Indigenous Peoples & Jews in Canada: A Brief History

This session offers a wide-angle introduction to the history of encounters between Canadian Jews and Indigenous peoples, from the Jewish settlers and fur traders of the 18th century to the eve of our recent national reconciliation discussion. We'll touch on business entanglements, Jewish agricultural colonies, the Indigenous art market, Jewish literature that was preoccupied with Indigenous themes, Jewish legal, medical, and justice work on behalf of First Nations communities, and a whole lot more. There will be plenty of time for Q&A. 

Bio:

David S. Koffman is the J. Richard Shiff Chair for the Study of Canadian Jewry in the Department of History at York University. He is the author of The Jews’ Indian: Colonialism, Pluralism, and Belonging in America (Rutgers University Press, 2019), and the editor of and a contributor to No Better Home? Jews, Canada, and the Sense of Belonging (University of Toronto Press, 2021). He serves as the acting director of York’s Israel & Golda Koschitzky Centre for Jewish Studies, and the editor-in-chief of the journal Canadian Jewish Studies / Études juives canadiennes.