Elbows up! But, as a historian, I need to point out that the new "I Am Canadian" video getting a lot of buzz this week quickly glosses over Canada's own history of aggressive colonialism - the kind of antagonism the video challenges - and we should talk about it 🧵 If you don't know what I'm referencing, the "I am Canadian" beer commercial from 25 years ago has been re-made as a defence of Canada in response to Trump's threat of annexing Canada as the 51st state. Have a watch: cbc.ca/news/canada/we…

One of Murray Sinclair's teachings that I've tried to centre in my work, is to put truth before reconciliation and do the hard work to show that residential school denialists are wrong. So, since denialists are trying to misrepresent his legacy, here's how they get it wrong👇🧵 First, that Father Raymond J. de Souza, an ordained Catholic priest and columnist for the National Post, chose to sling mud at Sinclair on the day of his memorial is gross, of course, but unsurprising based on the pattern of his writings.

Pretty wild that, amidst a concerning rise of residential school denialism, this news passed by with little coverage. To ensure this work isn't ignored, here's a 🧵on why this announcement by the Williams Lake First Nation is important and how it can challenge denialism:

https://twitter.com/APTNNews/status/1846627419995730216

Last week, as part of the ongoing work to understand the full truth of the St. Joseph's Residential School, the Williams Lake First Nation announced that at least 55 children died or disappeared, more than 3x the number recorded during the TRC process: globalnews.ca/news/10809465/…

Remarkable that Angus Reid shared a disinformation video re: church arsons and engaged in residential school denialism - and defended it in the same week as Orange Shirt Day - and no media outlets reported the story. He's deleted his account, but let me connect the dots 🧵

The story started when @_llebrun called Reid out for sharing a disinformation video of Trudeau that was doctored to try and shift attention away from talking about residential schools and instead focus on church arsons since 2021:

https://x.com/_llebrun/status/1842687491997864297

I promised to do a residential school denialism wrap-up thread, debriefing and revealing the denialism we saw in September with receipts, so here we go. I hope this is helpful to share etc. Sadly, there is too much to cover, so I’ve limited it to some representative samples 🧵 First, residential school denialism is NOT the denial of the IRS system’s existence. Instead, denialism is a strategy to twist/distort/misrepresent basic facts to shake public confidence in truth and reconciliation and protect Canada’s colonial status quo: theconversation.com/truth-before-r…

Next week is the 3rd anniversary of the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc's announcement re: potential unmarked graves at the Kamloops residential school, and the flurry of residential school denialism has already started. So, here's a 🧵with receipts and resources to hold space for truth. First, residential school denialism is *not* the denial that the IRS system existed but the attempt to twist, distort, or misrepresent basic facts to shake public confidence in truth and reconciliation to protect the colonial status quo. Here's a primer: theconversation.com/truth-before-r…

The National Post's new residential school denialism just dropped. Since it's a weekend oped in a national newspaper, I'll explain why this kind of denialism (complaining about the so-called "blood libel" re: IRS unmarked graves) needs to be directly confronted. Here's a🧵 First, the NP has offered a platform to residential school denialism for years, which, to be clear is not the denial of the IRS system’s existence, but the attempt to twist/misrepresent facts to shake public confidence in truth and reconciliation. See: theconversation.com/truth-before-r…

I engage a lot with Fanon’s work, but had never read A Dying Colonialism until this week. I’m glad I took the time to sit with this book, about Algeria as a French settler colony and the liberation struggle there that started in 1954. Here are some thoughts 🧵 What's interesting is that, after 130 years of colonialism, Fanon offers thoughts about the dying, the withering of settler colonial power in Algeria. There's greater relevance of his ideas today, in the context of the global reckoning with histories of colonialism/slavery.

The story of Pat Morton, the wife of a B.C. mayor who was distributing a residential school denialist book, has more layers. Her son, who employs her at his tax business, is doing damage control online, but conflates denialism with “just asking questions.” This is concerning, 🧵





The son's statement starts by clarifying the situation and distancing his business from the controversy, but then goes downhill, defending his mom. He says "She loves all people from all different backgrounds." This is not reflected on her FB page, which showcases a lot of hate:

What do all of these four people have in common? Answer: they all engage/promote residential school denialism. Here's a 🧵with the receipts. First, residential school denialism is not the denial of the Indian Residential School system’s existence, but rather the rejection or misrepresentation of basic facts about residential schooling to undermine truth and reconciliation efforts. Learn more: theconversation.com/truth-before-r…

New publication 🚨 Reid Gerbrandt and I are pleased to release "Debunking the 'Mass Grave Hoax': A Report on Media Coverage and Residential School Denialism in Canada." Read the full report on @CHRRmanitoba's website: . Here's a 🧵on our key findings: chrr.info/other-resource…
Many people — in Canada and internationally, especially on the far-right — are accepting and promoting a “mass grave hoax” narrative that casts doubt on the searches for missing children and unmarked burials being undertaken by First Nations across Canada.

