Plundering the North
A History of Settler Colonialism, Corporate Welfare, and Food Insecurity
Overview
The manufacturing of a chronic food crisis
Food insecurity in the North is one of Canada’s most shameful public health and human rights crises. In Plundering the North, Kristin Burnett and Travis Hay examine the disturbing mechanics behind the origins of this crisis: state and corporate intervention in northern Indigenous foodways.
Despite claims to the contrary by governments, the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC), and the contemporary North West Company (NWC), the exorbitant cost of food in the North is neither a naturally occurring phenomenon nor the result of free-market forces. Rather, inflated food prices are the direct result of government policies and corporate monopolies. Using food as a lens to track the institutional presence of the Canadian state in the North, Burnett and Hay chart the social, economic, and political changes that have taken place in northern Ontario since the 1950s. They explore the roles of state food policy and the HBC and NWC in setting up, perpetuating, and profiting from food insecurity while undermining Indigenous food sovereignties and self-determination.
Plundering the North provides fresh insight into Canada’s settler colonial project by re-evaluating northern food policy and laying bare the governmental and corporate processes behind the chronic food insecurity experienced by northern Indigenous communities.
Reviews
“Spanning the late nineteenth century to the current day, Plundering the North provides meticulous detail about the ways in which HBC and NWC operated as agents of the state’s settler-colonial ambitions while the state subsidized the processes and profits of those private corporations. This is a valuable, unique, and timely contribution.”
Elaine Power, Queen's University
"Plundering the North is a powerful and timely examination of a crucial issue. It’s a call to action, urging readers to reconsider prevailing narratives and work towards meaningful change in policies and societal attitudes. Burnett and Hay have provided an essential contribution to the discourse on Indigenous rights, corporate responsibility, and food justice in Northern Canada."
Nada Loughead, Canadian Cookbooks
About the Authors
Table of Contents
Introduction
Chapter One
Settler Colonialism and Indigenous Food Sovereignty:
The Assault on Indigenous Hunting, Fishing, Trapping, and Trading
Chapter Two
Constructing Dependency: The Hudson’s Bay Company Before the Second World War
Chapter Three
“Making Proper Use”: The Family Allowance Program and Forced Purchasing Lists
Chapter Four
“Left at the Trader’s Mercy”: The HBC and the Northern Stores Department
Chapter Five
“Preferred Perishable Foods”: Origins and Outcomes of the Food Mail Program
Chapter Six
“We Blanket the North”: The Expansion of the NWC, 1987–2007
Chapter Seven
“Direct, Effective and Efficient”: Nutrition North Canada and
the Restructuring of Federal Food Subsidy Programs, 2008–2017
Conclusion
Bibliography
Acknowledgements
Index
Related Titles
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I Will Live for Both of Us
A History of Colonialism, Uranium Mining, and Inuit Resistance
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Inventing the Thrifty Gene
The Science of Settler Colonialism
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The Rise and Fall of United Grain Growers
Cooperatives, Market Regulation, and Free Enterprise
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A Land Not Forgotten
Indigenous Food Security and Land-Based Practices in Northern Ontario
