In this unit we will explore the underlying social relations that shape technology development in Canada. We consider both historical and contemporary contexts, since they both hold implications in the ways that technologies are created, diffused, accessed, managed, and used.
We focus on the historical conditions leading to settler colonialism in Canada. Relationships established long ago in the past continue to impact our lives today.
We began with a question: Who are the Indigenous peoples living in what is now Canada?
The 1996 Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples stated that:
“Canadians need to understand that Aboriginal peoples are nations. That is, they are political and cultural groups with values and lifeways distinct from those of other Canadians. They lived as nations – highly centralized, loosely federated, or small and clan-based – for thousands of years before the arrival of Europeans. As nations, they forged trade and military alliances among themselves and with the new arrivals.”
The Assembly of First Nations (AFN), a national political group representing more than 600 elected Chiefs in Canada, presents a declaration of First Nations.
Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (1996). Ottawa: Government of Canada.