Unbuilt Environments and the Place of Settler Colonial Communications: A Case Study of Nineteenth-Century Medicine Hat

Abstract

Background: Though initial construction began on a colonial boarding school for Indigenous students, known as an Indian boarding school, in Medicine Hat in 1890, the school never ended up opening due to underfunding by the federal government. Analysis: Informed by Indigenous studies scholarship on place and media, this article uncovers archival traces of this unbuilt environment to reveal how white settlers used newspapers as well as visual media to will the school into being, particularly with techniques of re-placement on stolen Indigenous land. Conclusion and implications: This article connects the history of the school that never opened with the present day, insisting on the ongoingness of settler colonial tactics in media.