Why Is Anti-Indigenous Racism on the Rise? | The Walrus

The essay documents a resurgence of anti-Indigenous sentiment in Canada, from an anonymous banner in Alberta to the backlash against the 2025 Cowichan Tribes v. Canada ruling, which affirmed Cowichan title over a former village site in Richmond while explicitly coexisting with private property. Despite the Cowichan Nation's repeated statements that it is not pursuing private land claims, politicians and media have cast the ruling as a threat to property rights broadly.

The piece draws a direct line to 1920s federal policy under Duncan Campbell Scott, who sought to dissolve Indigenous distinctiveness through compulsory residential schooling and legal restrictions, arguing that a century later similar grievances are being recycled, including a BC Conservative claim about 'secret' land transfers involving Royal Roads University that predates the provincial rights legislation it's blamed on.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.