjUAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">molecular anthropologist</a> who are part of a large research team. It’s important to note that although we collaborated with a number of Indigenous people on our study, the scientists, including the three of us, are not Indigenous. Alongside historical documents and interviews of Coast Salish elders, knowledge keepers, weavers and artists, our team utilized “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/faf.12516">Two-Eyed Seeing</a>” – viewing the world through the combined strengths of Indigenous knowledge and western science – to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adi6549">bring Mutton’s story and legacy back to life</a>.</p>
<h2>A prestigious part of Indigenous culture</h2>
<p>Prior to the arrival of Europeans, there were <a href="https://archpress.lib.sfu.ca/index.php/archpress/catalog/download/52/23/1900?inline=1">several types of dogs</a> in the Pacific Northwest: larger “village” dogs and hunting dogs and smaller <a href="https://hakaimagazine.com/features/the-dogs-that-grew-wool-and-the-people-who-love-them/">woolly dogs</a>, kept separately to prevent interbreeding. Woolly dogs were a little larger than the modern <a href="https://www.akc.org/dog-breeds/american-eskimo-dog/">American Eskimo dog breed</a> and had curled tails, pricked ears and a pointed foxlike face. Instead of barking, they howled. </p>
<p>Traditionally, only high-status Coast Salish women were allowed to keep woolly dogs, and a woman’s individual wealth could be measured by how many she had. Blankets woven of dog hair, often mixed with hair from mountain goats and waterfowl or plant fibers, were important trade and gift items.</p>
<p>Historians and economists, looking back, first claimed the disappearance of the woolly dog breed was the result of simple capitalist forces: The availability of cheap manufactured blankets offered by businesses like the <a href="https://www.hbcheritage.ca/things/fashion-pop/hbc-point-blanket">Hudson’s Bay Company</a> meant the Coast Salish didn’t need to make their own blankets. Why go through the immense time and labor in keeping wool dogs and crafting blankets in the traditional way when you could just buy a machine-woven blanket? </p>
<p>But the Coast Salish don’t agree. <a href="https://vanmuralfest.ca/blog/debra-sparrow">Debra qwasen Sparrow</a>, a master weaver of the <a href="https://www.musqueam.bc.ca/">Musqueam Nation</a>, explained to us, “The blankets really tell a story of our history, our families, the way in which they identified in the communities, (they’re) all reflected in the blankets.”</p>
<p>And Coast Salish people say they would never have willingly parted with their beloved canine friends. The simple economic explanation ignores the massive role colonialism played in the demise of the woolly dogs. Repressive government policies <a href="https://www.washington.edu/uwired/outreach/cspn/Website/Classroom%20Materials/Pacific%20Northwest%20History/Lessons/Lesson%2012/12.html">tried to control and subdue</a> <a href="https://www.kitsapsun.com/story/news/2022/05/12/indian-boarding-schools-operated-washington-state-interior-department-deb-haaland/9749676002/">Indigenous cultural practices</a>.</p>
<p>“They were told they couldn’t do their cultural things. There was the police, the Indian agent and the priests,” <a href="https://www.stolonation.bc.ca">Stó:lō Nation</a> elder Xweliqwiya Rena Point Bolton told our research team. “The dogs were not allowed. (My grandmother) had to get rid of the dogs. And so the family never ever saw them.”</p>
<p>Eventually, there were no more Coast Salish woolly dogs.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565318/original/file-20231212-23-cut1vu.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="pelt fur-side down on a paper-covered table" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565318/original/file-20231212-23-cut1vu.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565318/original/file-20231212-23-cut1vu.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565318/original/file-20231212-23-cut1vu.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565318/original/file-20231212-23-cut1vu.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565318/original/file-20231212-23-cut1vu.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565318/original/file-20231212-23-cut1vu.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565318/original/file-20231212-23-cut1vu.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Researchers used a portable X-ray fluorescence analyzer as part of their investigation of Mutton’s remains.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Audrey Lin</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Piecing together a picture of Mutton’s life</h2>
<p>We did have access to Mutton’s pelt, though, which had been archived for more than 160 years. No one knows exactly how Gibbs initially acquired Mutton, but it’s likely he got the dog while working with local communities in <a href="https://www.stolonation.bc.ca/">Stó:lō territory</a> in present-day British Columbia. Using modern techniques, we set out to answer questions about Mutton’s breed and ancestry.</p>
