Re-peopling in a settler-colonial context: the intersection of Indigenous laws of adoption with Canadian immigration law

Abstract

This article examines the intersection of Indigenous and Canadian ways of making and maintaining relations through the specific examples of adoption and immigration. Canada and all Indigenous societies assert the authority to re-people themselves. Unlike Canada, Indigenous peoples must do so in the face of ongoing settler colonialism. I argue that Indigenous peoples and nations have authority to regulate these matters under Indigenous laws and systems of treaty relations. However, Canadian laws and policies have served to obscure this authority. I argue that non-metaphorical decolonization requires the continued exercise of Indigenous authority over “peopling” powers. These powers necessarily include authority over adoption at societal, familial, and individual levels via, respectively, ongoing treaty relations and customary membership. Adoption has formed part of this resistance but remains limited by Canadian sovereignty and the state’s assertions of control over borders and immigration.