Source: Final Practice Examination, UCB
Tags: settler colonialism, Native American, continuum of carcerality, boarding schools, Dawes Act, Major Crimes Act, soul wound, natal alienation, tribal sovereignty, Richard Pratt, kill the Indian, Andrea Smith, three pillars of white supremacy, genocide, colonialism
Native American communities have faced a "continuum of carcerality" running from 19th-century boarding schools through to modern federal jurisdiction over tribal lands. The key argument is that settler colonialism is a structure, not a historical event, and that policies like the Dawes Act and Major Crimes Act were designed to destroy communal identity, strip sovereignty, and funnel Native people into carceral systems. The resulting intergenerational trauma is described as the "soul wound."
Settler colonialism
An ongoing structure of power that defines culture and labour beyond the end of formal colonial administration. It is "a structure, not an event," meaning it did not conclude with independence or the closing of the frontier; it continues to shape Native life today.
Continuum of carcerality
The unbroken line of carceral control over Native communities, from military-run boarding schools to the modern federal prison system. Native peoples have moved from one form of institutional confinement to another without a genuine break.
Boarding schools (as carceral institutions)
Established under the Department of War, these schools were designed to forcibly assimilate Native children. Run by military officers like Richard Henry Pratt, whose stated goal was to "kill the Indian, save the man." They functioned like prisons: windowless rooms, strict punishment, forced labour, and the deliberate severing of children from family, language, and culture.
Dawes Act of 1887
Legislation that enforced individual land allotments and citizenship requirements on Native Americans, dissolving tribal communal land ownership. Its purpose was to destroy shared identity by imposing private property and nuclear family structures, breaking apart the communal basis of Native life.
Major Crimes Act of 1885
Shifted jurisdiction for serious crimes on tribal lands from tribal authorities to the federal judicial system. This stripped tribes of their sovereign right to handle legal matters internally, resulting in Native youth being sent to federal facilities far from their communities.
Soul wound
The deep intergenerational trauma inflicted on Native communities through carceral systems: boarding schools, land removal, cultural genocide, and the destruction of kinship. It manifests in extreme poverty, high rates of suicide and dropout, and the erosion of communal identity.
Natal alienation (Native context)
The forced separation of Native children from their culture, language, and family through boarding schools and federal intervention. This destruction of lineage and kinship is central to the soul wound.
Andrea Smith's three pillars of white supremacy
A framework for understanding how white supremacy operates through three distinct but interlocking logics:
Slavery/Capitalism: Black people rendered as property, their labour exploitable.
Genocide/Colonialism: Native people targeted for elimination to clear land and erase sovereignty.
Orientalism/War: Certain groups (historically Asian and Middle Eastern communities) framed as permanent foreign threats to Western civilisation, justifying ongoing war and exclusion.
The course insists on a specific framing: settler colonialism is not a chapter in a history textbook that ends with the American Revolution or the closing of the frontier. It is a living structure of power that continues to define who has land, who has sovereignty, and who is subject to carceral control. This distinction matters for essay answers.
The boarding school system was explicitly military in origin and design:
Established under the Department of War.
Richard Henry Pratt's motto, "Kill the Indian, save the man," captures the logic: cultural genocide disguised as education.
Schools were physically designed like prisons: windowless, punitive, regimented.
Children were stripped of their language, names, dress, and family connections (natal alienation).
Forced labour was routine.
The boarding school is the first link in the continuum of carcerality. It established the template for how the state would manage Native communities: confinement, cultural erasure, and the severing of kinship.
The Dawes Act attacked Native identity at the structural level:
Divided communal tribal land into individual allotments.
Imposed Western property ownership and nuclear family structures.
Tied citizenship to compliance with these structures.
The surplus land (what remained after allotments) was opened to white settlers.
The purpose was not to "help" Native people integrate. It was to dissolve the communal bonds that sustained resistance and made collective sovereignty possible.
The Major Crimes Act removed tribal authority over serious criminal cases, placing them under federal jurisdiction. The consequences:
Native youth charged with serious offences are processed through the federal system, not tribal courts.
