Indigenous Peoples, Settler Colonialism, and the Politics of Reconciliation: A Framework for Studying Media Representations Within the Era of Reconciliation

The Canadian state’s relationship with Indigenous Peoples is arrayed around a series of overlapping and ongoing forms of structural violence intended to secure the political, cultural, legal, and economic supremacy of settler populations over Indigenous lands, communities, and bodies. While profoundly shaped by the logics of settler colonialism, Canada’s relationship with Indigenous Peoples is complex and has evolved considerably over the course of multiple stages of history. Indigenous Peoples residing within the borders of what is currently Canada are characterized by a high degree of socio-political, linguistic, cultural, and geographic diversity. The aim of this chapter is to sketch out some of the broad characteristics of the political relationship between the Canadian settler state and Indigenous Peoples and explore how this relationship has evolved over time in relation to shifting dispositions of the state. This exploration of the Canadian settler state’s evolving relationship with Indigenous Peoples is used to contextualize the theoretical framework introduced in the latter half of the chapter to study news media representations within the era of reconciliation.