Genocide of indigenous peoples

Part of a series on
Genocide
of indigenous peoples
Issues
Sub-Saharan Africa
Americas (history)
East, South, Southeast Asia
Europe and North Asia
Oceania
West Asia / North Africa
Related topics
Part of a series on
Indigenous rights
Indalo symbol
Rights
Governmental organizations
United Nations initiatives
International Treaties
NGOs and political groups
Issues
Countries
Category

The genocide of indigenous peoples, colonial genocide,[1] or settler genocide[2][3][note 1] is the elimination of indigenous peoples as a part of the process of colonialism.[note 2]

According to certain genocide experts, including Raphael Lemkin – the individual who coined the term genocide – colonization is intrinsically genocidal.[7][8] Lemkin saw genocide via colonialism as a two-stage process: (1) the destruction of the indigenous group's way of life, followed by (2) the settlers' imposition of their way of life on the indigenous group.[9][10] Other scholars view genocide as associated with but distinct from settler colonialism.[4][11] The expansion of various Western European colonial powers such as the British and Spanish empires and the subsequent establishment of colonies on indigenous territories frequently involved acts of genocidal violence against indigenous groups in Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Oceania.[12]

The designation of specific events as genocidal is frequently controversial.[13][14] Raphael Lemkin, who invented the concept of genocide, originally intended a broad definition that encompassed colonial violence, but in order to pass the 1948 Genocide Convention, he narrowed his definition to physical and biological destruction (as opposed to cultural genocide) and added the requirement of genocidal intent.[5] Although some scholars use the Genocide Convention definition,[14] others have "criticized [it] as a highly flawed law for its overemphasis on intent, the imprecision of a key phrase 'destruction in whole or in part,' and the narrow exclusivity of the groups protected"—factors which reduce its applicability to anti-indigenous violence.[5]

  1. ^ Benvenuto, Jeff; Woolford, Andrew; Hinton, Alexander Laban (2014). "Introduction". Colonial Genocide in Indigenous North America. Duke University Press. doi:10.1515/9780822376149-002. ISBN 978-0-8223-7614-9. S2CID 243002850. Archived from the original on 28 May 2022. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  2. ^ Adhikari, Mohamed (2021). Civilian-Driven Violence and the Genocide of Indigenous Peoples in Settler Societies. Routledge. p. Acknowledgements. ISBN 978-1-000-41177-5. Archived from the original on 16 March 2023. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  3. ^ Anderson, E. N.; Anderson, Barbara (2020). Complying with Genocide: The Wolf You Feed. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 12. ISBN 978-1-7936-3460-3. Archived from the original on 16 March 2023. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  4. ^ a b Wolfe, Patrick (1 December 2006). "Settler colonialism and the elimination of the native". Journal of Genocide Research. 8 (4): 387–409. doi:10.1080/14623520601056240. ISSN 1462-3528. S2CID 143873621.
  5. ^ a b c Browning, Christopher R. (2022). "Yehuda Bauer, the Concepts of Holocaust and Genocide, and the Issue of Settler Colonialism". The Journal of Holocaust Research. 36 (1): 30–38. doi:10.1080/25785648.2021.2012985. ISSN 2578-5648. S2CID 246652960. Archived from the original on 28 May 2022. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  6. ^ Maybury-Lewis 2002, p. 45.
  7. ^ Irvin-Erickson, Douglas (2020). "Raphaël Lemkin: Genocide, cultural violence, and community destruction". In Greenland, Fiona; Göçek, Fatma Müge (eds.). Cultural Violence and the Destruction of Human Communities. Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781351267083-3. ISBN 978-1-351-26708-3. S2CID 234701072. In a footnote, he added that genocide could equally be termed 'ethnocide', with the Greek ethno meaning 'nation'.
  8. ^ Short, Damien (2016). Redefining Genocide: Settler Colonialism, Social Death and Ecocide. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 69. ISBN 978-1-84813-546-8. Archived from the original on 16 March 2023. Retrieved 1 June 2022.
  9. ^ Forge 2012, p. 77.
  10. ^ Moses 2004, p. 27.
  11. ^ Maybury-Lewis 2002, p. 48.
  12. ^ Adhikari, Mohamed (2021). "'No Savage Shall Inherit the Land': Civilian-driven Violence in the Making of Settler Genocides". In Adhikari, Mohamed (ed.). Civilian-Driven Violence and the Genocide of Indigenous Peoples in Settler Societies. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-003-01555-0.
  13. ^ Hitchcock & Koperski 2008, pp. 577–82.
  14. ^ a b Novic, Elisa (20 October 2016). "The Concept of Cultural Genocide: A Historical–Legal Perspective". The Concept of Cultural Genocide: An International Law Perspective. Oxford University Press. p. 8. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198787167.003.0002. ISBN 978-0-19-878716-7. Retrieved 17 January 2024. Doctrinal opinions can be split into two categories: those who advocate for a broader understanding of the crime, as Larry May does, and those who consider, on the basis of the 1948 Genocide Convention, that genocide should be thought of exclusively in physical and biological terms while cultural genocide should rather be addressed as a human rights issue, per William A. Schabas.


Cite error: There are <ref group=note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=note}} template (see the help page).