On October 29, 2021, at 11h00
Organized by the Concordia University Department of History
Dr. Bimadoshka Pucan, History & School of Public Affairs, Concordia University
Dr. Daniel Sims, Associate Professor, Department of First Nations Studies, University of North British Columbia
Dr. David Webster, Associate Professor, History & Global Studies, Bishop’s University
Dr. Catherine Kinewesquao Richardson, First Peoples Studies, School of Community and Public Affairs, Concordia University
The Canadian Historical Association recently issued a Canada Day Statement calling the country’s history of violence against indigenous people “genocide.” The statement also acknowledged that the reluctance of historians to use that term contributed to Canada’s refusal to “come to grips with this country’s history of colonization and dispossession.” Most hailed the statement as an important step toward repair yet others denounced the association’s foray into what they called “activist” & “revisionist” history.
This roundtable asks what critics mean by “activist” and “revisionist” history and how historians can engage with their critics. How might historians, as a profession, contribute to the work of decolonization and how might decolonization, in turn, expand and enhance the profession?