Genocide of indigenous peoples

The genocide of indigenous peoples, colonial genocide, or settler genocide is the elimination of indigenous peoples as a part of the process of colonialism.

According to certain genocide experts, including Raphael Lemkin – who coined the term Genocide – colonialism is intimately connected with genocide. Lemkin saw genocide as a two-stage process: (1) the destruction of the targeted group's way of life, followed by (2) the perpetrators' imposition of their own national pattern. Other scholars view genocide as associated with but distinct from settler colonialism. The expansion of various Western European colonial powers such as the British and Spanish empires and the subsequent establishment of colonies on indigenous territories frequently involved acts of genocidal violence against indigenous groups in Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Oceania.

The designation of specific events as genocidal is frequently controversial. Lemkin originally intended a broad definition that encompassed colonial violence, but in order to pass the 1948 Genocide Convention, he narrowed his definition to physical and biological destruction (as opposed to cultural genocide) and added the requirement of genocidal intent. Although some scholars use the Genocide Convention definition, others have "criticized [it] as a highly flawed law for its overemphasis on intent, the imprecision of a key phrase 'destruction in whole or in part', and the narrow exclusivity of the groups protected"—factors which reduce its applicability to anti-indigenous violence.

Genocide debate

The determination of whether a historical event should be considered a genocide is a matter of scholarly debate. Issues of contention include what construes genocidal intent and whether or not cultural destruction (sometimes called cultural genocide or "ethnic cleansing") constitutes genocide.