Lives More Recognizable Than Individual: Indigenous Communities in the Face of Pandemics

Abstract

In light of these actions, the pandemic could be perceived as having bolstered the autonomy and jurisdiction of Indigenous governments relative to local municipalities, provinces, and the federal government. [...]these assertions should not be mistaken as a signal that the structures of Indigenous political subordination relative to state power have been, or stand to be, transformed in any significant way. With all eyes attuned to the need for "economic recovery," Indigenous people have predictably been invited to play a role in mainstream postpandemic economic recovery strategies. Any semblance of intergovernmental cooperation between Indigenous and Canadian governments, then, has once again been tethered to Indigenous participation in capitalist economies, which presumes an association between economic development and the transformation of Indigenous political subordination and excludes Indigenous people whose interests do not align with these ideals.