The Laws and the Land

The Laws and the Land Synopsis

A history of Canada's conquest of the Indigenous community of Kahnawà:ke.
 
Canadian settlers expropriated Indigenous lands through the combined might of force and law. Tracing settler efforts to dispossess the Kahnawà:ke nation, The Laws and the Land emphasizes the violent ways settler law clashed with Indigenous law during a series of asymmetrical bouts over land use. Daniel Rück describes the contested path from land-sharing to the colonial imposition of private property as nothing less than an invasion, spearheaded by bureaucrats, politicians, and entrepreneurs. This meticulously researched story of Canadian conquest is deeply connected to larger issues of membership in Indigenous nations, communal versus individual property rights, governance, and inequality.