Critical Indigenous methodology and the problems of history

A close study of Victoria, British Columbia, in the 1860s demonstrates the power of Critical Indigenous Studies methods to transform our understanding of Indigenous relations to the categorical and spatial constraints colonial regimes sought to enforce. The piece opens by demonstrating the possibilities and limitations of standard social historical methods and of colonial archives, which emphasise the limitations colonial states could impose. In contrast, Critical IndigenousSstudies, the use of Indigenous language sources, and the study relationality allow us to see how Indigenous people exceeded and transgressed the categories and boundaries that colonial power imposed upon them.