Unsettling settler colonialism: The discourse and politics of settlers, and solidarity with Indigenous nations

by Corey Snelgrove, Rita Kaur Dhamoon, and Jeff Corntassel

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Abstract
Our goal in this article is to intervene and disrupt current contentious debates regarding the
predominant lines of inquiry bourgeoning in settler colonial studies, the use of ‘settler’, and the
politics of building solidarities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. Settler colonial
studies, ‘settler’, and solidarity, then, operate as the central themes of this paper. While
somewhat jarring, our assessment of the debates is interspersed with our discussions in their
original form, as we seek to explore possible lines of solidarity, accountability, and relationality
to one another and to decolonization struggles both locally and globally. Our overall conclusion
is that without centering Indigenous peoples’ articulations, without deploying a relational
approach to settler colonial power, and without paying attention to the conditions and
contingency of settler colonialism, studies of settler colonialism and practices of solidarity run
the risk of reifying (and possibly replicating) settler colonial as well as other modes of
domination.