As folks put away their orange shirts, let's talk about what we can do all year round to help put truth before reconciliation. Listening and learning from Survivors remains the key, but settlers learning how to identify and confront IRS denialism is also part of the "climb"🧵 At the Ottawa #NDTR event on Saturday, the @NCTR_UM called on Canadians to confront the growing trend of IRS denialism but in ways that would not allow denialists to hijack the day. Following the NCTR's lead, I held off on dealing with denialism until now: aptnnews.ca/national-news/…

The shíshálh Nation says ground-penetrating radar has identified what are believed to be 40 unmarked graves of children on or near the site of the former St. Augustine's Residential School. As an IRS historian, here is more information about the school: cbc.ca/news/canada/br… The school, also known as the Sechelt Indian Residential School, was run by the Catholic Church between 1904 and 1975 on the sunshine coast in British Columbia:

🚨APRIL FREE BOOK DRAW 🚨Another month, another draw to win a *free* copy of my new book, Lessons in Legitimacy: Colonialism, Capitalism, and the Rise of State Schooling in BC. To be entered, simply comment below, send me a DM, or contact me through my website (link in bio). The deadline to enter for April's draw is this Sunday, April 23. I’ll contact the winner and send the book in the mail asap.

I've had a lot of requests to share some free and accessible resources that folks can use to help identify and confront the growing phenomenon of residential school denialism as they see it, so here is a 🧵 Back in 2019, Murray Sinclair argued that residential school denialists posed the "biggest barrier to reconciliation" in Canada: aptnnews.ca/national-news/…

Thanks to the overwhelming majority of Twitter users who challenged the Dorchester Review's residential school denialism, a disclaimer is now been attached to the post highlighting the "extensive historical and firsthand evidence" debunking this claim. Here's a🧵 Quickly, denialists deliberately seek to twist or misrepresent basic IRS facts to undermine public confidence in truth and reconciliation. Daniel Heath Justice and I have written this easy to read primer: theconversation.com/truth-before-r…

The Government of Canada unanimously passed a motion on Thursday to recognize residential schooling as genocide. Unsurprisingly, the National Post published an oped today by Chris Dummitt debating the definition of genocide. Here's a thread on how this kind of denialism works🧵: Debating the definition of genocide and trying to narrow it to exclude Canada's IRS system, despite evidence to the contrary, is the #1 denialist talking point Daniel Heath Justice and I outlined in this primer on identifying IRS denialism: theconversation.com/truth-before-r…

Alberta's new premier, Danielle Smith, has faced a lot of criticism for her ignorant and incorrect statements about Russia's war in Ukraine and the pandemic, and she's since apologized. But she also needs to be challenged on her promotion of residential school denialism, a 🧵: The image above was shared with me, and it is verified from Smith's Locals page, a creator platform popular on the right. It was created by Dave Rubin when Jordan Peterson left Patreon re: free speech issues. Subscribers can view content for free, but you must pay to comment.

Can someone please verify this post, shared with me, is officially from Danielle Smith's Locals page (looks to be from - possibly 7 July 2022). This is textbook residential school denialism, which she has previously distanced herself from within the UCP. #DanielleSmith #Abpoli Regardless, @ArchaeoMapper and I have already refuted the claims made above: cbc.ca/news/opinion/o…

I'm very honoured to have won the @CHEA_ACHE Best Article Prize for a piece I published in the @HistEdSocUK journal on Indigenous children attending public schools in British Columbia, 1872-1925. Thanks to my peers for the recognition! #histed Here is the article if you are interested: tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.108…. If you don't have access through your academic/public library, hit me up and I will get you access.

Historian of schooling here: efforts to rebuff anti-racist education are driven by the desire to protect the power/profits of white supremacy in settler capitalist societies like Canada. Treating racism as a bad apple - rather than a systemic problem - protects that system.

https://twitter.com/DrJaredWesley/status/1582144396988145664

Schooling has *never* been just about teaching "literacy, numeracy, and be skills and knowledge based." Never. It has always been, at core, also a tool of socioeconomic legitimization and colonial world-making, as I argue in this @ConversationCA piece: theconversation.com/reckoning-with…