SLRPNK

Indigenous people have always been active in labour struggles, both as part of the wider labour movement and as members of their own communities.

Prior to invasion, Native labour had already been integrated into the land itself through the management of fires, water, and food resources. This work added use-value and potential productivity to the land and natural resources – Indigenous people built irrigation systems and planted crops that nourished the soil, and they set fires to help clear brush and renew growth. Colonizers would later exploit this work for the benefit of their own businesses and governments.

Once Native people took up wage work for non-Native employers, their work was significant in building the infrastructure of Canada and the U.S. – and they fought against exploitation and racism on the job. This article presents a partial chronology of some important moments in Indigenous labour history.