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The article is titled “As Canada is threatened, it’s urgent to revisit Indigenous sovereignty and nationhood.” It was originally published on April 8, 2025 and is authored by Frank Deer, Professor, Faculty of Education, University of Manitoba.

Early in his second term as president of the United States, Donald Trump began making explicit threats about Canada becoming the 51st American state.
In the midst of his absurd and at times disrespectful rhetoric that’s also included a proposal to acquire Greenland and the Gaza Strip, some have argued Trump’s interest in annexing Canada is an imperialistic impulse.
As a Kanienʼkehá꞉ka educator concerned with Indigenous language education, civic education and reconciliation, I believe it’s important to explore how Canadians should think about Indigenous nationhood with Canada’s sovereignty under threat. I also believe a U.S. annexation of Canada would be devastating for Indigenous Peoples.
Re-asserting Canadian nationhood amid threats
Trump has stated that Canada can be annexed through economic force while others have speculated a military invasion may be part of this conquest attempt.
Although Trump’s threats against Canada seem ludicrous, many Canadians are taking them seriously and regard the ongoing imperialist rhetoric as a threat to Canadian sovereignty.
Canadian politicians, public intellectuals and members of the public have reacted strongly to this threat in ways that assert Canadian nationhood, sovereignty and identity. Some suggest a sense of national unity has been stoked in Canada for the first time in generations.
However, that sense of unity that many may be feeling in Canada — and could affect how Canadians cast their votes in the forthcoming federal election — conceals the realities of nationhood in Canada. There are several aspects of nationhood in Canada that may merit conversation in terms of unity and the current American threats. But I’m particularly concerned that the nationhood that exists among First Nations, Inuit and Métis may be particularly threatened by an American annexation.
Indigenous Peoples
Canada is a nation state that occupies the traditional territories of many Indigenous nations, representing a broad diversity of cultural and language backgrounds. The Indigenous Peoples of these nations had served as stewards of the territories of North America far longer than the European colonizers who eventually seized control of the territories.
Many of the Canadian government’s colonial and post-colonial activities, abetted by their partners (for example, churches of various denominations), were genocidal in nature.
These colonial actions resulted in Indigenous communities becoming constituent parts of one unified nation — Canada. Very little public discourse acknowledges that Indigenous Peoples had already established their own concepts of nation and nationhood. These were displaced by those who established control of the territories.
Indigenous nationhood
Indigenous nations have and continue to regard their communal connections and responsibilities through Indigenous nationhood.
There are various key aspects of Indigenous nationhood: sociologist Stephen Cornell, who has worked with Indigenous nations and organizations in North America, Australia and New Zealand, observes five of them, including connections to the land, kinship and community, narratives and history associated with the land and culture, self-governance and collective well-being.
For example, many Anishinaabe consider nationhood as being built on stories and traditions and shaped by relationships and communities. Views like these are enriched by the diversity among Indigenous Peoples.
The Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) people share many stories, traditions and language that inform their concept of nationhood and their treaty arrangements (such as the Kaswentha). But the Haudenosaunee also consist of different Indigenous nations — including my own, the Kanienʼkehá꞉ka — with each having their own unique manifestations of Indigenous knowledge, heritage and consciousness.
These different nations functioned in tandem with one another by forming allyships and sharing land.
Canada not a single, homogenous nation
Colonialist incursions by French, British and, later, Canadian authorities have disrupted how Indigenous notions of nationhood may be understood by Canadians.
In ignoring aspects of Indigenous nationhood by exploiting land, dividing families and communities, reconstructing historical narratives, stymying self-governance and emphasizing individual well-being over the collective, the notion of Indigenous nationhood has been marginalized in mainstream public consciousness in Canada.
Instead, the prevailing notion is that Canada is a single and somewhat homogenous nation. This might sound desirable to some and even idyllic, but it’s a myth.
Legal implications, reconciliation journey
What does Indigenous nationhood have to do with an American president’s threats to Canadian sovereignty?
Indigenous nationhood has not just been a part of Indigenous consciousness and ways of life for centuries, but is now closely tied to established and developing legal and constitutional principles in Canada.
These principles are now, after generations of oversight and subjugation, finally allowing Indigenous nations to explore and enact approaches to self-determination and self-governance.
Trump’s threats imply that existing Canadian legal and constitutional frames would be abolished. They also suggest that the cultural and linguistic mores of Indigenous nations would be endangered even more than they have already been. The reconciliation journey — one that has been informed by the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada — would almost certainly be abandoned.
Treaty relations and 51st state?
More specific concerns about nationhood emerging from Trump’s threats are connected to particular Indigenous nations. For instance, many First Nations have treaty relations with the Crown.
These treaties codify the relationship that these First Nations have with the government of Canada. There is a lot of work being done to better understand treaties in modern times. Treaty arrangements and ongoing efforts to better understand them would be terminated should Canada become the 51st American state.
Much has been achieved by Indigenous Peoples — sometimes in partnership with non-Indigenous people — to enhance their well-being and their place in the world to determine their way forward.
There is, of course, a lot of work still to be done. Poverty, for example, is still widespread among Indigenous Peoples, the languages and cultures of many are endangered and Indigenous women and girls continue to be treated horrifically. But the journey of Indigenous nations toward well-being and self-determination has led to achievements that can make Indigenous Peoples proud.
Would this journey continue as a 51st state? I have my doubts.

As Canada is threatened, it’s urgent to revisit Indigenous sovereignty and nationhood

April 8, 2025 • My Project Name

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