Author: Robert Olajos

Robert Olajos is a historian, canoeist, & environmentalist (& many other things). His research & writing focuses on overlooked histories of settler-colonial malfeasance and Indigenous resistance. His trips range from North Bay to James Bay. And his environmentalism is grounded in the unceded Anishnaabeg lands of Temagami.

The Bear Island Day School, Anishnaabeg Seasonal Migrations, and Nomadic Colonialism, 1903-1951

“Robert Olajos’ award-winning article follows the fascinating story of the “Indian day-school” on Bear Island as it adapted to the Teme-Augama Anishnabai’s seasonal way of life. Through an in-depth study of the Bear Island Day School archive, Olajos crafts a subtle and powerful argument about the “nomadic colonialism” of settler societies and colonial governments in northern Canada, and its role in the destruction of the seasonal mobility of the Anishnaabeg.”

What kind of person reads History by Canoe?

For starters, you are an all-round great person. You love history. And canoeing. And Northern Ontario. At least, that’s why my subtitle says. You love to combine those things. So you love the kind of history that you can discover on a canoe trip. Or you love to read up on the history of the areas you plan to visit. Of course, those areas are (mostly) in Northern Ontario.

A Powerful Place: Naturalization through Trapping as Masculine Knowledge

Settlers, like myself, cannot become Indigenous to place. But we can, as Robin Wall Kimmerer says, “strive to become naturalized to place….” Becoming naturalized to the land of the Anishinaabeg and Cree is an ongoing process for me, something I work toward with my family. That weekend in Moose Factory, Charlie helped my sons, my wife, and myself along in the process of naturalizing ourselves to this land.