<p>First we used <a href="https://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/the-use-of-stable-isotopes-in-the-96648168/">stable isotope analysis</a>, a chemical analysis of once-living tissues, to understand more about Mutton’s environment when he was alive: what kinds of foods he ate and the state of his health.</p>
<p>Interviews of the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adi6549">elders and knowledge keepers confirmed</a> that the woolly dog diet was very different from village dogs, including special foods that kept the dogs healthy and their coats shiny. For example, salmon, elk or certain local plants would be set aside for the woolly dogs. </p>
<p>The stable isotope values of Mutton’s fur suggested he’d been eating maize for some time, but less and less up to the point when he died. The <a href="https://www.trafford.com/en/bookstore/bookdetails/407988-Joseph-S-Harris-and-the-U-S-Northwest-Boundary-Survey-1857-1861">letters of one expedition member</a> imply they were running low on cornmeal and supplementing their imported supplies by trading with locals. Although <a href="https://siarchives.si.edu/sites/all/modules/sia/sia_mirador/mirador/mirador_player3?manifest=https://iiif.si.edu/manifests/siarchives/SIA-007209_B01_F02_MODSI1328.json">Gibbs noted in his journal</a> that Mutton was ill before he died, there was no isotopic evidence to support chronic illness; Mutton may have become sick quickly.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565265/original/file-20231212-23-zikxpo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Scientist with blue gloves uses a tool to lift a bit of hair from the pelt" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565265/original/file-20231212-23-zikxpo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565265/original/file-20231212-23-zikxpo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565265/original/file-20231212-23-zikxpo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565265/original/file-20231212-23-zikxpo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565265/original/file-20231212-23-zikxpo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565265/original/file-20231212-23-zikxpo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565265/original/file-20231212-23-zikxpo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Chris Stantis carefully removes a minimal sample from Mutton’s pelt for further analyses.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Hsiao-Lei Liu</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Next, we turned to genetic analysis for insight into the dog’s ancestry to understand long-term management of this breed. We sequenced Mutton’s DNA and compared it with a contemporaneous village dog that was killed by the explorers in an unknown village in the Pacific Northwest. We also compared Mutton’s DNA with a genetic panel of many other modern and ancient dogs.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adi6549">We found that Mutton</a> is a rare example of an Indigenous North American dog with precolonial ancestry who lived well after the arrival of white settlers. Using a dataset of mitochondrial genomes from Mutton and more than 200 ancient and modern dogs, we made an elaborate family tree. Called a <a href="http://dunnlab.org/phylogenetic_biology/phylogenies-and-time.html">time-calibrated phylogenetic tree</a>, it creates a diagram of the evolution of Mutton’s maternal lineage.</p>
<p>Based on the tree, we estimate that Mutton’s most recent common ancestor diverged from one other ancient dog from British Columbia between 1,800 and 4,800 years ago, corresponding with the known archaeological record. In other words, Mutton’s woolly dog lineage has been isolated from other dogs for millennia.</p>
<p>We see evidence of inbreeding in Mutton’s genome that can result only from careful long-term selective breed management. We identified variants of genes associated with hair and skin, including KRT77 and KANK2, which are linked to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1136/jmedgenet-2014-102346">woolly hair in humans</a>. </p>
<p>However, Mutton lived during a very volatile <a href="https://www.nps.gov/places/the-fraser-river-gold-rush.htm">time period</a>. For example, in 1858 more than 33,000 miners flooded into present-day British Columbia in <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/fraser-river-gold-rush">search of gold</a>. This influx left its mark in Mutton’s DNA, and we found that about one eighth of his genome – representating about one great-grandparent’s worth of DNA – came from settler-introduced European dogs. </p>
