“Presents” for the “Indians”: land, colonialism and accounting in Canada

Abstract

The Oka Crises, Gustafsen Lake, Ipperwash. This last decade of visible confrontations between the Canadian army/police and first nations people have been, and are, about land. Land that the First nations' people claim is rightfully theirs and which the government claims has been appropriately paid for. But what constitutes a purchase, were these exchanges ever completed, and what role(s) did accounting play in not only these particular exchanges but in the process of colonization itself? The current study returns to the 1830–1860 period in an attempt to answer these questions. Starting from a “governmentality” perspective, we argue that accounting discourses and techniques were located within the logic of imperialism and enmeshed within colonial systems of government. More specifically, we observe accounting discourses being used to rationalize colonial relations, and accounting techniques being used as both a general and specific mode of colonial government.