Settlers: this word is just as fraught as any word for Indigenous peoples is, and it also refers to a collective group. You may be more inclined to think of yourself as American or Canadian. Perhaps being called a “settler” feels aggressive—a suggestion that you do not belong, despite generations of being here. You think of yourself, or perhaps your ancestors, as immigrants. Not settlers. Settlers are not immigrants. Immigrants come to a place and become part of the existing political system.