<p>Finally, we worked closely with a <a href="https://www.karencarr.com/">scientific artist</a>, using archaeological dog bones and Mutton’s pelt, to reconstruct what these dogs looked like in life with scientific accuracy.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562506/original/file-20231129-21-3c76dg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="zig-zag patterened blanket with fringe on three sides" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562506/original/file-20231129-21-3c76dg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562506/original/file-20231129-21-3c76dg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=433&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562506/original/file-20231129-21-3c76dg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=433&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562506/original/file-20231129-21-3c76dg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=433&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562506/original/file-20231129-21-3c76dg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=544&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562506/original/file-20231129-21-3c76dg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=544&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562506/original/file-20231129-21-3c76dg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=544&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Coast Salish classic-style blanket, which has woolly dog hair in the warp fibers that were stretched across the loom. Accessioned 1838-1842.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">USNM E2124, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What this woolly dog confirms about the past</h2>
<p>With Mutton’s pelt, our team wove together these different ways of exploring the many lives of Mutton – his ancestry as an Indigenous dog, his life traveling with white settlers, and finally his time in the Smithsonian Institution.</p>
<p>Mutton is the latest dog we’re aware of with that much precolonial dog ancestry. European colonization was devastating to Indigenous people in North America. The fact that Mutton carries as much Indigenous dog DNA as he does is a testament to the care that Coast Salish people took to keep the woolly dog tradition alive.</p>
<p>Our Coast Salish weaving collaborators are very keen to learn more about how traditional blankets housed in museum collections are made – to inform efforts to revive complex techniques and better understand the unique materials used. With Mutton’s genetic sequencing, future researchers may be able to identify dog hair in heritage woven materials. Some Coast Salish would like to see the woolly dogs return to their families once again. There’s currently no way to bring back the original woolly dogs, such as by cloning Mutton, because his DNA is far too degraded after more than 160 years. But a new kind of woolly dog could be created in the future through <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/selective-breeding">selective breeding</a> and care.</p>
<p>“But the thing that’s most important (is) that (the) wool dog created a gift to produce and to make something, to create something, to bring something alive,” Michael Pavel, elder of the <a href="https://skokomish.org/culture-and-history/">Twana/Skokomish Tribe</a>, told us. “Let’s do that. Let’s bring that back to life. … The wool dog is still very much a part of our life.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/217868/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Dogs have lived with Indigenous Americans since before they came to the continent together 10,000 years ago. A new analysis reveals the lineage of one 1800s ‘woolly dog’ from the Pacific Northwest.Audrey T. Lin, Research Associate in Anthropology, Smithsonian InstitutionChris Stantis, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Geology and Geophysics, University of UtahLogan Kistler, Curator of Archaeobotany and Archaeogenomics, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian InstitutionLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2188782023-12-11T13:13:40Z2023-12-11T13:13:40ZThe Napoléon that Ridley Scott and Hollywood won’t let you see<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/564552/original/file-20231208-29-g15j8g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=4%2C6%2C1388%2C1023&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The 1802 Battle of Crête-à-Pierrot was part of Napoléon's effort to retake Haiti − then known as Saint-Domingue − and reestablish slavery in the colony.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c0/Haitian_Revolution.jpg">Wikimedia Commons</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Critics have been raking Ridley Scott’s new movie about Napoléon Bonaparte over the coals for its many <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/us/heres-why-historians-are-not-a-fan-of-ridley-scotts-napoleon/articleshow/105540885.cms">historical inaccuracies</a>.</p>
<p>As a scholar of French colonialism and slavery who studies <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/tropics-of-haiti-9781781381854">historical fiction</a>, or the fictionalization of real events, I was much less bothered by most of the liberties taken in “Napoleon” – although shooting cannons at the pyramids <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/22/science/napoleon-movie-ridley-scott-egypt-pyramid.html">did seem like one indulgence too far</a>. </p>
<p>I have <a href="https://www.upress.virginia.edu/title/5292/">argued elsewhere</a> that historical fictions need not necessarily be judged by adherence to facts. Instead, inventiveness, creativity, ideology and, ultimately, storytelling power are what matter most.</p>
