Tau(gh)t Subjects: Geographies of Residential Schooling, Colonial Power, and the Failures of Resistance Theory

Abstract

Taking as its starting point intimate colonial geographies lived by First Nations peoples in northern British Columbia, Canada, this chapter argues that theories of resistance do not allow for adequate theorizing of the ways in which Indigenous subjects navigate powerful forces, especially educational ones, that are intent on assimilating and de-Indigenizing them. Schools, classrooms, and the curricula taught within them are conceptualized in this contribution as tense political sites where conflicting modes of knowledge clash and where, ultimately, Indigenous children grapple with (as opposed to simply resist) expressions of (neo)colonial power. This chapter examines historical and contemporary education systems designed with Indigenous peoples in mind and is informed by discussions among human geographers about the discipline’s ontological turn and the need to reinvigorate social justice considerations within research.