Property and Dispossession: Natives, Empires and Land in Early Modern North America ( Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017, £22.99). Pp. 450. isbn 978 1 3166 1369 6

Greer contends that the “trap lines, hunting areas and the game animals” (54) of the Innu reveal a unique understanding of property ownership, yet this did not fit into the European idea of property. Through the Age of Revolutions, colonial ideas of property being a granted privilege were replaced w...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of American Studies Vol. 54; no. 1
Main Author Mair, Edward
Format Book Review
LanguageEnglish
Published Cambridge Cambridge University Press 01.02.2020
Subjects
Colonialism
Early modern period
Evidentiality
Land
Native peoples
Ownership
Property
Spanish Empire
Central America
United Kingdom > UK
Europe
England
France
North America
New Spain
Spain
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Summary:Greer contends that the “trap lines, hunting areas and the game animals” (54) of the Innu reveal a unique understanding of property ownership, yet this did not fit into the European idea of property. Through the Age of Revolutions, colonial ideas of property being a granted privilege were replaced with the notion that rights to property represented a sacred right, a right that Native peoples did not have. Utilizing a wide evidential base, and a clear grasp of both the theoretical and practical implications of these principles of property, Greer's comparative approach makes for an invaluable addition to the literature on settler colonialism.
ISSN:0021-8758
1469-5154
DOI:10.1017/S0021875819001646