<p>But in lieu of offering a fresh and imaginative take on Napoléon, Scott’s film rehearsed the well-known <a href="https://www.euronews.com/culture/2023/12/04/battle-of-austerlitz-reenactment-draws-record-numbers-of-participants">battles of Austerlitz</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Wagram">Wagram</a> and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/24/world/europe/200-years-after-battle-some-hard-feelings-remain.html">Waterloo</a>, while erasing perhaps the most momentous – and consequential – of Bonaparte’s military campaigns. </p>
<p>As with <a href="https://collider.com/great-napoleon-movies/#39-love-and-death-39-1975">every other Napoléon movie</a>, Scott’s version will leave viewers with no understanding of the <a href="https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/roundtable/all-devils-are-here">genocidal war to restore slavery</a> that Bonaparte waged against Black revolutionaries in the French colony of Saint-Domingue – what’s known as Haiti today. </p>
<p>To me, leaving out this history is akin to making a movie about Hitler without mentioning the Holocaust. </p>
<h2>‘I am for the whites, because I am white’</h2>
<p>France’s seemingly eternal on-again, off-again war with Great Britain did not change the immediate boundaries of either country. These wars were often fought over land in the American hemisphere and included a historic contest over Martinique, a small island in the Caribbean, whose fate had far-reaching repercussions for slavery.</p>
<p>In 1794, following three years of slave rebellions in Saint-Domingue – events now known as <a href="https://theconversation.com/inside-the-kingdom-of-haiti-the-wakanda-of-the-western-hemisphere-108250">the Haitian Revolution</a> – the French government <a href="https://revolution.chnm.org/d/291">abolished slavery</a> in all French overseas territories. </p>
<p>Martinique, however, was not included: The French had recently lost the island to the British <a href="https://www.historytoday.com/archive/martinique-british-occupation-1794-1802">in battle</a>.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/L_Europe_pendant_le_consulat_et_l_empire/9MROAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=RA1-PA234&printsec=frontcover">a 1799 speech to the French government</a>, Bonaparte explained that if he had been in Martinique at the time the French lost the colony, he would have been on the side of the British – because they never dared to abolish slavery. </p>
<p>“I am for the whites, because I am white,” Bonaparte said. “I have no other reason, and this is the right one. How could anyone have granted freedom to Africans, to men who had no civilization.” </p>
<p>Once he rose to power, Bonaparte signed the 1802 <a href="https://www.historytoday.com/archive/months-past/treaty-amiens">Treaty of Amiens</a> with the British, which returned Martinique to French rule. Afterward, he passed a law permitting slavery to continue in Martinique. And in <a href="https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%A9tablissement_de_l%27esclavage_par_Napol%C3%A9on_Bonaparte">July 1802</a>, Bonaparte formally reinstated slavery on Guadeloupe, another French colony in the Caribbean. Slavery then persisted in France’s overseas empire until 1848, long after his death in 1821.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, in Saint-Domingue, Bonaparte <a href="https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k62963447/f210.item">authorized</a> his <a href="https://unsansculotte.files.wordpress.com/2019/11/repression_revolt_and_racial_politics_ma.pdf">generals</a> to <a href="http://www.manioc.org/gsdl/collect/patrimon/tmp/NAN13043.html">eliminate the majority</a> of the adult Black population, and he signed a law to <a href="https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k62963462/f457.image">reinstate the slave trade</a> to the island.</p>
<h2>A Black general’s rise</h2>
<p>For the mission to succeed, Bonaparte’s troops would have to contend with a formerly enslaved man called <a href="https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/loverture-toussaint-1743-1803/">Toussaint Louverture</a>, who had become a prominent leader during the early years of the Haitian Revolution. </p>
<p>After general emancipation, when the Black population had become citizens – rather than slaves – of France, Louverture joined the French army. He went on to play a key role in helping France combat and eventually defeat Spanish and British forces, who had since invaded the colony in an attempt to take it over.</p>
