This December, Dr. Andrew Woolford delivered the Western Canadian Lecture, presented by the University of Alberta’s Department of History, Classics, & Religion.

Dr. Woolford is a prominent scholar in Genocide Studies who has worked on the history of Indian Residential Schools in Canada. His talk was titled: “With intent to destroy a group: Genocide’s past and present in Canada.”

In this episode, Chris and Dylan Hall ask Dr. Woolford about his work, about defining genocide in Canada, and about some of the innovative ways Indigenous scholars and communities are moving beyond settler colonial definitions of group destruction. This interview was recorded the day after the lecture.

If you listen and you find yourself needing support, consider calling the National Indian Residential School Crisis line at 1-866-925-4419. You can also reach the National Indian Residential School Text Line for free by texting 68 68 68. 24/7.

You can also call the Canadian Mental Health Association, toll free, 24/7, at 1-833-456-4566 (In Quebec: 1-866-277-3553) or visit crisisservicescanada.ca.

Andrew Woolford is a professor of sociology and criminology at the University of Manitoba. He’s also a member of the Royal Society of Canada College, and former president of the International Association of Genocide Scholars. In 2015, he published a book called ‘This Benevolent Experiment’: Indigenous Boarding Schools, Genocide and Redress in the United States and Canada. He is also the co-editor of 2021’s Did You See Us? Reunion, Remembrance, and Reclamation at an Urban Indian Residential School, which presents stories from survivors of the Assiniboia Indian Residential School.

Dr. Woolford’s full lecture will be available online through the U of A’s Department of History, Classics, and Religion.

Shoutouts in this episode to ATB Cares and Taproot Edmonton’s The Pulse newsletter.

Further Reading

• “Redress for linguicide: residential schools and assimilation in Canada” by Lorena Fontaine (Liverpoool University Press)
• Broken Circle: The Dark Legacy of Indian Residential Schools by Theodore Fontaine (CBC Books)
• Publications by Glen Coulthard (UBC)
• John Borrows (University of Victoria)
• A short biography of Frantz Fanon (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
• United Nations Office on Genocide