Interracial Encounters Between Blacks, Whites, and Aboriginals in the 19th Century in British Columbia

• In Event: 28.021 - alterNative Perspectives: Indigenous and Settler Relational Borders

Abstract

This study explores interracial encounters between Blacks, Whites and Aboriginals in British Columbia in the 19th century as pertaining to their racialized, classed and gendered identities. Early Black settlers’ relationships with Whites are examined with regard to the history of white colonialism in British Columbia and the ongoing confiscation of Native land. Therefore, race, racism and colonialism are key categories to explore the power dynamics and complex interracial relations between settlers and natives in British Columbia during the 19th century. This study suggests that the accurate rereading and rewriting of historical realities of Black people who settled in British Columbia demands deconstruction of white supremacist ideologies, including colonization of Indigenous people on their own land.

Author

• Dilek Kayaalp, University of North Florida