<p>Recognizing his military prowess, the French consistently promoted Louverture until he became the second Black general in a French army – after <a href="https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/people-global-african-history/dumas-thomas-alexandre-1762-1806/">General Thomas-Alexandre Dumas</a>, father of the famous French novelist Alexandre Dumas. (Thomas-Alexandre Dumas incidentally appears in the film as a character with a nonspeaking part.) </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/564546/original/file-20231208-18-oomc5h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Illustration of Black man dressed in military regalia opposite a man in religious garb. They are surrounded by soldiers and citizens, and a god-like figure looks over them from the clouds." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/564546/original/file-20231208-18-oomc5h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/564546/original/file-20231208-18-oomc5h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=779&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564546/original/file-20231208-18-oomc5h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=779&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564546/original/file-20231208-18-oomc5h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=779&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564546/original/file-20231208-18-oomc5h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=979&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564546/original/file-20231208-18-oomc5h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=979&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564546/original/file-20231208-18-oomc5h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=979&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A print of Toussaint Louverture holding a copy of the Constitution of 1801.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.loc.gov/resource/ppmsca.31021/">Library of Congress</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In 1801, as a testament to his growing authority, Louverture issued a <a href="https://www.marxists.org/history/haiti/1801/constitution.htm">famous constitution</a> that appointed him governor-general of the whole island. Yet he still professed fealty to France even as the colony became semi-autonomous. </p>
<p>By then, however, Bonaparte had assumed power as first consul of France – and had made it his mission to “<a href="https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k62963462/f330.image">annihilate the government of the Blacks</a>” in Saint-Domingue so he could bring back slavery.</p>
<p>In January 1802, Bonaparte sent his brother-in-law Charles Victor Emmanuel Leclerc to Saint-Domingue with tens of thousands of French troops. </p>
<p><a href="https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k62963462/f424.image">Bonaparte’s instructions</a>? </p>
<p>Arrest Louverture and reinstate slavery. </p>
<h2>The fall of Louverture</h2>
<p>One of the film’s writers, <a href="https://www.indiewire.com/awards/consider-this/ridley-scott-napoleon-writer-david-scarpa-true-false-1234931486/#:%7E:text=There's%20a%20dangerous%20allure%20to,affair%20with%20his%20wife%2C%20right%3F">David Scarpa</a>, said Napoléon represents for him “the classic example of the benevolent dictator.” </p>
<p>If that Napoléon ever did exist, Louverture never met him.</p>
<p>In June 1802, Napoléon’s army arrested Louverture and deported him to France. As Louverture wasted away in a French prison, Bonaparte refused to put Louverture on trial. Throughout his incarceration, the guards at the jail denied Louverture food, water, heat and medical care. Louverture subsequently <a href="https://www.historytoday.com/archive/feature/wrongful-death-toussaint-louverture#:%7E:text=On%20the%20morning%20of%207,captive%20for%20nearly%20eight%20months.">starved and froze to death</a>.</p>
<p>With Louverture gone, Napoléon’s army operated with more bloodlust than ever before. In addition to conventional weapons, his troops fought the freedom fighters with <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/An_Historical_Account_of_the_Black_Empir/CTpAAAAAcAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22assumed+a+complexion+more+sanguinary+and+terrible+than+can+be+conceived+among+civilized+people%22&pg=PA326&printsec=frontcover">floating gas chambers</a>, <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Literary_Magazine_and_American_Regis/9BwAAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%E2%80%9CSeven+or+eight+hundred+blacks,+and+men+of+colour,+were+seized+upon+in+the+streets,+in+the+public+places,+in+the+very+houses%22&pg=PA447&printsec=frontcover">mass drownings</a> and <a href="https://www.sas.upenn.edu/%7Ecavitch/pdf-library/Johnson_dogs_and_torture.pdf">dog attacks</a> – all in the name of restoring slavery.</p>
<p>The Black freedom fighters, now calling themselves the armée indigène, led by Haiti’s founder <a href="https://theconversation.com/meet-haitis-founding-father-whose-black-revolution-was-too-radical-for-thomas-jefferson-101963">General Jean-Jacques Dessalines</a>, definitively defeated French forces in the historic <a href="https://ageofrevolution.org/200-object/the-battle-of-vertieres/">Battle of Vertières</a> on Nov. 18, 1803. On Jan. 1, 1804, they <a href="https://haitidoi.com/doi/#:%7E:text=IT%20is%20not%20enough%20to,act%20of%20national%20authority%2C%20to">officially declared independence</a> from France and changed the name of the island to Haiti.</p>
<h2>‘A fatal move’</h2>
<p>If the filmmakers had included Napoléon’s failed mission to restore slavery in Saint-Domingue, it could have served as a propitious moment to tie the movie back to one of its only coherent arcs: Napoléon’s undying love for <a href="https://www.history.com/news/napoleon-josephine-bonaparte-love-story-marriage-divorce">Joséphine de Beauharnais</a>, his first wife.</p>
