“It should be equal across the board”: how treaty opposition among hunters and anglers upholds settler colonialism in Canada

Abstract

ABSTRACT The Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters (OFAH) is an influential organization that has opposed Indigenous peoples’ treaty harvesting rights and land claims for allegedly threatening conservation and egalitarian values. Using data from twenty semi-structured interviews and the OFAH’s official documents, this paper analyses and compares the views on treaty rights between the OFAH leadership and ordinary hunters and fishers inside and outside the organization. Group Position and Colour-Blind Racism theories were used to understand how the meanings and perceived legitimacy of treaty rights are constructed and negotiated, and whether treaty opposition reflects a response to maintain settler-Canadians’ group position. Although nine respondents displayed varying degrees of support for treaty rights, the general pattern showed that both the OFAH and most respondents drew on similar interpretive repertoires to oppose treaty rights. These latter responses reveal a defensive reaction to uphold settler-colonial power, privileges, and access to land and resources.