They are sent to federal facilities far from home, without access to tribal rehabilitative or restorative practices.
Native Americans make up a disproportionate share of the federal juvenile population.
Federal facilities typically offer no vocational training or culturally appropriate counselling.
This is not an accident. It is the continuation of a policy designed to undermine tribal sovereignty.
The soul wound is the cumulative result of this continuum. It is not a metaphor for sadness; it describes a concrete pattern of intergenerational trauma:
Extreme poverty (approximately 80% unemployment in places like Pine Ridge).
High rates of suicide, substance use, and school dropout.
The destruction of cultural kinship and communal identity.
An environment that predetermines outcomes, not because of individual failings, but because of state-imposed carceral conditions.
The exam-relevant framing is that these outcomes are produced by the structure, not by the people living within it.
Smith's framework is used to show that white supremacy is not a single phenomenon but operates through different logics for different groups:
Slavery/Capitalism: Anchors anti-Black racism. Black people positioned as exploitable labour and property.
Genocide/Colonialism: Anchors anti-Native policy. Native people positioned as obstacles to be removed so land and resources can be claimed.
Orientalism/War: Anchors anti-Asian and anti-Middle Eastern racism. These groups positioned as permanent foreign threats, justifying war, exclusion, and surveillance.
The exam asks specifically about Orientalism/War as the pillar where certain groups are perceived as a permanent threat to Western civilisation.
⚠️ "Structure, not an event" is the key phrase for settler colonialism. If you describe it as a historical event that ended, you will lose marks.
⚠️ The continuum of carcerality (boarding schools → Major Crimes Act → modern federal PIC) is a long-answer topic. Know the sequence and be able to trace the logic through each stage.
⚠️ Know the Dawes Act (1887) vs. the Major Crimes Act (1885). They target different aspects of Native life: the Dawes Act attacks communal land and identity; the Major Crimes Act attacks legal sovereignty.
⚠️ The soul wound must be connected to specific structures (boarding schools, natal alienation, poverty, loss of kinship), not described vaguely as "historical sadness."
⚠️ Andrea Smith's three pillars: know all three and which racial logic each one anchors. The Orientalism/War pillar is a specific multiple-choice target.
Q: Which phrase best describes settler colonialism?
A: An ongoing structure of power that defines culture and labour beyond colonial administration. It is "a structure, not an event."
Q: Which 19th-century legislation was designed to destroy Native American shared identity by enforcing private property and nuclear family structures?
A: The Dawes Act of 1887.
Q: Explain the relationship between the Major Crimes Act of 1885 and the carcerality of Native American youth.
A: The Major Crimes Act shifted jurisdiction for serious crimes on tribal lands to the federal system, stripping tribes of sovereignty. Native youth are funnelled into federal facilities far from home, without access to tribal restorative practices, and they make up a disproportionate share of the federal juvenile population.
Q: Define 'soul wound' and its connection to historical trauma.
A: The soul wound is intergenerational trauma caused by carceral policies (boarding schools, land removal, cultural genocide) that stripped Native communities of language, kinship, and communal identity. It produces ongoing poverty, suicide, and dropout.
Q: In Andrea Smith's analysis, which pillar of white supremacy frames certain groups as a permanent threat to Western civilisation?
A: Orientalism/War. This pillar has historically targeted Asian and Middle Eastern communities, framing them as permanent enemies to justify war and exclusion.
Q: How did boarding schools function as carceral institutions?
A: They were established under the Department of War, designed by military officers like Pratt to "kill the Indian, save the man." They operated like prisons: windowless, punitive, with forced labour and the deliberate severing of children from family, language, and culture (natal alienation).
Settler colonialism, structure not an event, continuum of carcerality, Native American, boarding schools, Richard Henry Pratt, kill the Indian save the man, cultural genocide, Dawes Act, 1887, Major Crimes Act, 1885, tribal sovereignty, federal jurisdiction, soul wound, intergenerational trauma, natal alienation, kinship, Pine Ridge, Andrea Smith, three pillars, white supremacy, slavery capitalism, genocide colonialism, orientalism war, Miskoo Petite, Sari Horwitz