<p>In one memorable scene in the film, Joséphine tells Bonaparte that he is nothing without her, and he agrees.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Painting of woman with short brown hair wearing two necklackes and a white ruffled blouse." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/564547/original/file-20231208-29-3a2n46.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/564547/original/file-20231208-29-3a2n46.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=738&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564547/original/file-20231208-29-3a2n46.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=738&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564547/original/file-20231208-29-3a2n46.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=738&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564547/original/file-20231208-29-3a2n46.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=928&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564547/original/file-20231208-29-3a2n46.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=928&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564547/original/file-20231208-29-3a2n46.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=928&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Joséphine de Beauharnais advised Napoléon to let Saint-Domingue operate as a semi-autonomous colony.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/Jos%C3%A9phine_de_Beauharnais_vers_1809_Gros.jpg">Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>However, Joséphine’s posthumously published memoir suggests that Bonaparte disregarded his wife’s most prescient counsel. Joséphine wrote that she urged her husband not to send an expedition to Saint-Domingue, prophesying this as a “fatal move” that “would forever take this beautiful colony away from France.” She <a href="https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k9636609r/f112.image">advised Bonaparte</a>, alternatively, to “keep Toussaint Louverture there. That is the man required to govern the Blacks.” </p>
<p>She subsequently asked him, “What complaints could you have against this leader of the Blacks? He has always maintained correspondence with you; he has done even more, he has given you, in some sense, his children for hostages.” </p>
<p>Louverture’s children had attended Paris’ storied <a href="https://www.persee.fr/doc/dhs_0070-6760_2000_num_32_1_2364">Collège de la Marche</a>, alongside the children of other prominent Black Saint-Domingue officials. Although Bonaparte ended up sending Louverture’s children back to the colony with Leclerc, another Black general from Saint-Domingue who fought to oppose slavery’s reinstatement was not so lucky. </p>
<p>Just before Bonaparte’s troops began their genocidal war in the name of restoring slavery, Haiti’s future king, <a href="https://aeon.co/essays/the-king-of-haiti-and-the-dilemmas-of-freedom-in-a-colonised-world">General Henry Christophe</a>, sent his son, François Ferdinand, to the Collège de la Marche. </p>
<p>After the Haitian revolutionaries defeated France and declared the island independent in 1804, Bonaparte ordered the school closed. Many of its Black students, like young Ferdinand, were then thrown into orphanages. The abandoned child <a href="https://archive.org/details/rflexionspolitiq00vast/page/6/mode/2up?q=Ferdinand">died alone in July 1805</a> at the age of 11.</p>
<p>Only at the end of his life, during his second exile on the remote island of St. Helena, did Napoléon express remorse for any of this. </p>
<p>“I can only reproach myself for the attempt on that colony,” the <a href="https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b4710580&seq=533&q1=Toussaint">defunct emperor</a> said. “I should have contented myself with governing it through Toussaint.”</p>
<h2>A missed opportunity</h2>
<p>By including some of this rich material, Ridley Scott could have made a truly original film with historical and contemporary relevance. </p>
<p>After all, Napoléon’s history of trying to stop the Haitian Revolution – the most significant revolution for freedom the modern world has ever seen – has never been depicted on a Hollywood screen.</p>
<p>Instead, hiding behind beautiful cinematography, magnificent costuming and Vanessa Kirby’s masterful portrayal of Joséphine, Scott ultimately produced an unimaginative film about the already well-trodden military successes and failures of the man depicted as having literally crowned himself France’s emperor.</p>
<p>If “Napoleon” doesn’t exactly glorify its main subject, its creators certainly seemed to sympathize with the man whose wars were responsible for more than 3,000,000 deaths, as the film’s final caption reads. </p>
<p>The film did not say whether that number includes the tens of thousands of Black people Napoléon’s army killed in Saint-Domingue.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/218878/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marlene Daut does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Leaving out the history of Napoléon’s brutal subjugation of Haiti is akin to making a movie about Hitler without mentioning the Holocaust.Marlene Daut, Professor of French and African American Studies, Yale UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.